Vice President of Pre-Construction

The Vice President of Pre-Construction will lead Blue Heron’s pre-construction strategy and operations, driving project planning, project management readiness, and delivery-focused execution setup from pursuit through handoff. This role is responsible for overseeing all aspects of project administration, budgeting, scheduling, design accuracy, value engineering, contract readiness, and preconstruction-to-construction transition execution. The VP collaborates with executive leadership, design, and construction teams to ensure a seamless workflow continuum between all departments. The VP additionally will verify that all projects are accurately scoped, competitively priced, and fully aligned to delivery requirements. The VP drives a focused effort to set each project up for executional excellence, supporting predictable outcomes in schedule, cost, quality, and team coordination.

How the role contributes

Leadership & Strategy

• Provide leadership, mentorship, and professional development for the purchasing, design coordination, project administration, and pre-construction teams.
• Own and drive a multi-department initiative that strengthens delivery readiness, standardizes pre-construction outputs, and improves downstream execution performance.
• Drive continuous improvement by implementing innovative tools, technology, and best practices that increase accuracy, reduce risk, and improve delivery predictability.

Pre-Construction Management

• Lead the preparation of conceptual estimates, budgets, project schedules, and construction schedules to support delivery planning and project controls.
• Oversee value engineering to balance design intent, budget, constructability, and schedule impacts.
• Partner with architecture, engineers, consultants, and internal stakeholders during design development to ensure alignment on scope clarity, cost certainty, sequencing, and procurement strategy.
• Ensure pre-construction deliverables are complete and usable for execution: scope narratives, inclusions/exclusions, clarifications, assumptions logs, risk registers, and handoff packages.

Collaboration & Project Delivery Alignment

• Work closely with sales and estimating to support pursuits, proposals, and presentations with a focus on scope integrity and delivery feasibility.
• Partner with construction operations and project management leadership to ensure a seamless, disciplined handoff from pre-construction into execution.
• Coordinate with legal and finance to ensure contracts, risk management requirements, and financial targets are achieved and clearly reflected in project documents.
• Establish consistent communication rhythms and decision frameworks across design, procurement, estimating, and operations to reduce rework and prevent downstream escalation.

Stakeholder Management & Execution Confidence

• Align executive leadership and delivery teams on project approach, project controls, and escalation pathways to drive predictable outcomes.
• Build strong cross-functional relationships that increase accountability, speed decision-making, and strengthen delivery performance across the lifecycle.
• Reinforce Blue Heron’s reputation for disciplined pre-construction practices that enable exceptional project delivery.

What is needed to perform the role:

• Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum 15 years of progressive experience in pre-construction, estimating, or project management, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role.
• Strong knowledge of construction means, methods, codes, scheduling, and cost management.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
• Proficiency in industry software (e.g., Procore, Bluebeam, Timberline, scheduling software).