Director of Client Development – Design‑Build & EPC Capital Projects (CPG / Food)

Barry-Wehmiller • Los Angeles, CA

21d • $175,000 - $225,000

About The Position

BW Design Group is seeking a Director, Client Development (Food & Beverage Manufacturing – Design Build/EPC) to build, secure, and execute large-scale capital programs ($100M+), with direct accountability for bookings, commercial strategy, and delivery outcomes. This client-facing growth leadership role blends strategic client alignment with deep technical expertise to expand multi-project initiatives across processing, packaging, utilities, and facility modernization—including hygienic design, cold chain, and regulated food manufacturing environments—in both brownfield and greenfield settings. Operating outside traditional utilization expectations (e.g., billable hours), the role is measured by bookings, margin-aware account growth, delivery performance, and long-term client value—empowering you to focus on high-impact client strategy, pursuit leadership, and capital alignment in an entrepreneurial environment. Dedicated preconstruction, engineering, and construction teams support the role, ensuring technical depth and delivery leadership partnership complement your accountability in client development. Success in this role is defined by secured bookings, profitable delivery of multi-project capital programs, and sustained executive-level client relationships.

Requirements

• 15+ years leading and delivering capital programs for manufacturing clients in a design-build, EPC, or integrated A/E/C environment—particularly within food, beverage, CPG, or other regulated production environments—with personal responsibility for securing work, pricing, and delivery execution.
• Deep understanding of food manufacturing operations, including people and material flows, hygienic zoning, adjacency planning, reliability constraints, and operational readiness across processing and utility systems, applied to inform client alignments and de-risking strategies.
• Experience leading large, multidisciplinary delivery teams with authority over scope, cost, schedule, and margin. This role requires ownership of commercial outcomes and delivery risk within a DB/EPC model, using technical expertise to secure and execute high-value contracts.
• Use industry experience and technical knowledge in delivery strategy development and cost/schedule de-risking, including preconstruction, constructability, phasing, shutdown/tie-in planning, and risk management—all to support client pursuits and margin-aware growth.
• Willingness to travel for client engagement, site walkdowns, and industry events.
• BS or MS in Engineering, Architecture, Construction Management, or related field.

Nice To Haves

• Food & Beverage manufacturing experience strongly preferred; Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) or life sciences/pharma experience transferable where candidates have delivered regulated, capital-intensive manufacturing facilities.
• Experience working in quality-driven and regulated environments; Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)/current GMP (cGMP) and HACCP exposure a plus.
• Executive-level communication skills with the ability to influence and align technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Professional Engineer (PE) preferred but not required; Master of Business Administration (MBA) and/or Project Management Professional (PMP) a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own bookings targets, pricing strategy, and commercial positioning, developing opportunities into secured design-build (DB) and engineer-procure-construct (EPC) initiatives supporting food and beverage processing, packaging, utilities, and distribution facilities—leveraging your technical insights to achieve outcomes.
• Engage client executive stakeholders across Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Finance, and Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) to align capital investment with growth, reliability, Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) compliance, and speed-to-market objectives.
• Lead pursuit strategy and executive presentations; negotiate commercial terms, delivery approach, pricing, and risk allocation with direct accountability for contractual outcomes, drawing on technical expertise to build client trust.
• Lead internal subject matter experts (SMEs) across process, architecture/engineering (A/E), preconstruction, construction, and controls to deliver integrated DB/EPC solutions.
• Participate in go/no-go reviews, pipeline governance, forecasting, and customer relationship management (CRM) discipline to support predictable growth and backlog health.
• Serve as executive sponsor through execution and closeout, remaining accountable for client satisfaction, commercial performance, and long-term account profitability.

What This Job Offers

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