Construction Project Manager

Senior Facilities/Construction Project Manager

Salary: $175-225K depending on education and experience

Greater Chicago Area

Position Summary

Waséyabek Federal Services is seeking an accomplished executive-level Project Manager to provide leadership for the successful execution and completion of a major U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science capital asset project. This position is responsible for directing one of the Department's high-visibility scientific infrastructure initiatives, ensuring the project is safely delivered in accordance with approved cost, schedule, technical, and performance baselines while supporting the Office of Science mission.

The Senior Facilities / Construction Manager serves as the Owner's Representative and senior technical advisor responsible for the planning, design integration, procurement, construction execution, and project controls for complex Facilities / Construction capital improvement projects. This position provides strategic leadership and technical oversight throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring successful execution of multi-million-dollar infrastructure and facility projects in accordance with project objectives, safety requirements, quality standards, budget, and schedule commitments.

The position serves as the primary interface between Project Engineering, Infrastructure Services Division (ISD), Architectural/Engineering (A/E) firms, procurement organizations, construction managers, subcontractors, and laboratory stakeholders. The Project Manager will independently resolve technical and construction issues, provide leadership during project execution, and ensure seamless integration of Facilities systems with mission-critical infrastructure.

Essential Responsibilities

• Provide senior leadership and technical oversight for facilities planning, design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and project closeout.
• Serve as the Owner's Representative for assigned capital construction projects.
• Lead coordination among Project Engineering, Infrastructure Services Division (ISD), Architectural/Engineering consultants, construction managers, subcontractors, and project stakeholders.
• Establish project execution strategies that support technical, operational, budgetary, and schedule objectives.
• Identify project risks and implement mitigation strategies throughout the project lifecycle.
• Lead the development, review, and approval of engineering drawings, technical specifications, design packages, and construction documents.
• Direct multidisciplinary design coordination to ensure compatibility between Conventional Facilities and adjacent infrastructure systems.
• Ensure designs meet applicable building codes, DOE requirements, environmental regulations, laboratory standards, and industry best practices.
• Coordinate design reviews and constructability assessments with engineering and operations personnel.
• Provide technical guidance during value engineering and design optimization efforts.
• Lead preparation and technical review of Statements of Work (SOWs), Requests for Proposal (RFPs), bid packages, specifications, and procurement documentation.
• Evaluate technical proposals and provide recommendations for subcontract awards.
• Support contract negotiations and technical clarifications.
• Manage technical interfaces between procurement organizations and project stakeholders throughout contract execution.
• Provide senior oversight of construction subcontractors to ensure compliance with approved drawings, specifications, quality requirements, and project schedules.
• Lead construction coordination meetings and direct resolution of field engineering issues.
• Monitor contractor performance, productivity, quality, schedule adherence, and contract compliance.
• Coordinate inspections, turnover activities, commissioning support, and project closeout documentation.
• Ensure construction activities are executed with minimal impact to ongoing facility operations.
• Champion Environmental, Safety, and Health (ES&H) excellence throughout project execution.
• Ensure subcontractor compliance with OSHA, DOE, DOW, or other federal clients, laboratory, and project-specific safety requirements.
• Oversee implementation of temporary construction support systems, including temporary utilities, site protection, dewatering, fencing, lighting, traffic control, and environmental controls.
• Promote a proactive safety culture through leadership, field presence, and continuous improvement.
• Lead project planning, budgeting, scheduling, forecasting, and resource management activities.
• Monitor project performance using key performance indicators, earned value metrics, and milestone tracking.
• Identify schedule, cost, and scope variances and develop corrective action plans.
• Prepare executive-level reports and presentations for project leadership and senior management.
• Support change management, risk management, and contingency planning.
• Build collaborative relationships with engineering organizations, operations personnel, laboratory management, regulatory agencies, contractors, and external partners.
• Provide strategic guidance to project leadership regarding facility construction risks, opportunities, and execution strategies.
• Mentor junior engineers, project coordinators, inspectors, and construction management personnel.

Minimum Qualifications

• US Citizenship is Required
• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Construction Management, Mechanical Engineering, Architectural Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Minimum of 15 years of progressively responsible experience managing complex commercial, industrial, institutional, laboratory, federal, or mission-critical construction projects.
• Demonstrated experience managing large-scale capital construction projects valued at $25 million or greater.
• Extensive knowledge of construction administration, contract management, procurement processes, engineering design, project controls, and quality assurance.
• Strong understanding of construction means and methods, building systems, utilities, infrastructure, and commissioning.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional Engineer (PE) license or Certified Construction Manager (CCM).
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
• Experience supporting Department of Energy (DOE), National Laboratories, Department of Defense (DoD), or other federal construction programs.
• Experience managing Design-Build, CMAR, and Design-Bid-Build delivery methods.
• Working knowledge of Primavera P6, Microsoft Project, Bluebeam, Autodesk Construction Cloud, Procore, and BIM coordination platforms.