National Director of Federal Operations and Special Projects

Summary

The National Director of Federal Operations and Special Projects provides leadership over the delivery of WPE’s federal construction portfolio and its most complex, high-profile projects nationwide. This role establishes and leads Federal Construction Operations as a dedicated function, separate from WPE’s regional ESCO and MUSH construction operations, with the specialized processes, compliance controls, and talent that federal work requires.

The National Director oversees federal and special project execution from project development through construction, commissioning, and turnover, including energy savings performance contracts (ESPC), utility energy service contracts (UESC), and other federal contract vehicles. This position ensures projects are delivered safely, on schedule, within budget, and in full compliance with federal acquisition regulations, agency technical requirements, and contract terms, while partnering closely with the regional construction leaders, risk & preconstruction, business development, legal, and finance.

As a key operations leader, this position builds and mentors a high-performing federal delivery team, serves as WPE’s operational lead with federal clients and Contracting Officers, and drives continuous improvement in federal project controls, quality, and risk management.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Vision

• Establish and execute a clear strategy for Federal Construction Operations aligned with WPE’s federal growth plans, business objectives, and long-term vision.
• Build the federal delivery function, including organizational structure, staffing plan, standard procedures, and project controls tailored to federal contracting requirements.
• Define the boundaries and coordination points between Federal and Special Projects and the regional construction groups, sharing resources where it benefits the company.
• Partner with executive leadership and business development to evaluate federal and special project pursuits, delivery capacity, and organizational risk exposure.
• Benchmark industry and federal best practices to continuously improve delivery performance and competitiveness.

Federal Construction Operations

• Provide leadership and oversight of all federal construction projects, including ESPC, UESC, and other federal task orders and contract vehicles.
• Ensure project execution complies with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), agency supplements (such as DFARS), and agency-specific technical standards and specifications.
• Ensure all contract changes, modifications, and financial commitments are authorized by the warranted Contracting Officer before work proceeds.
• Oversee delivery in operating federal facilities, such as medical centers, military installations, and correctional facilities, including phasing, site access, security, and continuity of critical operations.
• Ensure compliance with federal labor and site requirements, including prevailing wage (Davis-Bacon) and certified payroll, base access and badging, and applicable safety standards such as EM 385-1-1.
• Coordinate the transition from development through design, construction, commissioning, measurement and verification (M&V), and operations to meet contract guarantees and performance objectives.

Special Projects Delivery

• Lead the delivery of special projects that, due to size, complexity, technology, or strategic importance, require dedicated national oversight.
• Oversee complex energy and infrastructure scopes such as central plants, utility-scale and campus photovoltaics, battery energy storage (BESS), microgrids, cogeneration, and campus-wide distribution systems.
• Support alternative delivery models, including design-build, CMAR, and public-private partnerships (P3).
• Lead recovery efforts on troubled or at-risk projects when assigned, restoring schedule, financial, and client performance.

Project Controls & Risk Management

• Establish project controls for federal and special projects, including baseline schedules, look-ahead scheduling, cost forecasting, and monthly project reviews.
• Maintain formal risk registers on every project, with each identified risk mapped to an owner and a mitigation plan.
• Oversee submittal, procurement, and long-lead equipment tracking to prevent material delays and schedule impacts.
• Partner with Risk & Preconstruction to review federal contract terms, flow-down provisions, and subcontract requirements before award and mobilization.
• Manage requests for equitable adjustment (REAs), claims avoidance, and change order documentation in accordance with federal contract requirements.

Quality & Safety Oversight

• Establish and oversee contractor quality control (QC) programs that meet federal requirements, recognizing that the contractor, not government quality assurance, is responsible for identifying and correcting deficiencies.
• Ensure documentation, inspections, testing, and closeout deliverables meet agency standards and support timely acceptance and payment.
• Promote a culture of safety, accountability, and ethical behavior across WPE staff and subcontractors on federal and special project sites.
• Support incident prevention, subcontractor safety performance evaluations, and regulatory compliance efforts.

