Lead Construction Manager – Pharmaceutical Capital Project

Technical Engineering Consulting; Carolina (PR); On-site; USD 180,000 - 275,000; Full time

Job summary

Technical & Engineering Consulting seeks a Lead Construction Manager for a major pharmaceutical capital program in Puerto Rico. You will lead the field construction organization and serve as the Owner's representative to ensure safety, quality, and schedule across contractors.

Role requires 20+ years of capital construction leadership, management of multi-contractor teams, and a focus on constructability, HSE, and timely mechanical completion for projects exceeding $500M TIC.

Qualifications

• 20+ years of large-scale capital construction experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead the overall field construction organization across multiple project areas.

Job description

About the Role

Technical & Engineering Consulting is seeking a highly experienced Lead Construction Manager to provide senior field construction leadership for a major pharmaceutical capital program in Puerto Rico.

The Lead Construction Manager will serve as the senior accountable construction leader and Owner's representative, with field authority across multiple major project areas, including production facilities, site enabling, Outside Battery Limits (OSBL), infrastructure, and critical tie-ins.

This individual will provide overall construction execution oversight of the Construction Management organization and contractors, with accountability for field HSE, construction quality, contractor performance, productivity, planning, constructability, and mechanical completion readiness.

The successful candidate must be an accomplished construction leader capable of directing a large, multidisciplinary, multi-contractor field organization on a complex capital project exceeding $500M Total Installed Cost (TIC).

Key Responsibilities

Construction Leadership & Field Execution

• Lead the overall field construction organization, including:
  • Work Package Organization (WPO) Leads
  • Construction Managers
  • Construction Quality Leads
  • Assistant Construction Managers
• Serve as the senior Owner-side construction representative across assigned project areas.
• Provide construction leadership across production facilities, enabling works, OSBL infrastructure, and critical tie-ins.
• Maintain overall field accountability for construction execution and contractor performance.
• Ensure construction execution supports successful mechanical completion and downstream project objectives.
• Provide senior-level field issue escalation and facilitate timely Owner-side decisions.

HSE Leadership

• Own field Health, Safety & Environmental (HSE) leadership in partnership with project HSE leadership.
• Champion and enforce project safety expectations, including applicable LIFE Program and BeyondZero requirements.
• Establish strong field safety expectations across Construction Management teams and contractors.
• Promote proactive identification and mitigation of construction risks.
• Ensure safety remains fully integrated into field planning and construction execution.

Construction Planning & Schedule Execution

• Support Construction Management teams with construction look-ahead planning.
• Establish and maintain effective daily and weekly field-planning rhythms.
• Lead Owner-side constraint identification and removal to maintain construction progress.
• Partner with Project Management leadership to deliver construction milestones against the overall program schedule.
• Identify schedule risks, field constraints, and execution challenges and drive timely resolution.
• Ensure construction activities remain coordinated across multiple projects, contractors, and disciplines.

Contractor Performance Management

• Own contractor performance management across assigned construction scopes.
• Monitor and drive field productivity.
• Establish accountability for contractor execution against safety, quality, schedule, and performance expectations.
• Escalate significant field-performance issues and coordinate corrective actions.
• Ensure effective coordination between multiple contractors and construction disciplines.

Quality & Mechanical Completion

• Champion a quality-at-the-source and first-time-right culture throughout field construction.
• Drive first-time-right execution, particularly for critical systems.
• Partner closely with Construction Quality leadership.
• Ensure field execution and construction quality support successful mechanical completion.
• Promote early identification and resolution of construction quality issues to minimize rework and schedule impacts.

Constructability & Design Integration

• Lead construction and constructability input into engineering design.
• Support formal constructability reviews throughout project execution.
• Provide field-driven input into value engineering activities.
• Identify opportunities to improve site logistics and construction execution efficiency.
• Ensure design decisions appropriately consider field execution, installation, sequencing, safety, and constructability.

Field Leadership Operating Rhythm

• Build and manage the field leadership team's operating cadence.
• Lead or support:
  • Daily plan-of-day meetings
  • Weekly construction look-ahead reviews
  • Constraint-removal activities
  • Monthly construction reviews
• Promote clear communication and accountability across the field construction organization.
• Maintain alignment between Construction, Project Management, Quality, HSE, Engineering, and contractor organizations.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 20+ years of large-scale capital construction experience.
• Minimum 10+ years of experience as a Senior Construction Manager supporting pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or other highly regulated industry projects.
• Demonstrated experience supporting capital projects of $500M+ Total Installed Cost (TIC).
• Proven track record leading multidisciplinary, multi-contractor field organizations through the full construction lifecycle.
• Extensive experience with field construction execution, contractor management, construction planning, productivity, quality, and mechanical completion.
• Demonstrated senior-level HSE leadership.
• OSHA 30 certification required.
• Strong leadership, communication, decision-making, and issue-resolution capabilities.
• Ability to lead effectively in a complex, fast-paced, field-based capital project environment.
• English required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting major pharmaceutical or biotechnology capital projects.
• Professional experience in Owner, EPC/EPCM, or Construction Management environments.
• Certified Safety Professional (CSP) or equivalent safety credential.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
• Membership in AGC, CMAA, or related professional construction organizations.
• Spanish proficiency is strongly preferred for Puerto Rico site leadership.

Position Details

• Position: Lead Construction Manager
• Industry: Pharmaceutical / Biotechnology / Life Sciences
• Program: Major Pharmaceutical Capital Project
• Work Location: Puerto Rico - Full-Time Onsite
• Work Schedule: Approximately 50 hours per week
• Contract Duration: Approximately 1 year with renewal option
• Travel: Limited
• Engagement: Independent Consultant / Contract

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a senior construction executive-level professional who has successfully led field construction organizations on complex, large-scale pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or regulated-industry capital programs.

This individual should be comfortable serving as the Owner's senior field construction authority, leading multiple Construction Managers and contractors while maintaining accountability for HSE, quality, productivity, schedule execution, constructability, and mechanical completion readiness.

The candidate must have the leadership presence and technical construction experience necessary to coordinate multidisciplinary organizations, challenge contractor performance, resolve high-level field constraints, and maintain alignment between Construction, Engineering, Project Management, Quality, HSE, and other project stakeholders.