Senior Preconstruction Manager

Senior Preconstruction Manager

MBG is more than a place to work. It's a place to build a career you're proud of. We focus on long-term growth, not quick wins, and we invest in people who want to take ownership and make an impact. Here, your voice is heard, your contributions matter, and your work helps shape meaningful projects and lasting relationships. If you're looking for a career built on trust, opportunity, and purpose, you'll find it at MBG.

MBG is seeking an experienced preconstruction professional to lead day-to-day preconstruction execution across our multifamily, hospitality, and senior living portfolio. This role is designed for a preconstruction leader who is ready to take full ownership of execution, including authoring budgets, interpreting project documents, leading bid processes, and developing team capability, with a clear path toward broader leadership within the organization.

The Senior Preconstruction Manager will lead pursuits from early concept through GMP recommendation, serving as the primary driver of cost strategy, scope definition, and trade coordination. This role plays a critical part in ensuring projects are thoroughly understood, clearly scoped, and responsibly positioned before they transition to operations. The role is structured to operate with a high level of independence while working in direct partnership with the Director of Preconstruction.

In addition to leading pursuits, this role plays an active part in developing preconstruction team members by setting clear expectations, reinforcing standards, and promoting independent problem-solving. The Senior Preconstruction Manager serves as a technical and executional resource for the team, helping elevate overall capability while intentionally reducing unnecessary escalation and dependency.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

The Senior Preconstruction Manager owns the execution and quality of preconstruction efforts on assigned pursuits. This role is accountable for ensuring projects are fully understood, clearly scoped, responsibly budgeted, and positioned for successful execution before they transition to operations.

Budget Development and Cost Strategy

• Authors concept, schematic, design development, and GMP-level budgets.
• Establishes clear assumptions, allowances, alternates, and escalation considerations.
• Understands and communicates cost drivers, risks, and opportunities by system and building type.
• Develops and presents defensible cost strategies aligned with client expectations and market conditions.

Project Understanding, Clarifications, and Assumptions

• Develops a thorough understanding of drawings, specifications, and project intent.
• Identifies gaps, conflicts, and scope ambiguities early in the process.
• Prepares and issues clarifications and assumptions to ensure consistent pricing and alignment.
• Ensures the preconstruction team is pricing the same project, with a clear understanding of inclusions and exclusions.

Design-Phase Leadership

• Leads design-phase cost conversations with architects, consultants, and ownership.
• Provides constructability input that balances budget, schedule, quality, and risk.
• Guides teams toward target budgets while maintaining clarity and credibility.

Bid Strategy and Trade Coordination

• Develops bid strategies by trade, scope, and market.
• Prepares bid instructions and scopes of work that minimize ambiguity and risk.
• Leads subcontractor outreach, bid leveling, scope alignment, and evaluation.
• Conducts award and loss conversations with trade partners in a professional, transparent manner.

Risk Identification and Recommendation

• Identifies financial, scope, and execution risks before projects move to operations.
• Recommends contingency and risk-mitigation strategies with clear rationale.
• Makes informed, professional recommendations on cost, scope, and approach.

Transition to Operations

• Ensures a clean, accurate, and well-communicated handoff to operations teams.
• Confirms alignment on scope, assumptions, risk posture, and buyout strategy prior to project launch.

HOW THIS ROLE WORKS WITH LEADERSHIP

The Senior Preconstruction Manager works in direct partnership with the Director of Preconstruction, with clear ownership of day-to-day preconstruction execution.

This role is expected to operate independently on assigned pursuits, using judgment and experience to drive budgets, scope development, and bid strategy. The Director remains engaged as a sounding board on approach, risk, and key inflection points rather than as a day-to-day approver of routine decisions.

Regular interaction is focused on:

• Reviewing assumptions, risk, and overall pursuit strategy
• Aligning on major decisions before client commitments are made
• Pressure-testing recommendations and resolving complex issues

The working relationship is collaborative and candid. This role brings well-formed thinking and clear recommendations to the table, and leadership provides perspective, challenge, and support where it matters most.

EXPERIENCE EXPECTATIONS

This role requires demonstrated experience leading preconstruction efforts on complex commercial projects, with a strong emphasis on multifamily, hospitality, and senior living work. Successful candidates will have a track record of authoring and defending project budgets through multiple design phases, leading bid processes including scope development and trade coordination, interfacing directly with owners and designers, and identifying and managing risk before projects transition to operations.

Candidates should bring a strong technical foundation, typically developed through a combination of formal education and hands-on leadership experience. A bachelor's degree in construction management, engineering, architecture, or a related field is preferred. Equivalent professional experience demonstrating technical rigor, financial understanding, and the ability to lead complex preconstruction efforts may also be considered.

This role requires depth of experience gained through repeated ownership of preconstruction efforts, not limited exposure or task-based support. Candidates should have led budgets, scope development, and bid processes independently and understand the responsibility that comes with committing a project to operations.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Immediate Impact

• Preconstruction efforts are led with clear ownership, accountability, and consistency.
• Budgets, assumptions, and bid strategies are developed with clarity and defended with confidence.
• Projects transition to operations with a shared understanding of scope, risk, and intent.
• Day-to-day execution no longer relies on a single individual, and routine questions are resolved within the preconstruction team.

Long-Term Impact

• Preconstruction operates as a disciplined, scalable function rather than a personality-driven process.
• Preconstruction team members demonstrate increased judgment, independence, and accountability.
• Leadership is able to focus more fully on broader business operations, strategy, and growth.
• The role continues to evolve alongside the needs of the business, contributing to long-term stability and leadership depth within the organization.

Why MBG?

We know great Team Members have options. Here's why ours choose MBG — and why they stay:

• An Intentional Way of Working: We're deliberate about how work gets done, balancing field time, office support, and collaboration to build strong teams and deliver quality outcomes.
• Built on Collaboration, Not Silos: We work best when we work together. Open communication, shared problem-solving, and mutual accountability are part of our day-to-day culture.
• Ownership Comes With Trust: We trust our people to lead, make decisions, and own results, with experienced leaders who provide support, mentorship, and clarity.
• Growth Without Burnout: We set high standards while respecting the people doing the work, creating space for sustainable growth over the long term.
• Compensation Reflects Responsibility: Pay and incentives align with the responsibility you carry and the impact you make, with rewards tied to performance and results.

MBG is a people-first general contractor headquartered in St. Louis and serving the greater Midwest. With more than $350 million in active construction, we focus on delivering environments shaped by care, expertise, and a commitment to doing the right thing. What truly defines MBG is our Team Members—the people who show up every day to support one another, raise the bar, and make a meaningful impact in the communities we serve.