Senior Vice President of Construction Operations
Compensation
Hefty six figure base + hefty annual bonus + full executive relocation available
Position Overview
We are seeking an accomplished Senior Vice President of Construction Operations to lead and scale commercial construction operations, drive financial performance, and establish operational excellence across the organization. This executive will provide strategic and hands-on leadership across project execution, estimating, safety, quality assurance, contract management, workforce productivity, and regulatory compliance.
The SVP will have comprehensive accountability for operational performance, including the operating budget, P&L results, margin improvement, resource allocation, and execution of the company's strategic business plan. This individual will partner closely with executive leadership to strengthen operational infrastructure, improve project profitability, optimize processes, and support sustainable growth.
Experience in commercial construction, with exposure to Division 9 interior finishes and specialty construction scopes, is highly desirable. The ideal candidate combines executive-level business acumen with the practical construction expertise necessary to lead teams, manage complex projects, and deliver measurable financial and operational results.
Key Responsibilities
Executive Leadership & Strategic Planning
- Lead the strategic direction and day-to-day execution of commercial construction operations, aligning operational priorities with corporate growth and profitability objectives.
- Develop and implement annual operating plans, business strategies, performance targets, and long-term growth initiatives.
- Establish operational standards, reporting structures, and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure project execution, productivity, profitability, and organizational effectiveness.
- Build, mentor, and lead high-performing teams across operations, project management, estimating, field supervision, safety, and quality.
- Collaborate with executive leadership on market expansion, business development opportunities, capacity planning, and organizational development.
Financial Management, Budgeting & P&L Ownership
- Own operational budgeting, forecasting, financial planning, and P&L performance, with direct accountability for revenue, gross profit, operating expenses, and margins.
- Monitor project-level and consolidated financial performance, identifying risks, cost overruns, margin erosion, and opportunities for improvement.
- Drive profitability through disciplined cost controls, labor productivity, purchasing strategies, resource utilization, and operational efficiency.
- Establish financial accountability across project teams, ensuring accurate forecasting, timely reporting, and effective management of work-in-progress (WIP), committed costs, change orders, and cash flow.
- Develop and execute corrective action plans to address underperforming projects, improve financial outcomes, and achieve budget targets.
Construction Operations & Project Execution
- Oversee the full construction lifecycle, from preconstruction and estimating through project execution, closeout, and post-project financial review.
- Provide executive oversight of multiple concurrent commercial construction projects, ensuring delivery within established schedules, budgets, contractual requirements, and quality standards.
- Establish consistent operating procedures for project planning, scheduling, subcontractor coordination, procurement, labor allocation, and project controls.
- Monitor project milestones, critical-path schedules, manpower requirements, and resource deployment to maximize productivity and minimize delays.
- Resolve escalated project issues, operational bottlenecks, subcontractor disputes, and execution risks.
- Promote collaboration among estimating, project management, field operations, procurement, and finance to ensure seamless project delivery.
- Lead and oversee estimating and preconstruction teams, ensuring accurate, competitive, and profitable project bids.
- Establish estimating standards, bid review procedures, cost benchmarks, labor productivity assumptions, and margin requirements.
- Evaluate project opportunities, scope definition, constructability, labor requirements, material pricing, subcontractor proposals, and execution risks.
- Ensure appropriate handoff from estimating to operations, including scope clarification, budget validation, schedule assumptions, exclusions, and risk identification.
- Partner with business development and executive leadership on bid strategy, pricing decisions, contract terms, and pursuit selection.
- Analyze estimating accuracy against actual project costs to improve forecasting, bidding discipline, and profitability.
Division 9 & Commercial Construction Expertise
- Provide operational oversight of commercial construction scopes, with particular emphasis on Division 9 finishes where applicable, including drywall, acoustical ceilings, metal framing, gypsum board systems, and related interior finishes.
- Ensure appropriate labor planning, material procurement, subcontractor coordination, production tracking, and installation quality across applicable scopes.
