Director, Federal Construction Management

Job Description

Position Summary

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The Director, Federal Construction Management, is the owner of ISI's Facilities and Engineering (F&E) business unit. This leader supports federal contract and program performance, workforce capacity, client outcomes, risk management, and the operational systems required to deliver high-quality project and construction management services to Federal agencies nationwide.

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The portfolio includes federal program/project management, construction management, engineering, planning and design support, and related technical and professional services. The Director provides the technical and business judgment needed to translate agency requirements into executable strategies for staffing, delivery, pricing, and performance. The Director coordinates closely with Business Development, Contracts & Compliance, Finance, People Operations, Talent Acquisition, and other corporate leaders

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Key Accountabilities

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Business-Unit Leadership & Strategy

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• Own the F&E business unit's strategy, annual operating plan, priorities, performance objectives, and execution roadmap in alignment with company goals.
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• Support business-unit P&L performance, including revenue, direct and indirect costs, profitability, forecasting, staffing investments, and corrective actions when actual results vary from plan.
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• Set portfolio priorities and allocate leadership attention, technical resources, and recruiting capacity based on mission criticality, contractual obligations, client needs, risk, and financial impact.
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• Make timely decisions within delegated authority and coordinate matters owned by peer directors without duplicating their functional responsibilities.
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• Develop scalable operating practices, management controls, performance measures, and succession plans that support sustained growth and consistent delivery.
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• Provide CMPM subject-matter leadership to support capture and proposal efforts, including solution development, staffing models, management approaches, transition plans, risk analysis, teaming input, pricing assumptions, and oral presentations.
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• Contribute to proposal narratives and data calls and ensure proposed approaches are executable, differentiated, appropriately resourced, and consistent with ISI's capabilities and risk tolerance.
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• Apply working knowledge of federal service and construction contracting, acquisition vehicles, proposal lifecycles, agency funding, and relevant FAR, agency supplement, and source-selection concepts.
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Federal F&E Delivery & Contract Performance

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• Provide executive oversight of federal F&E contracts, task orders, programs, and projects from transition/start-up through steady-state delivery and closeout.
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• Ensure compliance with contract scope, staffing commitments, deliverables, schedules, quality requirements, invoicing bases, security requirements, and customer expectations.
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• Apply deep knowledge of federal construction and professional services delivery, agency funding and budget cycles, acquisition and project lifecycles, and the practical constraints affecting federal customers.
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• Understand and guide performance under time-and-materials, firm-fixed-price, level-of-effort, and deliverable-based structures, including the relationship among staffing, utilization, cost, revenue, billing, and margin.
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• Maintain executive visibility into contract health through reliable forecasts, financial and operational dashboards, staffing plans, quality reviews, and documented risk, issue, and opportunity management.
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• Lead recovery of underperforming work; establish corrective-action plans, assign accountability, engage the customer appropriately, and monitor results through closure.
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• Promote disciplined records management and support internal, client, and government audits in coordination with Contracts & Compliance, Finance, and other functional owners.
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Client Leadership & Partnership

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• Serve as the senior relationship owner for F&E clients and key partners, establishing credibility through responsiveness, sound judgment, technical understanding, and consistent follow-through.
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• Maintain awareness of client missions, stakeholder priorities, funding limitations, resource constraints, regulatory obligations, political sensitivities, leadership changes, and GAO/OIG or other oversight concerns that may affect delivery.
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• Engage contracting officers, contracting officers’ representatives, program leaders, facility and engineering stakeholders, primes, subcontractors, and joint-venture partners to align expectations and resolve issues.
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• Identify opportunities to improve outcomes or expand support within existing client relationships and coordinate appropriate growth actions with Business Development and company leadership.
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• Lead or support negotiations involving scope, staffing, rates, performance expectations, modifications, and partner responsibilities within delegated authority.
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People Leadership, Recruiting & Organizational Health

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• Lead, coach, and hold accountable F&E program managers and other direct reports; establish clear expectations, provide meaningful feedback, delegate effectively, and develop leadership capacity.
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• Maintain substantive periodic engagement with contract leaders and employees to understand performance, client conditions, employee needs, retention risks, and professional-development goals.
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• Partner with People Operations to investigate and address performance or conduct concerns fairly, consistently, promptly, and in accordance with company policy.
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• Own F&E workforce planning and hiring priorities. Translate solicitations and performance requirements into accurate job requisitions, labor-category profiles, screening criteria, and interview strategies.
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• Distinguish between planners, designers, architects, engineers, construction managers, facility managers, technical specialists and generalists, and oversight versus execution roles; evaluate resumes for both stated qualifications and actual delivery fit.
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• Conduct or oversee technical interviews, select qualified candidates, support compensation decisions, and shape candidate resumes or qualification packages for truthful and compelling client presentation.
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• Coordinate onboarding, access, equipment, training, deployment, engagement, recognition, retention, succession, and offboarding with the responsible corporate functions.
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• Assess workforce knowledge, skill, and ability gaps; recommend practical training and knowledge-sharing solutions within available resources.
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Financial, Risk, & Operational Governance

