Executive Director, Project Management (Design and Construction)

Overview

Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Capital Projects within the Facilities Organization, the Executive Director, Project Management (Design and Construction) will play a critical role within the Office for Capital Projects (OCP) in executing on the Capital Plan projects at Princeton University. As Princeton implements the Capital Plan, the Executive Director of Project Management will set a strategic and integrated approach to implementing facilities projects within a defined program or collection of projects and programs.

Working with the AVP, the Program Executives, and the Executive Director, Strategy and Governance, the incumbent actively participates and provides input in strategic planning and aids the Department in its execution of all design and construction projects and major renovations.

The Executive Director collaborates closely with other officers and senior administrators in Facilities and University wide to facilitate the implementation of critical projects and initiatives in support of the goals for OCP. The candidate must embody core values essential to the Facilities Organization including collaboration with academic and administrative leadership to support the Capital Plan, while cultivating and sustaining cooperative working relationships with local, county, and state agencies. The position will support the VP of Facilities, the AVP of Capital Projects and the University Architect in preparing for the Board of Trustees, Facilities Planning Group, and other committees involving developing projects.

Responsibilities

Pre-Construction 

• Provide Program Managers, Project Managers and construction personnel guidance that is complementary to the organization’s strategic objectives and track the alignment of strategic objectives to project objectives.
• Allocate resources to projects within a program in accordance with the organization’s priorities and commitments and coordinate with leadership on OCP workload and staff resources.
• Work with Office of University Architect (OUA) and leadership to establish benchmarks.
• Participate in the creation of Value Proposition and PPO’s; discuss early relationships with user and executive sponsors.
• Lead Program Mangers and project teams, particularly at initiation through project milestones to completion.
• Provide input to project teams on governance, resources, priorities, risks and communications.
• Serve as liaison with executive sponsor, users and University administration.
• Monitor a plan for project governance, authorization and approval.
• Support PGMs & PMs to position them for success.
• “Clear the path” to secure approvals, establish funding strategies, and set priorities.
• Monitor “hot” issues to ensure resolution.
• Responsible for preparation and presentation of FPG capital approval process.
• Develop project requests into executable projects.
• Assign projects and manage PM workload, including “standing in for PM” when unavailable.
• Ensure client and stakeholder communication is ongoing.
• Work with PM and Project Planner to draft project scope for RFP’s.
• Work with PM to establish project schedule, with inputs from PM, OUA and others.
• Participate in project team selection, including AE/CM.
• Responsible for managing budget building process and funding approvals at milestones.
• Work closely with PM and procurement to establish contracts.
• Work with senior administration to establish Facilities or campus initiatives, policies and procedures, such as ADA compliance, Fire Code compliance, Design Standards, wayfinding and campus space utilization.
• Follow up on quality assurance for performance of teams’ ability to meet
• DSM compliance after tech team progress reports.

Construction 

• Closely monitor team performance and ability to achieve milestones.
• Work with PGM and project team when issues arise on performance, cost control or schedule slippage.
• Collaborate to ensure PMs have established agendas and scheduled meetings.
• Lead discussions with CM and A/E on cost estimating process.
• Work closely with PM and finance team to monitor budget, including options early on and alternates as documentation progresses.
• Work closely with PM and Project Planner, lead discussion to create and monitor overall project schedule including design process, procurement, approvals and construction/move in.
• Ensure communication is inclusive and includes project stakeholders and user representative.
• Actively participate in preparation for and meeting with senior leadership where PM reports out on project progress and risks.
• Closely monitor construct