Senior Vice President, Design and Construction

Under direction of the President and CEO and in close collaboration with VP of Design and VP of Construction the purpose of this position is to coordinate major design and construction projects for the Battery Park City Authority with a central focus on the North West resiliency project. The N/W resiliency project is a 1.4-mile-long flood protection system which is currently in design and expected to start construction in 2025. The SVP’s primary role is to ensure the project is delivered on time, on budget, with a high level of design quality and careful management of quality of life for the BPC neighborhood during construction. The project has an approximately 5-year construction timeline.  

This role also requires managing the Design & Construction team – a 13-person team of architects, planners, construction project management professionals – who manage a variety of design and construction projects. The SVP will work with the VPs to support the team’s development and execution of projects on schedule, on budget, develop a long-term capital strategy for the neighborhood, and support the team’s professional development and growth.  

The successful candidate will feel equally comfortable being a public face for the project as well working closely with contractors, designers, engineers on day-to-day design, permitting, budgeting, construction management, and project coordination. The person will be a superior project manager able to toggle between big picture strategy and project risk to day-to-day oversight of a large infrastructure project, ensuring key stakeholders are informed throughout the whole construction. 

This is a unique opportunity to deliver an essential part of New York City’s Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency project.  

Essential Duties: 

• Lead the Authority’s efforts to deliver the N/W resiliency project – coordinating internally and externally as needed to ensure project success.
• Serve as the central hub for project coordination across the disparate work streams of the project including managing large consultant teams.    
• Maintain a detailed departmental operational and capital budget. 
• Oversee regular development of a physical needs assessment of public spaces and structures and development of a multi-year capital plan.
• Ensure effective project management by staff and vendors, including scoping, scheduling, budget management, and internal and external stakeholder communications to help ensure that departmental project milestones and deadlines for Authority projects are met.
• Conduct presentations on the Authority’s work to various stakeholder groups and media outlets and serve as a principal spokesperson for the N/W resiliency project.  
• Recruit, manage, and support the professional development of the staff in the design & construction team.  
• Lead by example in planning and organizing work, managing the team, being responsive to requests, and delivering results in a collaborative manner.
• Set a high standard for professionalism and collegiality.
• Ensure high quality design outcomes.

Education and Experience: 

A Bachelor’s degree is required and should be supplemented by a minimum of ten (10) years of previous work experience and/or training which includes project management, infrastructure construction, capital planning, and project management or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.  

Competencies: 

• Strong Construction Project Manager
• Clear Communicator
• Heavy civil engineering experience and understanding 
• Multi-agency stakeholder management
• Risk Management 
• Project budgeting/project controls
• Leading teams with different disciplinary backgrounds
• Project planning and management
• Proficiency in ProCore or other construction project management software
• Project controls

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. All qualified people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.