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• Develop and manage the F&E budget and rolling forecasts; track revenue, expenses, profit, utilization, labor mix, vacancies, receivables, and other indicators against the approved baseline.
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• Collaborate with Finance on accurate billing, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accruals, subcontractor costs, and financial reporting without assuming ownership of Finance-controlled processes.
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• Own portfolio-level risk, issue, and opportunity management, including identification, analysis, response planning, escalation, decision tracking, and closure.
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• Apply sound working knowledge of the FAR and applicable agency supplements, including DFARS and VAAR when relevant; identify when specialist legal, contracts, compliance, finance, or HR review is required.
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• Research unfamiliar regulatory or contracting questions using reliable sources and elevate matters that exceed the role's authority or expertise.
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• Continuously improve processes across programs, people, recruiting, reporting, knowledge management, quality, and financial controls.
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Required Qualifications

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• Bachelor's degree in engineering, architecture, construction management, facilities management, or a closely related technical field.
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• Ten or more years of progressively responsible experience delivering or overseeing federal facilities, engineering, construction management, program management, design, facilities management, or closely related services.
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• Substantial direct experience with federal PM/CM or related F&E delivery and a demonstrated understanding of federal construction, funding, acquisition, and project lifecycles.
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• Demonstrated federal services leadership experience, including accountability for multiple contracts, programs, task orders, projects, or geographically dispersed teams.
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• Five or more years leading managers and professional or technical staff, including hiring, performance management, coaching, delegation, and employee engagement.
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• Demonstrated responsibility for a business unit, portfolio, or multi-contract P&L, including budgeting, forecasting, cost control, revenue and profit performance, and corrective action.
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• Experience supporting federal captures and proposals, interpreting solicitations, developing executable technical or management solutions, and contributing to pricing and staffing strategies.
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• Strong working knowledge of federal service and construction contracts and applicable acquisition regulations, including the FAR and relevant agency supplements.
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• Ability to evaluate F&E labor categories and candidates, translate technical requirements for recruiters and corporate partners, and assess qualifications beyond job titles.
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• Executive-level communication, negotiation, analytical, problem-solving, prioritization, and relationship-management skills.
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• Ability to travel to client, project, partner, and company locations as business needs require.
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Preferred Qualifications

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• Professional Engineer (PE) or Registered Architect (RA) license; PMP, CCM, CFM, DBIA, or comparable credential.
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• Advanced degree in engineering, architecture, construction management, facilities management, business, public administration, or a related discipline.
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• Experience spanning federal planning, design, construction, and facilities management; healthcare facilities experience is especially valuable.
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• Prior federal employment or direct experience overseeing contractors from the federal customer perspective.
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• Experience supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs, including the Office of Construction & Facilities Management, and/or Department of Defense organizations.
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• Experience with joint ventures, prime/subcontractor operating models, IDIQs, BPAs, GSA Schedules, and task-order environments.
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• Familiarity with federal bid protests and relevant case-law research sufficient to recognize risk and engage qualified specialists.
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• Experience supporting business-development recruiting, compensation or salary negotiations, transition/start-up, and contract closeout.
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Physical Requirements

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The physical demands required of this position described here are of those that must be met by the selected employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job daily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

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• Must be required to occasionally move and lift 20-30 pounds.
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• Must be able to climb, erect and maintain balance on a 30-40 pound ladder.
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• Must be able to remain in a stationary computer position for extended periods of time.
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• Must be able to walk up to 3 miles per day between buildings.
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• Must be able to stand for extended periods
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• Must be willing to work in external environments of rain, high heat and significant cold.
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• Must be able navigate active construction sites containing uneven ground, debris, and active construction hazards such as sharp objects, electrical hazards, and potential fall hazards.
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• Must be able to occasionally go into confined spaces and crawl
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Work Setting / Environment

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• Primarily remote, with regular virtual engagement across a nationally distributed workforce and client portfolio. It is highly preferred that the candidate be located in the DC-Metro Area.
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• Required to be on-site regularly in the DC-Metro Area at one or more of ISI’s client sites.
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• Travel is required; and frequency may increase during transitions, client escalations, proposal efforts, team events, or other business-critical periods.
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• Work is generally performed Monday through Friday during normal business hours, with flexibility required to support clients, employees, proposal deadlines, and urgent operational matters across time zones.
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Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) statement, please visit: -policy-statement/