Director of Heavy Civil Construction

Position: Director of Construction
Industry: Heavy Civil Construction / Heavy Transportation
Employment Type: Full-Time
Reports To: Vice President of Operations / Executive Leadership

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Director of Construction to lead and oversee large-scale heavy civil construction operations, with a primary focus on heavy transportation, highway, roadway, bridge, and infrastructure projects. This individual will be responsible for driving operational performance, managing project execution, developing construction leadership teams, and ensuring projects are delivered safely, on schedule, and within budget.

The ideal candidate brings extensive experience managing complex heavy civil construction operations, strong financial and strategic leadership capabilities, and a proven ability to build high-performing teams while maintaining strong relationships with clients, subcontractors, and industry partners.

Key Responsibilities

• Operational Leadership: Oversee multiple heavy civil construction projects, ensuring operational efficiency, consistent execution, and alignment with company objectives.
• Project Oversight: Direct project managers, superintendents, and other construction leaders throughout the project lifecycle, from preconstruction and mobilization through final completion.
• Heavy Transportation: Provide leadership on large-scale highway, interstate, roadway, bridge, interchange, and DOT infrastructure projects.
• Financial Performance: Monitor project budgets, cost forecasts, labor productivity, equipment utilization, and overall profitability across the construction portfolio.
• Strategic Planning: Collaborate with executive leadership to establish operational goals, identify growth opportunities, and support the company's long-term business strategy.
• Leadership Development: Recruit, mentor, and develop project managers, superintendents, and other operational personnel to strengthen the company's leadership pipeline.
• Safety & Quality: Champion a strong safety culture and ensure compliance with OSHA regulations, company policies, quality standards, and applicable DOT requirements.
• Client Relationships: Develop and maintain relationships with owners, DOT representatives, engineers, subcontractors, and other key stakeholders.
• Resource Management: Coordinate manpower, equipment, materials, and subcontractor resources across multiple projects to maximize efficiency and minimize risk.
• Risk Management: Identify and address project risks, contractual challenges, scheduling conflicts, and cost overruns before they impact performance.
• Preconstruction & Estimating: Work closely with estimating and preconstruction teams to evaluate bids, review project scopes, assess risks, and ensure successful project handoffs.
• Business Development: Support client acquisition, pursuit strategies, and relationship development to expand the company's heavy civil construction portfolio.
• Performance Reporting: Establish and monitor key performance indicators related to safety, profitability, schedule adherence, productivity, and project execution.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in heavy civil construction, with significant experience in senior project management or construction operations leadership.
• Proven experience overseeing multiple heavy civil projects or managing a large construction portfolio.
• Strong background in heavy transportation, including highways, interstates, bridges, roadways, interchanges, and other major infrastructure projects.
• Demonstrated success managing project financials, budgets, schedules, forecasting, and profitability.
• Experience leading and developing project managers, superintendents, and multidisciplinary construction teams.
• Strong understanding of DOT specifications, construction contracts, project controls, safety regulations, and quality assurance procedures.
• Experience working with public-sector agencies, municipalities, private owners, and subcontractors.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to balance strategic planning with hands-on operational oversight.
• Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Civil Engineering, or a related field preferred; equivalent industry experience will also be considered.

Preferred Experience

• Experience with large-scale, multi-million-dollar heavy civil and transportation projects.
• Background with a heavy civil general contractor overseeing multiple concurrent projects.
• Experience with design-build, public-private partnerships (P3), joint ventures, and major DOT contracts.
• Established relationships within the heavy civil construction market.
• A track record of improving operational processes, increasing project profitability, and developing successful construction teams.