- Evaluate production rates, labor efficiency, material utilization, and installation methods to improve field performance and project margins.
- Support estimating and project teams in developing accurate takeoffs, labor budgets, scope reviews, and execution strategies.
- Maintain a strong understanding of construction sequencing, trade coordination, project specifications, and contractual scope requirements.
Safety, Quality Assurance & Compliance
- Establish and enforce a culture of safety, accountability, quality, and operational discipline across all construction activities.
- Oversee safety programs, training, incident prevention, risk mitigation, and compliance with applicable OSHA requirements and project-specific safety standards.
- Implement quality assurance and quality control processes to minimize rework, defects, warranty exposure, and unnecessary project costs.
- Ensure compliance with applicable building codes, permitting requirements, contractual obligations, insurance requirements, and regulatory standards.
- Lead investigations and corrective actions related to safety incidents, quality deficiencies, and operational noncompliance.
- Ensure proper documentation, project records, subcontractor compliance, and adherence to established company policies.
- Oversee contract review, negotiation, administration, and compliance for owners, general contractors, subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers, as applicable.
- Identify and mitigate contractual, financial, schedule, scope, and execution risks before they affect project performance.
- Establish disciplined change-order management, claims documentation, cost recovery, subcontractor performance management, and dispute-resolution processes.
- Partner with legal, finance, procurement, and project leadership to evaluate contract terms, payment provisions, indemnification, insurance, and risk exposure.
- Strengthen vendor and subcontractor relationships while maintaining accountability for pricing, performance, quality, safety, and schedule commitments.
Productivity, Process Improvement & Operational Excellence
- Develop and implement measurable productivity initiatives to improve labor efficiency, project throughput, schedule adherence, and operating margins.
- Standardize operating procedures, project reporting, forecasting, resource planning, and performance reviews across teams.
- Leverage construction technology, project management systems, estimating tools, and operational reporting to improve visibility and decision-making.
- Analyze performance trends and implement continuous improvement initiatives that reduce waste, rework, downtime, and avoidable costs.
- Establish a culture of ownership, accountability, collaboration, and data-driven decision-making at every level of operations.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Civil Engineering, Business Administration, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience will be considered.
- 15+ years of progressive experience in commercial construction, construction operations, or specialty contracting, with substantial leadership responsibility.
- Demonstrated success leading multi-project construction operations with responsibility for financial performance, operational budgets, and P&L results.
- Proven experience managing estimating, preconstruction, project management, field operations, safety, and quality functions.
- Strong knowledge of construction contracts, project controls, cost forecasting, change-order management, scheduling, and risk mitigation.
- Experience with Division 9 construction scopes, including drywall, acoustical ceilings, metal framing, or related interior finishes, is a strong advantage.
- Demonstrated ability to improve productivity, protect margins, manage operational risk, and scale construction teams.
- Strong financial acumen, including budgeting, forecasting, job-cost analysis, WIP reporting, and gross margin management.
- Exceptional leadership, negotiation, communication, problem-solving, and organizational skills.
- Ability to balance strategic executive leadership with hands-on operational decision-making.
Measures of Success
- Achievement of annual revenue, gross profit, operating budget, and P&L targets.
- Improved project margins, estimating accuracy, labor productivity, and cost predictability.
- Consistent delivery of projects within approved budgets, schedules, and quality standards.
- Reduced rework, safety incidents, claims exposure, and avoidable operational costs.
- Stronger estimating-to-operations handoffs and more effective resource allocation.
- Development of a scalable, accountable, high-performing construction operations organization.
Leadership Profile
The successful candidate will be a commercially minded construction executive who understands that operational excellence must translate directly into financial results. This leader will bring the ability to build strong teams, establish disciplined processes, manage complex construction operations, and hold the organization accountable for performance.
The ideal individual is strategic, decisive, financially sophisticated, and operationally hands-on, with the leadership presence to influence executive stakeholders and the construction expertise to drive results in the field.