Senior Pre-Construction Lead, BESS Projects

Burns & McDonnell; Kansas; On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Burns & McDonnell is seeking a Pre-Construction Section Manager for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to lead a high-performing team supporting utility-scale energy storage projects. The role requires strategic leadership, estimating oversight, and strong collaboration with BD, engineering practices, and field operations.

You will drive pursuit strategies, manage budgets, and sponsor constructability reviews to ensure profitable growth and project success within EPC, Design-Build and CMAR

Qualifications

• Bachelor degree in engineering, architecture, construction or related field and 5 years of design/project management experience.
• 12 years of progressive construction/pre-construction experience preferred.
• Experience leading pre-construction/estimating teams in BESS, solar+storage, or major industrial projects.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership to pre-construction managers, estimators, schedulers, and staff.
• Direct recruitment, onboarding, training and retention efforts for the section.
• Define pursuit strategies with BD and practice leaders; lead client interviews and commercial alignment sessions.
• Oversee cost models from conceptual to detailed EPC bid submissions and manage budgets.
• Establish handoff protocols from pre-construction to field teams; monitor audits for continuous improvement.

Skills

Leadership

Management

Estimating

Proposal development

Budgeting

Resource planning

Communication

Change management

Education

Bachelor Degree in engineering/related field

Tools

BIM

Digital takeoff

MS Office

Job description

Burns & McDonnell is seeking a Pre-Construction Section Manager for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to lead a high-performing team supporting utility-scale energy storage projects. The role requires strategic leadership, estimating oversight, and strong collaboration with BD, engineering practices, and field operations.

You will drive pursuit strategies, manage budgets, and sponsor constructability reviews to ensure profitable growth and project success within EPC, Design-Build and CMAR