Regional Construction Operations Leader - Design-Build Water

Vision

Establish Black & Veatch as the premier Design-Build Water direct-hire construction provider in the Southeast by building a scalable organization, expanding geographic coverage, strengthening client relationships, and increasing market share across municipal and industrial water infrastructure markets.

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Location

Location: Tampa, Florida or Orlando, Florida

Regional Responsibility: Southeast United States

The Regional Construction Operations Leader will be based in either Tampa or Orlando and serve as the senior construction operations leader for Black & Veatch's Design-Build Water Direct Hire Construction business throughout the Southeast Region. The position will provide leadership across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and adjacent Southeast growth markets.

Job Summary

Position Purpose

The Regional Construction Operations Leader provides executive leadership for Design-Build Water direct-hire construction operations across the Southeast Region. This role is responsible for developing organizational capability, growing market presence, supporting business development efforts, and ensuring world-class project execution. The position serves as the regional leader for construction operations and is accountable for building the people, systems, and processes required to support long-term growth and profitability within the Design-Build Water business

The Opportunity

Black & Veatch's Design-Build Water Solutions business is seeking a Regional Construction Operations Leader to drive the growth and execution of our Direct Hire Construction capabilities throughout the Southeast Region. This strategic leadership position will be responsible for building and leading a high-performing construction organization, expanding our market presence, and delivering safe, predictable, and profitable execution of complex water and wastewater infrastructure projects.

The Operations Leader will work across Business Development, Design-Build Delivery, Engineering, Procurement, and Construction teams to establish a scalable direct-hire construction organization capable of supporting sustained regional growth. The role will focus on developing talent, strengthening client relationships, securing new work, and enhancing Black & Veatch's position as a leading provider of integrated design-build solutions for municipal and industrial water infrastructure.

Success in this role will be measured by growth in direct-hire construction revenue, expansion of regional capabilities, development of construction leadership talent, successful project delivery, and increased market share throughout the Southeast region.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and lead the Southeast Design-Build Water Construction organization.
• Expand Black & Veatch's direct-hire construction capabilities across the Southeast region.
• Develop and execute a regional growth strategy focused on water and wastewater infrastructure markets.
• Establish a scalable construction operations organization capable of supporting significant year-over-year growth.
• Recruit, develop, and retain construction professionals to support regional project delivery.
• Lead construction execution excellence with a focus on safety, quality, schedule certainty, and financial performance.
• Partner with Business Development and Client Directors to identify, position, pursue, and win new design-build opportunities.
• Strengthening relationships with municipal, utility, and industrial clients throughout the Southeast.
• Develop regional construction leadership succession plans and workforce development programs.
• Standardize construction processes, execution methodologies, and operational best practices across the region.
• Support strategic planning for future expansion into new markets and delivery models.

Additional Leadership Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a regional Direct Hire Construction growth plan.
• Establish annual hiring plans and organizational development strategies to meet business growth objectives.
• Build a culture of operational excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Lead workforce planning, craft labor strategies, and construction resource forecasting.

Organizational Development Strategy

• Build a scalable regional construction organization capable of supporting significant year-over-year growth.
• Develop workforce planning strategies that align staffing levels with forecasted project demand.
• Lead recruitment efforts for construction managers, superintendents, project managers, field engineers, safety professionals, and craft leadership personnel.
• Establish succession planning and leadership development programs for future operational leaders.
• Create mentoring, coaching, and professional development programs to strengthen organizational capabilities.
• Foster a high-performance culture focused on safety, accountability, collaboration, innovation, and operational excellence.

Direct Hire Construction Capability Expansion

• Establish the Southeast Region as a center of excellence for direct-hire construction execution.
• Develop strategies to increase self-perform construction capabilities and improve overall project competitiveness.
• Build construction execution processes, systems, and management tools that support efficient project delivery.
• Strengthen field leadership resources capable of supporting multiple concurrent design-build projects.
• Work with Construction Operations to identify best practices and standardize execution methodologies across the organization. 

Key Measures of Success

The success of this position will be measured by:

• Annual growth in regional direct-hire construction revenue.
• Increase in awarded backlog and qualified opportunity pipeline.
• Expansion of construction staff and leadership resources.
• Growth of self-perform construction capabilities.
• Successful entry into new Southeast markets.
• Client satisfaction and repeat business performance.
• Project safety, quality, schedule, and financial performance.
• Development of future construction leaders and organizational depth.
• Increased market share within the Design-Build Water sector.

Preferred Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering/construction discipline.
• Master's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Business Administration (MBA), or related field preferred.
• Advanced leadership, business management, or executive education training is desirable.

Professional Experience

• 20+ years of progressive construction leadership experience delivering major infrastructure projects.
• 10+ years leading Design-Build, EPC, CMAR, or Direct Hire Construction organizations.
• Proven experience managing large-scale water and wastewater treatment facilities, pump stations, pipelines, conveyance systems, and related infrastructure programs valued in excess of $100M.
• Demonstrated success in building and growing regional construction operations, including organizational development, workforce expansion, and market growth.
• Experience leading geographically dispersed teams across multiple office and project locations.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or construction or equivalent relevant experience.
• 10-20 years of construction operations experience, based on assigned area of operations.
• All applicants must be able to complete pre-employment onboarding requirements (if selected) which may include any/all of the following: criminal/civil background check, drug screen, and motor vehicle records search, in compliance with any applicable laws and regulations.

Certifications

• Professional Engineer (PE) license preferred.
• Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) certification preferred.
• Certified Construction Manager (CCM) preferred.
• OSHA 30-Hour Certification required or ability to obtain.