Job Title: Senior Project Manager (Land Development)

Company: VIA / 7B Development Team

Location: Office / remote as assigned; travel required for project, client, and site milestones

Reports To: President of Development

Position Type: Full-time

Target Base Pay: $125,000 - $165,000, commensurate with experience and portfolio responsibility

Position Summary

The Senior Project Manager is a senior execution leader, coach, and escalation point for the Land Development team. This role owns complex and high-risk development projects from onboarding through closeout while mentoring PM/APM staff, strengthening repeatable process discipline, and improving portfolio-level execution. The Sr. PM must be fully independent, client-facing, and able to anticipate risk, recover schedule or budget drift, and model the leadership standards expected as VIA / 7B enters its next stage of growth.

Role Level and Workload Expectations

Manage complex projects and/or a selected portfolio load generally equivalent to 5-7+ Active Project Equivalents (APE), adjusted for project risk, client intensity, phase, and escalation demands.
Serve as a coach-player: directly run high-risk projects while supporting PMs/APMs through mentoring, work product review, escalation support, and process training.
Operate as a fully independent senior leader who brings solutions, options, and recommendations forward rather than simply reporting issues.
Support portfolio improvement by identifying process gaps, standardizing best practices, and helping the team execute the Development Playbook consistently.

Key Responsibilities

Senior Project Execution and Portfolio Ownership

Lead assigned land development projects from onboarding, feasibility, due diligence, design coordination, entitlements, permitting, construction handoff, construction support, closeout, and turnover.
Own scope, schedule, budget, risk, quality, communication, and decision tracking for assigned projects.
Maintain project control systems, including schedule updates, budget tracking, RAID logs, action items, key decisions, open issues, and client reporting.
Drive projects to meet approved budgets, committed schedules, client requirements, and internal quality expectations.
Recover schedule, budget, or process drift through proactive action plans, clear escalation, and disciplined follow-through.

Development Playbook and Process Discipline

Ensure projects are executed in accordance with the Development Team Playbook and applicable SOPs, including feasibility reviews, due diligence standards, design milestones, permitting, construction handoff, and closeout requirements.
Act as an escalation point when projects deviate from approved process, budget, schedule, or client commitments.
Help refine repeatable templates, dashboards, trackers, checklists, meeting cadences, and reporting standards so the team can scale with consistency.
Identify process breakdowns and recommend corrective actions, training needs, or workflow improvements to the President of Development.

Budgeting and Financial Oversight

Lead and review project budgeting, including initial budgets, cost-to-complete tracking, APE assumptions, change tracking, allowances, consultant fees, and final reconciliation.
Coordinate with estimating, pre-construction, construction, accounting, and finance teams to maintain budget accuracy and timely reporting.
Identify potential cost overruns early and lead value-engineering efforts when appropriate without compromising client commitments, design intent, operational needs, or long-term quality.
Review PM/APM budget work product before executive, client, or stakeholder submission when requested or when risk level requires senior review.

Schedule, Entitlement, and Risk Management

Build and maintain realistic schedules that reflect critical path items, entitlement and permitting dependencies, AHJ review cycles, utility coordination, consultant deliverables, long-lead items, and construction handoff needs.
Lead risk identification and mitigation across title, survey, environmental, geotechnical, civil, architectural, MEP, utility, permitting, construction, and closeout issues.
Use RAID tracking and other team tools to keep risks visible, assigned, dated, and actively managed.
Escalate material risks, client concerns, budget impacts, scope changes, or schedule threats to the President of Development with recommended paths forward.

Team Leadership, Mentorship, and Accountability

Mentor and coach Project Managers and Assistant Project Managers in planning, communication, budgeting, risk management, forecasting, consultant coordination, and client leadership.
Review PM/APM work product, including schedules, budgets, reports, issue logs, first-look checklists, due diligence summaries, and client updates, for consistency and quality.
Support onboarding and training for new PM/APM team members and help build repeatable development execution habits.
Model ownership, relational leadership, urgency, calm escalation, and a no-surprises standard across the team.
Help identify performance gaps, unclear responsibilities, training needs, and process weaknesses that may affect team execution.

Stakeholder, Client, and Consultant Communication

Serve as a primary senior contact for clients, ownership, consultants, AHJs, utilities, design teams, construction teams, and internal stakeholders on assigned projects or escalated matters.
Lead meetings with clear agendas, action items, owners, due dates, and follow-up expectations.
Prepare and present project reports, executive summaries, budget updates, schedule updates, decision logs, and risk summaries.
Maintain strong client presence by communicating early, clearly, professionally, and with recommended solutions when issues arise.

Construction Interface and Closeout

Coordinate with construction leadership to ensure smooth handoff from development to construction, including design completeness, permitting status, budget alignment, schedule assumptions, constructability concerns, and known risks.
Ensure PM-led coordination items such as signage, equipment, PEMB/structural scope, utility coordination, and owner/vendor interfaces are tracked with construction manager input as needed.
Support construction-phase issue resolution where development, design, entitlement, client, or consultant decisions affect field execution.
Drive closeout discipline, including certificate of occupancy, punch list, warranty items, stormwater/stabilization requirements, final documentation, client acceptance, and lessons learned.

Required Qualifications

8+ years of project management experience in real estate development, commercial construction, civil/site development, owner representation, or a closely related field.

Successful history leading complex, multi-million-dollar projects with schedule, budget, consultant, client, entitlement, and construction coordination responsibility.

Strong understanding of commercial land development, permitting, design coordination, civil/site work, construction methods, budgeting, scheduling, and project closeout.

Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects while mentoring other project team members and supporting escalations.

Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present clearly to clients, executives, consultants, AHJs, and internal teams.

High proficiency with project management and reporting tools such as Smartsheet, Procore, Microsoft Office, Bluebeam, Microsoft Project, or equivalent systems.

Ability to travel as required for project milestones, client meetings, jurisdictional meetings, site visits, and team meetings.

Preferred Qualifications

Bachelor degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, Business, Real Estate, Planning, or related field.

Professional certification such as PMP, CAPM, CCM, LEED, or similar credential.

Experience with national retail, multi-site programs, ground-up commercial development, owner/developer representation, or design-build/general contracting environments.

Experience building or improving project management systems, dashboards, SOPs, stage-gate processes, or team training programs.

Success Profile

Consistent execution history with strong follow-through and visible ownership of outcomes.

Proactive risk mitigation with the ability to see around corners and prevent surprises.

Strong client presence and professional judgment in difficult conversations.

Ability to recover schedule and budget risk through disciplined planning and leadership.

Mentor mindset with the ability to raise the performance of PM/APM staff.

Process improver who strengthens repeatable systems rather than working around them.

Fully independent operator who can lead complex projects and support the broader portfolio without constant direction.

First 90-180 Day Priorities

Learn and pressure-test the current Development Playbook, templates, reporting cadence, KPI structure, and project controls.

Take ownership of assigned complex projects and establish clear schedules, budgets, RAID logs, issue paths, and stakeholder communication rhythms.

Identify the highest-risk portfolio items and create action plans to stabilize schedule, budget, client communication, and decision-making.

Establish a consistent mentoring cadence with assigned PM/APM staff and begin improving work product quality, forecasting, and escalation habits.

Recommend practical process improvements that increase consistency, accountability, and scalability across the Development team.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $125,000.00 - $165,000.00 per year

Benefits:

401(k)
Dental insurance
Health insurance
Paid time off
Vision insurance

Experience:

Commercial Construction Development: 5 years (Required)

Work Location: In person

7B Building & Development jobs

Sr. Project Manager - Land Development

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