Client & Stakeholder Focus

• Serve as WPE’s operational lead with federal clients, including Contracting Officers, Contracting Officer’s Representatives, facility managers, and agency program offices such as the DOE Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP).
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with clients, partners, subcontractors, engineers, financiers, and other stakeholders.
• Support business development efforts, including pursuit strategy, past performance documentation, proposal content, interviews, and client presentations.
• Protect and strengthen WPE’s federal past performance record through strong delivery and customer satisfaction, including contractor performance evaluations.

People Leadership & Talent Development

• Recruit, develop, mentor, and evaluate a high-performing team of federal and special project managers, superintendents, quality control managers, and project controls staff.
• Develop federal delivery expertise within WPE through training on federal contracting, quality control, safety, and compliance requirements.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and ethical leadership.
• Develop and enforce policies and procedures that promote consistency and operational excellence.

Financial & Business Acumen

• Hold accountability for the financial performance of the federal and special projects portfolio, including revenue, gross margin, forecasting, and cash flow.
• Monitor project financial performance and drive corrective actions to protect margin and contingency.
• Understand federal project funding and financing structures, including ESPC and UESC financing, appropriations, and progress payment requirements.
• Provide input on construction methods, lifecycle costs, and value engineering to maximize project value while meeting contract guarantees.

Innovation & Continuous Improvement

• Use project management software and data tools to provide real-time transparency to stakeholders and streamline federal reporting and payment cycles.
• Capture and share lessons learned across federal, special, and regional projects.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen federal compliance, project controls, quality, and delivery scalability.
• All Willdan Performance Engineering (WPE) employees are expected to follow company policies and procedures, whether those policies and procedures are established in writing or in practice. All WPE employees must adhere to the highest ethical standards, respect and cooperation in the workplace, and focus on delivering a world-class experience to internal customers and all WPE clients and business partners.

Job Requirements / Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, Business, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum of 15+ years of progressive experience in construction operations or project delivery, including demonstrated experience leading federal construction projects.
• Experience delivering energy savings performance contracts (ESPC) or UESCs strongly preferred; experience with other federal contract vehicles such as MATOC, MACC, or IDIQ task orders is a plus.
• Familiarity with the FAR and agency supplements (such as DFARS), Contracting Officer authority, and federal change and closeout processes.
• Experience delivering projects in occupied, mission-critical facilities, such as VA medical centers, military installations, correctional facilities, and university campuses.
• Experience establishing and managing contractor quality control programs; USACE Construction Quality Management (CQM) certification preferred or obtained within six months of hire.
• Knowledge of EM 385-1-1, OSHA, Davis-Bacon prevailing wage, and certified payroll requirements.
• Strong background in energy and infrastructure scopes such as central plants, HVAC, building automation, electrical distribution, photovoltaics, BESS, and microgrids.
• Proven leadership experience building and managing multidisciplinary project teams across multiple states and regions.
• Demonstrated success establishing project controls functions and standardizing construction processes across regions.
• Track record of recovering troubled or delayed projects while maintaining broader leadership responsibilities.
• Experience with design-build, CMAR, P3, and performance contracting delivery models.
• Strong financial and business acumen, including management of large project portfolios, cost forecasting, and profitability.
• Experience supporting federal business development, including pursuit strategy, proposals, and interviews.
• Active general contractor licenses in multiple states, with the ability to serve as a qualifying individual, strongly preferred.
• DBIA, PMP, or similar professional certification preferred.
• Ability to pass federal background investigations and obtain installation access; an active security clearance is a plus.
• Proficiency with construction management, scheduling, and project controls software (such as Procore, Primavera P6, and Microsoft Project).
• Strong communication, leadership, negotiation, and executive decision-making skills.
• Demonstrated ethical judgment, professionalism, and commitment to organizational values.
• Willingness to travel as required to support projects, clients, and operational teams.
• Ability to travel up to 50% of the time. Travel may include various means of transportation including automobile, public transportation, rail, and airplane.

EEO Non-Discrimination and ADA Reasonable Accommodation Statement Willdan is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants are considered for all positions without regard to race, religious creed, color, age marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, religion, military service or veteran status, disability, medical condition, childbirth and related medical conditions, genetic testing, reproductive status or any other classification protected by federal, state or local laws and ordinances. Willdan does not discriminate on the basis of physical or mental disability where the essential functions of the job can be reasonably accommodated. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. If you need reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify us.

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