IDA Digital Practice Executive

Michael Baker International•Coraopolis, PA

About The Position

We are growing and transforming our Digital Practice team! We are seeking a visionary Digital Practice Executive (Vertical CTO) to join our growing Integrated Design & Advisory (IDA) Vertical. This pivotal senior leadership role, reporting to the SVP/Architecture Practice Executive within our IDA Business Vertical, will oversee, guide, and develop Digital Practice resources across our multi-disciplinary practice and evolving market sectors. This role is ideal for a senior technologist with a unique blend of experience in architecture, engineering, and information systems, and a passion for delivering high-performance, resilient, and agile facilities. You will lead innovation across digital twin technologies, smart building systems, and facility lifecycle intelligence, helping clients modernize infrastructure portfolios and achieve operational excellence. This role integrates design, operations, cybersecurity, and data intelligence to ensure seamless facility performance from day one. This leadership position provides oversight and direction across our multi-disciplinary Practice, as well as evolving Market Sectors; and encompasses establishing and implementing goals and objectives, developing, and promoting the Practice's values and strategic plans, and positioning for growth. Promoting a seller-doer culture, this leadership position is also focused on growing development, relationships, and opportunities related to emerging private sector markets, as well as protecting and growing established markets such as Federal, Aviation, and Transit in conjunction with our multi-disciplinary Practice leadership team. The candidate must demonstrate strong collaboration and communication skills with the ability to develop new, and strengthen existing, positive relationships, both internally and externally, with colleagues and new clients, respectively. Articulate, concise, and consistent communication is essential for collaborating with leadership and project resources to outline workplan, responsibilities, quality management, risk assessment, and scope of authority, all the while ensuring that project milestones and objectives are accomplished within the prescribed scope, schedule, and budget parameters, clearly documenting, and communicating project progress to team and leadership. In this role, the candidate will: Drive a transformative practice redefining how facilities are designed, delivered, and operated, ultimately building a team that includes Directors of Transformation (where and why) and Digital Delivery (how). Collaborate not only with Enterprise CTO, but also with the other Michael Baker verticals to assure Enterprise consistency while at the same time recognizing and accommodating the individual vertical/market nuances. Coordinate with the overall business leadership to get a clear understanding of the current operational state and help develop an inclusive framework for organizational change. Influence strategic decisions and help shape the future of resilient, data-driven infrastructure. Join a company with a proven track record in delivering high-tech, mission-critical infrastructure for federal, institutional, and private sector clients.

Requirements

Strong leadership with a minimum of 15 years in A/E/C, infrastructure, and/or federal facility operations, and the design, documentation, and execution of multi-disciplinary architecture/building engineering projects, including technology strategy, digital transformation, and/or smart infrastructure delivery within the AEC industry.
BS/BA Architecture, Bachelor of Architecture, MS/MA Architecture, Engineering, or related field.
The successful candidate must demonstrate creative problem-solving, organizational skills, strong BIM-focused production management capabilities, and a thorough understanding of construction documents and constructability.
Expertise in BIM (Autodesk Revit), facility management systems, cybersecurity frameworks, digital twin platforms, and smart building systems, including Autodesk and Bentley platforms, and understanding of their application in creating digital twins and integrating data for asset management.
Facility Assessment and Planning: Experience with facility assessment, planning, and operational data integration, including long-range maintenance planning and the handoff to work execution tools like Maximo and SAP-based platforms.
Asset Management Systems: Strong background in asset management systems like IBM Maximo™, Tririga™, Power BI, and Tableau.
Certifications in enterprise architecture, project management, or innovation frameworks (e.g., TOGAF, PMP, Lean Construction).
Experience supporting federal agencies such as DoD, DOE, DHS, or NNSA.
Strong business leadership and financial acumen.
Proficient experience and understanding of interdisciplinary relationships between technical resources, clients, and stakeholders.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills exhibited through the ability to articulate ideas, both verbally and in writing; personable and outgoing in work relationships, both externally and internally; highly precise, detailed, and self-organized; frank and candid during all business relationships.
Business development experience is highly preferred, including research and developing responses to Requests for Proposals (RFP), as well as an oversight of written and graphic marketing materials.
Travel (15%+/-) is anticipated based on program/project responsibilities.

Responsibilities

Drive Innovation: Lead the integration of digital twin platforms, BIM standards in collaboration with our Digital Delivery team, and smart building technologies into design and operational workflows.
Bridge Design and Operations: Collaborate with design teams to ensure facilities are operationally aligned, enabling real-time monitoring, predictive analytics, and adaptive performance.
Embed Cybersecurity: Apply frameworks like NIST RMF to embed cybersecurity into facility design from inception in close collaboration with our Secure Intelligent Systems team.
Deliver Lifecycle Intelligence: Champion facility lifecycle strategies that unify data across IWMS, CMMS, BAS/SCADA, and OT cybersecurity systems.
Foster a culture of innovation, data fluency, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Employ a unique blend of AEC knowledge and information systems strategy to help agencies bridge the gap between design intent and operational excellence.
Bold leadership through performance management, accountability, flexibility around unexpected issues/challenges, conflict management, and empathy.
Balance technical alignment with staff, projects, and clients. Coordinate throughout IDA leveraging the strength and diverse array of talents throughout our organization to effectively meet our client’s needs.
Foster a continuous learning culture by encouraging communication and the sharing of ideas and technical knowledge through mentoring, in-house presentations, case studies, and continuing education opportunities.
Develop and maintain strategic partnerships to enhance solution delivery.
Build rapport and establish positive relationships with existing and prospective clients to ensure client-focused performance.
Empower Clients with actionable insights, predictive capabilities, and agile infrastructure solutions that support long-term resilience and efficiency.
Advise Clients: Provide strategic advisory services to guide solution selection, training, and governance - empowering clients, not creating dependency.
Develop multi-disciplinary Building Information Modeling (BIM) processes specific to project scopes of work and client requirements.
Lead a team of BIM Management/Coordination experts and advise on project-specific workflows and solutions.
Support maintenance of IDA Revit libraries and build on library families, and library management.
Continually recommend improvements to standards and methods with a focus on IDA vision and project goals.
Manage submissions and compilations of drawing documentation. (i.e., drawing index, PDF bookmarks, client sheet data, etc.) through practice resources.
Maintain Revit model health and ensure clash detection, submissions, file exchanges, and reports via Navisworks and BIM360.
Review and approve BIM Execution Plans (BEP) developed by staff.
Ensure initial BIM kickoff meetings for all project teams and participate in BIM coordination meetings run by reporting staff.
Review proposals pre-award for scope, estimated hours, and areas of concern.
Assist with onboarding inexperienced staff regarding standards, workflows, and BIM policies.