South Carolina Pre-Construction Manager / Senior Project Manager

STV is seeking an experienced Pre-Construction Manager / Senior Project Manager to join our Transportation and Infrastructure practice in South Carolina. This position will provide senior leadership for the planning, design, development, and execution of complex transportation projects while supporting the operational performance and continued growth of STV’s South Carolina transportation practice.

The successful candidate will lead projects throughout the preconstruction lifecycle, including planning, alternatives development, environmental coordination, preliminary and final design, right-of-way, utility coordination, permitting, procurement support, and transition into construction. The position will also manage the scope, schedule, budget, quality, risk, staffing, and contractual performance of major multidisciplinary projects.

This leadership position requires a strong command of transportation project delivery, project management, business operations, client service, staff development, and organizational strategy. The Pre-Construction Manager / Senior Project Manager will work closely with clients, technical group leaders, assistant project managers, and regional leadership to deliver successful projects and improve the effectiveness of STV’s operations.

Key Responsibilities Preconstruction and Project Delivery

• Lead the planning and execution of transportation projects through all phases of pre-construction, including project development, environmental review, preliminary engineering, final design, right-of-way, utility coordination, permitting, procurement, and transition to construction.
• Serve as Project on large, complex, and multidisciplinary assignments.
• Develop and manage project execution plans defining scope, schedule, budget, staffing, quality requirements, risk-management procedures, communication protocols, and client expectations.
• Plan, organize, coordinate, and control project activities in accordance with STV policies, contractual requirements, applicable regulations, and established project-management procedures.
• Direct multidisciplinary teams that may include roadway, bridge, traffic, drainage, environmental, utility, right-of-way, geotechnical, survey, planning, and public involvement professionals.
• Coordinate subconsultants, teaming partners, contractors, public agencies, utilities, and other project stakeholders.
• Monitor project financial performance, labor utilization, earned value, invoicing, cash flow, schedule progress, change management, and overall project profitability.
• Identify project risks, constraints, and emerging issues and implement timely corrective actions.
• Review project contracts, amendments, scopes of work, fee proposals, schedules, and terms and conditions.
• Ensure deliverables are technically sound, constructible, properly coordinated, and completed in accordance with client requirements.
• Lead project reviews, design workshops, constructability reviews, risk assessments, value-engineering exercises, and project-management meetings.

Operational Leadership

• Support the operational management of STV’s South Carolina transportation practice and assist leadership in achieving short- and long-term business objectives.
• Improve project-delivery effectiveness and efficiency through consistent, integrated, and scalable management processes across a statewide project portfolio.
• Promote coordination and communication among technical disciplines, project teams, offices, and regional business units.
• Participate in the development and implementation of operational strategies, policies, procedures, annual plans, staffing plans, and budgets.
• Monitor project and portfolio performance and provide management reporting regarding backlog, revenue, profitability, staffing, utilization, schedule, risk, A/R, and quality. Lead weekly meetings to identify variances in the project portfolio, tracking and implementing corrective actions on a weekly basis.
• Identify operational trends, resource constraints, and performance issues and recommend appropriate management actions.
• Serve as a liaison between project teams, technical leadership, business leadership, finance, human resources, legal, contracts, quality, and other corporate support functions.
• Support workload forecasting, staff allocation, recruiting, succession planning, and organizational development.
• Assist in establishing and maintaining consistent project-management standards, tools, controls, and reporting practices.
• Provide leadership and consulting support on matters related to business structure, growth, project delivery, and operational performance.

Client and Stakeholder Leadership

• Serve as a senior representative of STV with transportation agencies, municipalities, counties, contractors, consultants, utilities, and other external stakeholders.
• Develop and maintain trusted relationships with key client representatives, agency officials, teaming partners, and industry professionals.
• Lead client meetings, executive briefings, negotiations, project reviews, workshops, and issue-resolution discussions.
• Understand client goals, funding constraints, procurement requirements, policies, and decision-making processes.
• Negotiate scopes of work, fees, schedules, contract terms, amendments, and other critical project matters in coordination with STV senior leadership.
• Resolve complex project and contractual issues requiring sound judgment, persuasion, diplomacy, and negotiation.
• Promote client satisfaction through responsiveness, technical excellence, transparency, and reliable project delivery.
• Lead or contribute to proposals, statements of qualifications, technical approaches, fee estimates, presentations, and interviews.
• Support negotiation of teaming agreements, subconsultant agreements, scopes, fees, and contract terms.
• Provide technical and operational insight to position STV for future work.
• Participate in leadership positions in various industry professional organizations.

Staff Leadership and Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop assistant project managers, engineers, technical specialists, and other project staff.
• Provide clear expectations, performance feedback, coaching, and professional-development opportunities.
• Assist in recruiting, selecting, onboarding, supervising, evaluating, and retaining qualified personnel.
• Support the development of future project managers, technical leaders, and business leaders.
• Promote collaboration, accountability, inclusion, ethical conduct, and continuous improvement.
• Foster a culture of technical excellence, operational discipline, client service, safety, and quality.

