Senior Project​/Program Manager - Chicago, IL

Senior Project/Program Manager - Chicago, IL

Join McKissack & McKissack as a Senior Project Manager in Chicago, driving transformative projects and career growth.

• Serve as the primary Owner's Representative and principal point of contact for assigned clients throughout the complete project lifecycle.
• Build and maintain strong client relationships through responsive communication and exceptional service.
• Lead projects from planning, feasibility, design, procurement, construction, commissioning, occupancy, and project closeout.
• Develop project execution strategies aligned with client objectives.
• Prepare executive presentations, project reports, and recommendations.
• Monitor project scope, budget, schedule, quality, and overall performance.
• Identify project risks early and implement effective mitigation strategies.
• Coordinate architects, engineers, contractors, consultants, user groups, and stakeholders.
• Ensure projects comply with owner requirements, contractual obligations, and project objectives.
• Direct and manage internal project resources including Project Engineers, Assistant Project Managers, Schedulers, Cost Estimators, and specialty consultants.
• Support Client in leading preconstruction activities including management of a team who will conduct project planning, feasibility studies, budgeting, scheduling, constructability reviews, value engineering, project phasing, procurement planning, and contractor selection.
• Manage architects and engineering consultants throughout design.
• Coordinate McKissack scheduling and estimating professionals to develop baseline schedules and cost estimates.
• Ensure design development remains aligned with approved project budgets.
• Review constructability, phasing, project sequencing, and operational impacts.
• Lead contractor prequalification, RFQ/RFP development, bid administration, evaluations, interviews, negotiations, and contractor selection recommendations.
• Assign work, establish priorities, and balance workloads across multiple projects.
• Conduct regular internal project coordination meetings to review project status, staffing, deliverables, priorities, risks, and action items.
• Ensure all client deliverables are accurate, coordinated, timely, and meet McKissack quality standards.
• Mentor Assistant Project Managers and Project Engineers while supporting their technical and professional development.
• Promote collaboration, accountability, consistency, and continuous improvement across project teams.
• Support client in reviewing and negotiating contractor Agreements.
• Monitor contractor performance and compliance with the Owner Contractor Agreement.
• Review contractor schedules, staffing, progress, budgets, payment applications, and change orders.
• Monitor construction quality to ensure work complies with contract documents, specifications, approved submittals, and applicable codes.
• Review contractor means and methods as they relate to project execution.
• Ensure that the contractor coordinates inspections, testing, commissioning, occupancy, and project closeout.
• Review contractor claims, requests for equitable adjustment, delay analyses, and requests for additional time or compensation, providing objective recommendations to the owner.
• Review contractor safety plans and monitor implementation throughout construction while recognizing that jobsite safety remains the contractor's responsibility.
• Proactively identify risks related to cost, schedule, quality, procurement, constructability, stakeholder coordination, operations, and project execution.
• Develop practical mitigation strategies before issues impact project performance.
• Coordinate with McKissack technical specialists to evaluate emerging project risks.
• Maintain project risk documentation and communicate significant risks and recommend actions to clients.
• Promote a proactive/predictive risk management culture across project teams.
• Utilize approved AI and digital technologies to improve project planning, document review, reporting, meeting documentation, data analysis, and overall work product.
• Evaluate opportunities to responsibly integrate AI into project delivery while maintaining professional judgment and quality control.
• Lever…