Construction Project Manager

A regional hotel and commercial developer is hiring a senior construction leader to join its development team. You'll be our advisor and the main link between ownership and the general contractor. Your job is to make sure every project is estimated accurately, built to plan, and delivered on budget and on schedule. Above all, we need someone who goes deep into the drawings to find better, faster, and less expensive ways to build, and who brings those options to the design team, the general contractor, and ownership.

We have hotel and commercial projects underway and upcoming in both Whitefish and Missoula.

This is not a high-level oversight role. You will be expected to get into the plan details yourself and actively drive building costs down. Specifically, you will:

• Drill into the plans. Dig into architectural, structural, MEP, and interior drawings and specifications at the detail level: assemblies, systems, materials, finishes, and connections, to find where cost and time are being built in.
• Bring constructability and VE options to the whole team. Develop practical alternatives (substitute materials, simplified details, alternate systems, prefabrication, re-sequencing) and work them through with the architect, engineers, and general contractors before pricing is locked.
• Control the building price. Challenge GC pricing and design decisions with your own numbers, so the budget is driven by the owner, not set by the bid.
• Report back to ownership with options, not just problems. For every recommendation, give ownership the alternatives side by side: cost savings, schedule savings, and any impact on quality, brand standards, guest experience, or long-term operating and maintenance costs, so we can make fast, informed decisions.
• Leading smaller projects. In addition to our larger projects, we need someone who knows construction well enough to lead us in selecting subcontractors directly and leading the entire process on smaller on-site projects.
• Contracts and negotiations. Expected to lead the team through the GC and owner contract phase.

• Build and maintain detailed estimates and budgets from concept through construction documents.
• Lead preconstruction: run detailed constructability reviews and value engineering sessions at each design milestone (schematic design, design development, and construction documents) with the architect, engineers, and general contractor, and track every VE item from idea through accepted, priced, and incorporated in the drawings.
• Prepare bid packages, qualify and select general contractors, level bids, and negotiate contracts.
• Manage projects day-to-day: schedules, owner-architect-contractor meetings, RFIs, submittals, change orders, and quality.
• Review contractors pay applications, track lien waivers, and prepare lender and owner draw packages.
• Track cost against budget and contingency, and report monthly to ownership, including a running log of VE and constructability items with the cost and schedule savings achieved.
• Coordinate hotel brand standards and franchise requirements.
• Coordinate FF&E and OS&E purchasing with design and procurement partners.
• Plans phased renovations in operating hotels so guest impact stays low and rooms go out of service for as little time as possible.
• Work with city staff on permits, inspections, and certificates of occupancy.
• Close out projects: punch lists, warranties, as-builts, and handoff to operations.

• 10+ years in commercial construction, with extensive experience in both estimating and project management.
• Ability to read and analyze a full set of architectural, structural, and MEP drawings and specifications at the detail level, and to spot constructability problems, coordination conflicts, and over-design before they reach the field.
• A proven track record of value engineering and constructability work that produced real cost and schedule savings. Be ready to walk us through specific examples: the original design, the alternative you proposed, and the dollars and days saved.
• Confidence to push back constructively with architects, engineers, and general contractors, and to back up recommendations with numbers.
• Hotel development or renovation experience is desired. Brand conversion experience is a plus.
• A track record of delivering projects on budget, with the ability to walk us through your cost numbers.
• Strong knowledge of construction contracts (AIA…