Quality, Compliance, and Risk Management

• Ensure project teams comply with applicable federal, state, and local requirements, including transportation-agency standards and permitting requirements.
• Ensure adherence to STV’s quality-management program, project-management procedures, safety requirements, and corporate policies.
• Coordinate quality-control and quality-assurance reviews and ensure comments are resolved before submission.
• Identify contractual, financial, technical, schedule, safety, and reputational risks and elevate significant issues to leadership.
• Intervene promptly when project performance, quality, compliance, or client-service concerns arise.
• Maintain high technical, professional, ethical, and operational standards across assigned projects and responsibilities.

 

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, construction management, transportation planning, architecture, or a related field.
• Professional Engineer license in South Carolina is strongly preferred and may be required depending on assigned responsibilities.
• Substantial progressive experience managing transportation, infrastructure, engineering, construction, or preconstruction projects.
• Demonstrated experience leading large, complex, multidisciplinary projects.
• Experience delivering projects for a state department of transportation, municipality, county, transit agency, or comparable public-sector client.
• Strong understanding of the transportation project-development and the full preconstruction process in South Carolina.
• Demonstrated ability to manage project scope, schedule, budget, quality, risk, staffing, and client expectations.
• Working knowledge of engineering and construction contracts, including scopes of work, fee development, terms and conditions, amendments, and change management.
• Experience managing project teams, subconsultants, and external stakeholders.
• Strong financial and operational management skills, including budgeting, forecasting, project controls, and performance reporting.
• Demonstrated ability to develop client relationships and contribute to proposals, interviews, negotiations, and business development.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, leadership, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment and make decisions involving significant project, client, financial, and organizational considerations.
• Ability to manage multiple projects, priorities, clients, and teams concurrently.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional Engineer license in South Carolina or ability to obtain South Carolina licensure through comity.
• Experience managing projects for the South Carolina Department of Transportation and Counties.
• Experience with roadway, bridge, interchange, corridor, multimodal, utility, traffic, or major infrastructure projects.
• Experience with alternative delivery, design-build, construction manager/general contractor, progressive design-build, or other collaborative-delivery methods.
• Formal project-management training or professional certification.
• Experience developing operational plans, staffing plans, project forecasts, and business-unit budgets.
• Established relationships with transportation agencies, municipalities, counties, consultants, contractors, and industry partners in South Carolina or the Southeast.
• Experience managing a portfolio of projects or supporting operations of a transportation practice, department, or business unit.

 

Leadership Expectations The Pre-Construction Manager / Senior Project Manager is expected to operate with a high degree of independence and professional judgment. The position will routinely address complex issues involving multiple disciplines, projects, clients, and organizational functions. The successful candidate must be capable of assessing technical, contractual, financial, operational, and organizational variables; identifying fundamental issues; and establishing practical strategies for resolution. Decisions made in this role may materially affect project performance, client relationships, staff development, business-unit results, and STV’s long-term success. The position will regularly interact with senior STV leadership, public-agency executives, elected or appointed officials, contractors, consultants, and major clients. These interactions may involve negotiation, persuasion, conflict resolution, and decisions on matters of substantial importance. Depending on the candidate’s experience and organizational needs, the position may supervise project managers, discipline managers, technical staff, and project teams and may have responsibility for planning, staffing, budgeting, performance management, and implementation of operational improvements.  

Work Environment and Travel This position will be based in one of STV’s South Carolina offices and will support projects and clients throughout South Carolina and the Southeast. Periodic travel to client offices, project sites, public meetings, industry events, and other STV offices will be required.

Compensation Range:

$162,010.86 - $185,155.27

STV offers the following benefits • Health insurance, including an option with a Health Savings Account • Dental insurance • Vision insurance • Flexible Spending Accounts (Healthcare, Dependent Care and Transit and Parking where applicable) • Disability insurance • Life Insurance and Accidental Death & Dismemberment • 401(k) Plan • Retirement Counseling • Employee Assistance Program • Paid Time Off (starting at 16 days) • Paid Holidays (9 days) • Back-Up Dependent Care (up to 10 days per year) • Parental Leave (up to 80 hours) • Continuing Education Program • Professional Licensure and Society Memberships

STV is committed to paying all of its employees in a fair, equitable, and transparent manner. The listed pay range is STV’s good-faith salary estimate for this position. Please note that the final salary offered for this position may be outside of this published range based on many factors, including but not limited to geography, education, experience, and/or certifications.

Not sure this role is the perfect match? We encourage you to apply if STV’s work and values resonate with you. We know great candidates don’t always meet every qualification, and research shows women and people of color are less likely to apply unless they do. At STV, we believe strong talent comes from a wide range of backgrounds, and your skills and experience may align with this or another opportunity as we continue to grow.