At Cumming Group, you will work on some of the world’s most exciting projects in a dynamic environment where your success is measured by the impact you make. We are one of the fastest-growing project and cost management consultancies in the United States, reflected in our top 10 rankings in ENR.
Senior Project Director – Owner’s Representative
The Senior Project Director will serve as the owner’s representative for a major pharmaceutical manufacturing capital program in Houston, TX. This role will lead a portfolio of concurrent projects and provide strategic direction and accountability across scope, cost, schedule, safety, quality, risk, and operational readiness.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
- Provide executive oversight for a portfolio of major capital projects and interdependent workstreams.
- Represent the client’s interests throughout design, procurement, construction, commissioning, qualification, start‑up, and turnover.
- Lead Project Directors, Project Managers, consultants, contractors, vendors, and functional project teams.
- Establish portfolio governance, execution strategies, reporting requirements, decision pathways, and escalation protocols.
- Integrate project scope, schedules, budgets, risks, resources, and cross‑project dependencies into a coordinated execution plan.
- Maintain accountability for portfolio cost, schedule, safety, quality, and delivery performance.
- Review project plans, forecasts, schedules, risk registers, change requests, and recovery strategies, intervening when performance is at risk.
- Lead resolution of significant technical, commercial, contractual, construction, and stakeholder issues.
- Direct value engineering, constructability, design optimization, and lifecycle‑cost initiatives.
- Ensure project delivery aligns with client standards, manufacturing requirements, GMP expectations, and applicable regulatory and safety requirements.
- Oversee contracting and procurement strategies, contractor performance, commercial negotiations, claims, and change management.
- Align engineering, construction, quality, validation, operations, maintenance, and environmental health and safety stakeholders.
- Provide executive reporting on progress, financial performance, risk exposure, critical decisions, and corrective actions.
- Ensure facilities and systems are commissioned, qualified, documented, and ready for start‑up and operational turnover.
- Develop and mentor project leadership while driving accountability and consistent execution across the portfolio.
Knowledge & Skills Required
- Executive oversight across multiple concurrent projects and interdependent workstreams.
- Strong command of project governance, controls, integrated scheduling, forecasting, risk management, contingency, and change control.
- Deep understanding of pharmaceutical facility design, construction, commissioning, qualification, validation, start‑up, and operational turnover.
- Strong commercial and contractual judgment, including procurement strategy, contractor performance, negotiations, claims, and dispute resolution.
- Working knowledge of GMP, OSHA, environmental, permitting, and process‑safety requirements.
- Ability to align engineering, construction, quality, validation, operations, maintenance, and EHS stakeholders around shared project objectives.
- Ability to identify emerging issues, make timely decisions, and direct corrective or recovery strategies.
- Strong executive communication, stakeholder management, negotiation, and team‑leadership capabilities.
Preferred Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Construction Management, Architecture, or a related technical discipline.
- 15+ years of progressive capital project leadership experience, including: direct responsibility for individual project scopes exceeding $100million; leadership of multiple major projects or workstreams executed concurrently; owner’s representative or comparable client‑side project leadership experience.
- Delivery of large, complex pharmaceutical or biotechnology manufacturing projects (API, biologics, fill‑finish, advanced manufacturing, laboratory, pilot plant, or similar regulated facilities preferred).
Preferred Certification
- PMP, CCM, PE, or comparable professional credential.
Salary & Benefits
The salary range for this full‑time role is $168,300.00–$235,633.37 per year.
- Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance
- 401(k) – Matching
- Paid Time Off & Paid Holidays
- Short and Long‑Term Disability
- Employee Assistance Program
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
Cumming Group is committed to providing Equal Employment Opportunity in its personnel policies and practices. All applicants and employees are treated without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, sex, marital status, genetic information, sexual preference, gender expression or gender identity, pregnancy, military service, national origin, citizenship, physical or mental disability, veteran status, or any other protected classification under federal, state, or local law. All such decisions are based on individual merit, qualifications, and competence as they relate to the particular position and promotion of the principle of equal employment opportunity.