Director, Field Operations - Mission Critical

Overview

At Shawmut Design and Construction, we take pride in the culture we’ve built as a 100% employee-owned company—one that’s been recognized with more than 85 Best Place to Work awards. We’ve been honored as a National Fortune Best Workplace, a Fortune Best Workplace for Women, Millennials, and Parents, and one of America’s Best Employers by Forbes—along with numerous regional recognitions across our 15 offices nationwide.

 

Here’s a glimpse into what we offer:

• Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance.
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) – Be an employee-owner!
• 401(K) with Company Match – Receive a company match up to 4% of your eligible pay.
• Generous Paid Time Off – vacation and sick time, 12 holidays, summer Fridays, and a yearly volunteer day.
• The Extras – Cell phone, laptop, tuition reimbursement, pet insurance, financial planning services, and more.

Responsibilities

 

Shawmut is seeking an experienced and forward‑thinking Director – Field Operations, Mission Critical to join our senior leadership team. This role provides executive‑level oversight of field operations for large‑scale, MEP‑intensive, fast‑track data center projects across the United States. As a key leader in our Mission Critical group, you will shape execution standards, develop high‑performing field teams, ensure operational excellence, and help drive strategic decisions including pursuits, deal structures, and risk management.

 

This is a highly impactful position for a leader who thrives in complex technical environments and is passionate about building teams, elevating performance, and delivering world‑class data center projects for hyperscale, colocation, and enterprise clients.

 

Strategic & Executive Leadership

• Drive mission‑critical business goals, execution standards, and safety culture across field operations.
• Partner closely with estimating, preconstruction, planning, safety, quality, and commissioning teams to support seamless project delivery.
• Support go/no‑go decisions, pursuit strategy, staffing plans, and alignment across regions and programs.

Talent & Organization Development

• Lead recruiting, development, and retention of mission‑critical field leadership.
• Ensure teams possess strong technical capability in MEP systems, redundancy, commissioning, and fast‑track execution.
• Conduct performance coaching and succession planning to build strong organizational depth.

Client, Deal & Risk Management

• Engage directly with clients at the executive level to support presentations, reviews, and satisfaction efforts.
• Participate in deal reviews focused on schedule feasibility, constructability, logistics, phasing, and risk mitigation.
• Lead recovery actions on underperforming projects to protect schedule, financial outcomes, and client relationships.

Field Operations & Execution Excellence

• Establish and maintain standards for mission‑critical field operations, staffing, safety, sequencing, and quality.
• Review and validate project schedules to ensure realistic delivery strategies in fast‑track environments.
• Oversee constructability, commissioning readiness, inspections, and turnover quality across all active projects.

Systems, Processes & Industry Engagement

• Implement standardized field operations processes, systems, and financial controls.
• Maintain strong, professional relationships with clients, designers, contractors, and vendors.
• Represent Shawmut at key mission‑critical and data center industry events to strengthen market presence. 

 

Qualifications

Experience

• 15+ years of construction experience with significant leadership responsibility on mission‑critical or data center projects.
• Demonstrated ability to lead large, complex, MEP‑driven project teams in fast‑track environments.
• Strong background in field operations, schedule management, logistics, commissioning readiness, and risk mitigation.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, or related field preferred.
• Equivalent industry experience considered.

Technical & Leadership Skills

• Deep knowledge of electrical and mechanical systems, redundancy strategies, commissioning integration, and mission‑critical execution.
• Proven ability to develop, mentor, and retain high‑performing field teams.
• Strong communication and client‑facing skills with the abil