Traveling Superintendent

Job Title: Traveling Superintendent - Mission Critical, Lab, and Clean Room Projects

Job Description

This Traveling Superintendent role oversees complex mission critical, lab, and clean room construction projects across the country from preconstruction through commissioning and final turnover. You will lead on-site operations, coordinate critical mechanical and electrical systems, manage trade partners, and ensure projects meet strict quality, safety, and uptime requirements. The position is based out of Chicago with nationwide travel to project sites and requires extended stays on site for the full duration of each project.

Responsibilities

• Participate in project kickoff meetings with project executives and teams to understand project goals, critical systems requirements, commissioning milestones, client expectations, and operational constraints.

• Host field kickoff meetings with trade partners, commissioning agents, vendors, and project managers to align on scope, schedule, and critical activities.

• Manage day-to-day relationships with trade partners and vendors, with a strong focus on critical systems installation, startup, testing, and turnover.

• Maintain effective relationships between site teams, facility operators, client representatives, commissioning teams, and ownership groups to support smooth project delivery.

• Participate in project closeout meetings and provide detailed feedback on trade partner performance, quality, commissioning readiness, and turnover execution.

• Host trade partner gatherings to review project closeout activities and lessons learned to drive continuous improvement.

• Lead weekly toolbox talks on site with all trade partners and document the sessions in Procore.

• Lead weekly on-site foreman meetings to review three-week lookahead schedules, commissioning activities, constraints, shutdowns, and critical path items.

• Establish and manage site setup, including branding, safety signage, wayfinding, and ensuring personal protective equipment is available at all times.

• Oversee site logistics, material flow, equipment deliveries, and storage of long-lead mission critical equipment such as generators, switchgear, UPS systems, PDUs, cooling equipment, and prefabricated assemblies.

• Coordinate installation sequencing and access requirements for critical electrical and mechanical systems to avoid conflicts and maintain schedule.

• Manage and coordinate construction activities within active mission critical projects, ensuring work proceeds safely and without disrupting operations.

• Coordinate with the Warehouse team for site deliveries and train field staff on inventory systems when implemented.

• Manage, track, and complete punch lists, commissioning deficiencies, and turnover items through project closeout.

• Manage field tickets and on-site change order documentation, ensuring proper review and approval processes are followed.

• Fully vet field claims in collaboration with the Project Manager and trade partners prior to ticket approval.

• Track and document impacts to critical path activities, commissioning schedules, and equipment delivery milestones.

• Review construction documents, drawings, specifications, and equipment submittals with a focus on critical systems and commissioning requirements.

• Review and maintain the superintendent binder in Procore, ensuring all mission critical project documentation is current and organized.

• Collaborate with project managers to develop and maintain detailed construction schedules focused on MEP rough-in, equipment installation, startup, testing, and turnover milestones.

• Create and manage three-week lookahead schedules in Outbuild to guide daily and weekly field activities.

• Monitor schedule performance and document schedule claims, delays, and recovery plans as needed.

• Understand labor allocation, earned value, and production tracking in coordination with project managers to support project financial and productivity goals.

• Draft field RFIs and submit them to project managers for resolution.

• Lead field coordination efforts between mechanical, electrical, plumbing, controls, fire protection, and commissioning teams to ensure integrated systems performance.

• Support commissioning activities including pre-functional testing, integrated systems testing, deficiency resolution, and final turnover.

• Maintain on-site safety oversight with guidance and support from the Safety Director.

• Ensure safety training, documentation, emergency response procedures, and mission critical operational protocols are implemented and followed on site.

• Promote a culture of safety, quality, and operational reliability across all project activities.

• Manage and upload progress photos in Procore or Sway to document site conditions and milestones.

• Complete daily logs in Procore to record work performed, manpower, inspections, and key events.

• Prepare and submit weekly field reports in Procore to keep stakeholders informed of progress and issues.

• Track commissioning progress, turnover documentation, and key project milestones to ensure timely completion.

• Travel to project sites nationwide and remain on site for the full duration of each project, providing consistent leadership and oversight.

• Mobilize quickly from the Chicago home base as project needs require, adapting to changing priorities and schedules.

Essential Skills

• 5–15+ years of experience as a Superintendent with significant experience delivering mission critical, lab, and clean room projects.

• Proven experience managing mission critical projects from preconstruction through commissioning, turnover, and operational readiness, including sitework, structural work, major MEP systems, and critical equipment installation.

• Demonstrated experience coordinating critical electrical infrastructure including switchgear, UPS systems, generators, PDUs, and associated distribution systems.

• Demonstrated experience coordinating critical mechanical infrastructure including cooling systems, chilled water systems, CRAH/CRAC units, controls, and building automation systems.

• Strong understanding of commissioning processes, startup procedures, integrated systems testing, turnover requirements, and outage management protocols within active mission critical environments.

• Experience working within active data centers or operational facilities requiring strict uptime requirements is preferred.

• Strong professional communication skills with clients, design teams, commissioning agents, trade partners, facility operators, and internal stakeholders.

• Demonstrated proactive problem-solving skills, including early identification of design, constructability, and coordination issues during preconstruction and active construction phases.

• Comfort representing the company in client presentations, interviews, and pursuit efforts.

• Ability to mentor, coach, and support junior field staff, contributing to overall team development and consistency across traveling projects.

• Ability to work flexible schedules and weekends, along with extended stays away from home as project needs require.

• Familiarity with mission critical, lab, and clean room environments and their unique operational and safety requirements.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience using Procore for project documentation, daily logs, photos, reports, and superintendent binders.

• Experience using Sway for progress photo management is beneficial.

• Experience creating and managing three-week lookahead schedules in Outbuild.

• Exposure to pharmaceutical, lab, or clean room projects is a plus.

• Experience leading projects of $1M or more in construction value.

• OSHA 30 certification is preferred; if not currently held, the company will sponsor completion.

• No formal degree, specific software, or certification requirements are mandated, allowing experienced superintendents from diverse educational backgrounds to apply.

Work Environment

This is a traveling superintendent role focused on lab and clean room projects for a major healthcare and life sciences client, with multiple sites across states such as Georgia, Mississippi, and Kansas. The position is based out of Chicago, with nationwide travel and full-time on-site presence for each project. Superintendent hours are typically 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and project team hours are generally 7:00–8:00 a.m. to 3:00–4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, totaling around 40 hours per week. A dedicated trailer is provided on site as the central hub for project coordination and administration. The work environment involves active mission critical, lab, and clean room facilities where strict uptime, safety, and cleanliness standards are essential. You will work closely with collaborative, hardworking professionals who value empathy, integrity, perseverance, curiosity, humility, and respect. The culture emphasizes doing what is right, asking questions, continuous improvement, and building an inclusive, innovative future for the construction industry, while delivering exceptional value and exceeding client expectations.

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Chicago, IL.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $57.69 - $96.15/hr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: • Medical, dental & vision • Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital • 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available • Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) • Short and long-term disability • Health Spending Account (HSA) • Transportation benefits • Employee Assistance Program • Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Workplace Type

This is a fully onsite position in Chicago,IL.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Sep 30, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email View email address on click.appcast.io for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.