Project Director- Northeast Region

Purpose: The purpose of the Project Director is to provide project oversight and construction management services for restaurant and retail development projects while ensuring conformance to quality, schedule, and budget.  

Essential Functions: 

• Oversees all field construction activities and leads all internal & external resources/coordination related to the construction process including general contractors, signage vendors, kitchen equipment contractors, casework/fixture vendors, A/V vendors, and external project managers 

• Oversees our external architecture and engineering consultants and leads them from plan development through aviation/municipal approvals 

• Oversees all aviation, building department, and health department submittals/approvals of construction documents as mandated by airport & local municipalities; partners with Project Administrators to provide required construction deposits and bonds as required 

• Oversees contractor qualification, selection, negotiation/bidding and contracting on assigned construction projects. Analyzes and approves all change orders within approved budget 

• Partners with Estimating and Design Team in project estimate development during the Analyze Phase to ensure accurate estimates 

• Partners with Procurement team on timely bidding, ordering, and delivery of owner furnished items 

• Attends and serves as construction lead for all internal development meetings (OPTIMA or similar), aviation pre-construction meetings, and required construction progress meetings 

• Oversees project schedule and provides regular and timely construction status updates to internal team, external partners/vendors, brand representatives, and airport client as required 

• Manages project financial forecast throughout development cycle, prepares construction authorization requests and provides regular financial forecast updates, and communicates variances to leadership as required by policy 

• Prepares detailed, timely explanations for budget overrun/variance requests or post-audits; provides documentation to Business Development team, as needed, for reimbursement/relief from landlords 

• Oversees project closeout process to ensure timely close-outs of projects including submission of Certified Cost Statements, As-Built Drawings, and airport mandated closeout package 

Reporting Relationship: This position reports to the Senior Director, Design & Construction 

Minimum Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills, and Work Environment:  

• Education and Experience: The combination of education and professional experience must exceed 8 years: 

• In a leadership role: Requires 3 years of experience leading a team of D&C professionals  

• In a technical role: Requires 8 years of years design/build management/construction experience in the food service and retail industries 

• A bachelor’s degree in in architecture, engineering or construction management or a program related to the functional area can count for 3 of the eight-year requirement 

• An MBA or a master’s level degree in a program related to the functional area can count for an additional 2 years of the eight-year requirement  

• In the industry: Hospitality, F&B and/or Retail experience 3-5 years  

• Specialized Training:  

• Requires advanced project management skills to manage multiple projects and tasks effectively 

• Requires demonstrated working knowledge of design, estimating, architect/general contractor oversight, scheduling, project budgeting, and cost control. Requires knowledge of CAD, estimating, and graphic software (Adobe Acrobat & Bluebeam) 

• Knowledge of state and federal building codes and applicable regulations and statutes  

Specialized Skillset/Competencies/Traits 

• Business acumen and also has the mindset required to understand the long-term implications of Functional planning and to advance the organizations goals 

• Demonstrated history of understanding the needs of the business, stakeholders, the employee population and individual circumstances 

• Demonstrated history of creating and maintaining positive work environments through coaching, developing, and leading teams to achieve common goals 

Location/Travel 

• Requires ability to travel 75% of the time for meetings and to visit branch locations 

• Can be located close to any major metropolitan US airport within the assigned region to optimize travel time and expenses.