Project Development Manager Jobs in Palos Heights, IL

The Development Manager is responsible for leading all aspects of the pre-development process for Lincoln's Midwest development projects (industrial, data center, multi-family and mixed-use), from site evaluation and acquisition support through entitlements, design coordination, and construction commencement. The role manages due diligence, consultant teams, municipal approvals, project schedules, and pre-development budgets while partnering closely with acquisitions, finance, leasing, construction, and legal teams to deliver projects that are financially viable, fully entitled, and ready for execution.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain detailed pre-development schedules and budgets for each project, sequencing entitlement milestones, consultant deliverables, environmental studies, and agency review periods.
• Lead site feasibility analysis including zoning review, utility availability, environmental conditions, traffic, and geotechnical considerations for prospective industrial and multifamily sites.
• Manage the entitlement process: rezonings, planned unit developments, conditional use permits, site plan approvals, plats, variances, and coordinating with municipal staff, planners, and elected officials.
• Oversee third-party consultants (civil engineers, surveyors, environmental consultants, geotechnical engineers, traffic engineers, architects) through schematic design, design development, and construction document phases, holding them accountable to scope, budget, and schedule commitments.
• Collaborate with civil engineers to identify opportunities for value engineering and cost savings while preserving project objectives by optimize grading, stormwater management, utility layouts, site circulation, parking efficiency, and overall site design
• Track critical path items across a multi-project pipeline, proactively identifying schedule risk and developing mitigation plans before delays cascade into closing or construction timelines.
• Identify opportunities to improve project economics through design optimization, constructability reviews, and value engineering during pre-development.
• Participate in acquisition underwriting by preparing and validating development budgets, entitlement schedules, horizontal and vertical construction costs, and site-specific risk assessments.
• Lead regular cross-functional project meetings with acquisitions, finance, leasing, construction, legal, and property management teams to ensure alignment on project objectives and milestones.
• Evaluate how entitlement risk, municipal requirements, utility improvements, environmental conditions, and schedule impacts affect overall project feasibility and investment returns.
• Coordinate Phase I/II Environmental Site Assessments, wetland delineations, and other environmental due diligence; manage remediation planning where needed.
• Work with legal counsel on title review, survey issues, easements, and entitlement agreements.
• Manage community and stakeholder engagement, including neighborhood meetings, public hearings, and presentations to planning commissions and city councils.
• Maintain a pipeline tracker of all active pre-development projects, milestones, and risk items for leadership reporting.
• Coordinate the seamless transition from pre-development to construction, ensuring permits, approvals, consultant deliverables, budgets, schedules, and contract documents are complete prior to project commencement.
• Lead and execute the overall pre-development process from contract execution through construction commencement, ensuring project scope, schedule, budget, entitlements, design, and due diligence remain aligned to achieve targeted investment returns

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Urban Planning, Architecture, Construction Management, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience in land planning, entitlement, development or construction, with direct experience in industrial and/or multifamily product types.
• Project management experience, including building and managing complex, multi-workstream schedules with interdependent milestones and external approval timelines.
• Working knowledge of zoning codes, land use law, and municipal approval processes.
• Experience managing civil engineering and environmental consultants, including scope and schedule accountability.
• Understanding of site feasibility factors specific to industrial (truck circulation, parking, etc.) and multifamily (density, parking ratios, unit mix) projects.
• Ability to read civil plans, surveys, and Phase I/II reports.
• Comfort working in or reviewing pro formas and development budgets prepared by acquisitions/finance teams.
• Excellent organizational skills with proven ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and competing deadlines.
• Strong stakeholder communication skills; comfortable presenting to public bodies and community groups.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel required. Experience with Procore, Smartsheet, Microsoft Project, GIS, or comparable project management software preferred.
• Experience developing industrial, date centers, multifamily, mixed-use, or master-planned projects.
• Experience presenting projects before planning commissions, zoning boards, and city councils.
• Working knowledge of construction estimating and value engineering.

This position is 100% in-office. The role requires working in office during standard business hours. Remote work or telecommuting is not an option for this position.