Executive Director, Project Management - Princeton - ZRG

Description

Client: Princeton University

Role: Executive Director, Project Management

SITUATION OVERVIEW:

ZRG has been engaged to recruit an Executive Director, Project Management for Princeton University.

ABOUT PRINCETON:

Princeton University, located in Princeton, New Jersey, is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the United States, founded in 1746. Renowned for its commitment to excellence in education, cutting-edge research, and fostering a vibrant intellectual community, Princeton offers a unique and enriching environment for students, faculty, and staff.

Princeton is consistently ranked among the top universities globally. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs across various disciplines, including the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. With a student-faculty ratio of approximately 5:1, Princeton ensures personalized attention and mentorship for students. The university's faculty includes Nobel laureates, MacArthur Fellows, and members of prestigious academies, all contributing to significant advancements and thought leadership. Research at Princeton is robustly supported by substantial funding from federal agencies, foundations, and industry partners, facilitating a wide array of groundbreaking projects.

POSITION:

Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Capital Projects within the Facilities Organization, the Executive Director of Project Management will play a critical role within the Office for Capital Projects (OCP) in executing on the Capital Plan projects at Princeton University. As Princeton implements the Capital Plan, the Executive Director of Project Management will set a strategic and integrated approach to implementing facilities projects within a defined program or collection of projects and programs.

Working with the AVP, the Program Executives, and the Executive Director of Strategy and Governance, the incumbent actively participates and provides input in strategic planning and aids the Department in its execution of all design and construction projects and major renovations.

The Executive Director collaborates closely with other officers and senior administrators in Facilities and University wide to facilitate the implementation of critical projects and initiatives in support of the goals for OCP. This individual must embody core values essential to the Facilities Organization including collaboration with academic and administrative leadership to support the Capital Plan, while cultivating and sustaining cooperative working relationships with local, county, and state agencies. The position will support the VP of Facilities, the AVP of Capital Projects and the University Architect in preparing for the Board of Trustees, Facilities Planning Group, and other committees involving developing projects.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Pre-Construction

• Provide Program Managers, Project Managers and construction personnel guidance that is complementary to the organization's strategic objectives and track the alignment of strategic objectives to project objectives.
• Allocate resources to projects within a program in accordance with the organization's priorities and commitments and coordinate with leadership on OCP workload and staff resources.
• Work with Office of University Architect (OUA) and leadership to establish benchmarks.
• Participate in the creation of Value Proposition and PPO's; discuss early relationships with user and executive sponsors.
• Lead Program Mangers and project teams, particularly at initiation through project milestones to completion.
• Provide input to project teams on governance, resources, priorities, risks and communications.
• Serve as liaison with executive sponsor, users and University administration.
• Monitor a plan for project governance, authorization and approval.
• Support PGMs & PMs to position them for success.
• "Clear the path" to secure approvals, establish funding strategies, and set priorities.
• Monitor "hot" issues to ensure resolution.
• Responsible for preparation and presentation of FPG capital approval process.
• Develop project requests into executable projects.
• Assign projects and manage PM workload, including "standing in for PM" when unavailable.
• Ensure client and stakeholder communication is ongoing.
• Work with PM and Project Planner to draft project scope for RFP's.
• Work with PM to establish project schedule, with inputs from PM, OUA and others.
• Participate in project team selection, including AE/CM.
• Responsible for managing budget building process and funding approvals at milestones.
• Work closely with PM and procurement to establish contracts.
• Work with senior administration to establish Facilities or campus initiatives, policies and procedures, such as ADA compliance, Fire Code compliance, Design Standards, wayfinding and campus space utilization.
• Follow up on quality assurance for performance of teams' ability to meet
• DSM compliance after tech team progress reports.

Construction

• Closely monitor team performance and ability to achieve milestones.
• Work with PGM and project team when issues arise on performance, cost control or schedule slippage.
• Collaborate to ensure PMs have established agendas and scheduled meetings.
• Lead discussions with CM and A/E on cost estimating process.
• Work closely with PM and finance team to monitor budget, including options early on and alternates as documentation progresses.
• Work closely with PM and Project Planner, lead discussion to create and monitor overall project schedule including design process, procurement, approvals and construction/move in.
• Ensure communication is inclusive and includes project stakeholders and user representative.
• Actively participate in preparation for and meeting with senior leadership where PM reports out on project progress and risks.
• Closely monitor construction, turnover, and move-in preparation to ensure smooth project delivery.
• Ensure post construction issues are resolved.
• Ensure progress during project close out.

Other duties:

• Provide executive leadership in the financial and human resources related to project services, maintaining and growing partnerships with Facilities Finance and Information Services, the Office of Sustainability, Operations, Engineering, Office of the University Architect and the Contracts Group.
• Develop PGMs as leaders within the organization and expand their capabilities to assume more and greater responsibility for project success, through a variety of means such as training, mentoring, and coaching.
• Serve as role model for the PM and project team through making timely and supportive decisions.
• Closely monitor progress and performance of team.
• Ensure quick resolution by PM/team as issues arise.
• Provide clear and timely communications on risks and project issues.
• Participate in senior leadership updates.

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as engineering, architecture, real estate, etc. or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 15 years successful experience in managing capital design and construction projects.
• Familiarity with construction contract law.
• Broad knowledge and expertise in various building types (e.g. wet labs, residential, classroom, athletic, etc.
• Knowledgeable in municipal approval processes.
• Demonstrated leadership of people with proven skills in effectively engaging and motivating staff.
• Significant experience and a well-developed maturity in decision processes and leading/managing diverse teams with conflicting needs or requirements.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills as well as the ability to develop and maintain effective customer relationships within a team approach to construction management.
• Ability to manage multiple complex projects with varying scope and multiple stages of completion.
• Possess assertive and collaborative skills capable of maintaining momentum of projects and driving it to successful conclusion in a politically sensitive manner.
• Effective organizational, prioritization and multi-tasking skills.
• Ability to understand existing policies, processes and procedures; and conceive of and implement new work procedures to enhance efficiency or execution to individual project circumstances.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's degree in engineering, business, or related field.
• Previous experience working in the higher education environment, in the construction industry, or real estate development.

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

The University considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's qualifications, work experience, education/training, key skills, market, collective bargaining agreements as applicable, and organizational considerations when extending an offer. The posted salary range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate for a full-time position; salaries for part-time positions are pro-rated accordingly.

SALARY RANGE: $243,000 to $274,000