Construction Manager - Owners Representative

Overwatch Mission Critical • Cedar Rapids, IA

33d • Onsite

About The Position

Overwatch is a service-disabled Veteran-owned small business (SDVOB) certified through the National Veterans Business Development Council (NVBDC), offering construction professional services, talent acquisition, and general contractor for the mission-critical infrastructure industry. Our mission is the construction and management of state-of-the-art data centers with the precision and reliability this industry demands. From high-end engineers to seasoned professionals, we deploy the people you need to get your data center off the ground. At Overwatch, it's more than a job. It's purpose.

The Owner’s Representative / Project Manager (OR/PM) acts as a direct extension of the Owner’s Project Team, representing their interests throughout every phase of design, construction, commissioning, and turnover. This role is responsible for driving alignment across stakeholders, enforcing project controls, protecting budget and schedule, and ensuring safety and quality meet the highest standards. The OR/PM provides field-level oversight, strategic guidance, process governance, and on-site leadership across multiple concurrent workstreams.

This position may support a single project or multiple projects within the campus/metro, depending on scope and growth.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management or a related technical degree (Preferred).
• 7+ years of construction management or general contractor experience.
• 3+ years of mission-critical/data center construction management experience.
• In-depth knowledge of commercial construction design, bidding, and execution.
• Cost management and forecasting knowledge.
• Strong organization, planning, and project management skills with the ability to prioritize tasks.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including written and oral communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to influence decisions through effective verbal and written communication, logical reasoning, and presentation of options.
• Comfortable with financial details and able to connect them to the big picture and communicate the story behind the numbers.
• Ability to work with diverse cross-functional teams and present findings to senior management.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the Owner’s on-site “eyes and ears,” ensuring alignment with project goals, quality, budget, and schedule.
• Build strong relationships across the Owner’s PMO, GC/CM, design partners, vendors, and stakeholders.
• Participate in executive-level decision-making and support definition of project scope, budget, and program requirements.
• Identify and manage risks to safety, quality, cost, and schedule; maintain risk logs and lead risk reviews.
• Review design deliverables (BOD, SD, DD, CD) for conformance with Owner standards.
• Provide input on materials, constructability, sequencing, logistics, and value engineering.
• Ensure designs meet permitting, AHJ, and code requirements; resolve discrepancies before construction release.
• Validate trade estimates and align budget/scope with milestones.
• Support procurement strategies for GC/CM, trades, consultants, and commissioning partners.
• Ensure contract scopes reflect Owner requirements; define bid leveling and support award recommendations.
• Assist document control teams and troubleshoot field-level bottlenecks.
• Lead or support weekly progress meetings; ensure accurate documentation of decisions and action items.
• Monitor field activities for safety, quality, schedule adherence, and compliance.
• Review GC schedules for logic, lead times, dependencies, and critical path.
• Facilitate onsite coordination, resolve conflicts, and drive schedule risk mitigation.
• Support implementation of Owner cost and schedule governance.
• Maintain key control tools (Action Item Log, Milestone Log, Procurement Log).
• Provide bi-monthly management reports on design, budget, procurement, risks, RFIs, submittals, and milestones.
• Elevate decisions requiring Owner approval with data-driven recommendations.
• Track and expedite RFIs and submittals; incorporate impacts into schedule reviews.
• Maintain change order logs, validate contractor proposals, and negotiate cost/schedule impacts.
• Ensure all changes align with Owner standards and documentation requirements.
• Coordinate required testing and inspection services; review reports and escalate issues.
• Support commissioning activities from factory witness testing through Level V integration.
• Maintain commissioning issues logs and ensure corrective actions are tracked.
• Integrate operations teams into commissioning and turnover plans; support training coordination.
• Review and validate contractor pay applications; recommend adjustments as needed.
• Assist with invoice processes, reconciliation, and field-to-controls communication.
• Track permitting requirements and support stakeholder coordination with AHJs.
• Coordinate with utilities and internal teams to align infrastructure delivery with schedule.
• Identify regulatory or utility impacts to budget or schedule.
• Support document control and remove obstacles to timely closeout.
• Coordinate training, system integration, and handover processes.
• Lead punch list execution across GC, design teams, and Owner stakeholders.
• Participate in post-completion closeout meetings as needed.

Benefits

• Overwatch Construction offers a competitive salary and benefits package, including health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, 401(k) retirement plan, paid time off, and relocation assistance available.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level