Sr Director of Construction

Essentia, Inc.•Alexandria, VA

77d

About The Position

As Senior Director of Construction, you'll be the connective leadership layer between Essentia's national construction strategy and the Directors of Construction who run it in the field—turning vision into standardized, repeatable execution across multiple markets at once. Reporting to the Vice President of Construction (and partnering closely with Engineering, Broadband Solutions, and Customer Operations), you'll own construction execution across a portfolio of markets and programs—not a single build, and not yet the whole national footprint, but the multi-market layer in between. You'll directly lead a team of Directors of Construction, translating the VP's national playbook into standardized, market-level execution—while owning the P&L, safety performance, and quality outcomes for every program in your portfolio. This is the role built for someone who has already run one market at a high level and is ready to run several at once, and to develop the next generation of Director-level leaders while doing it.

Requirements

8–10+ years of experience in telecom construction, fiber network deployment, or related infrastructure sectors.
5+ years of leadership experience managing Directors, Construction Managers, or other multi-market field leaders—not individual crews alone.
Proven track record running two or more markets or major programs simultaneously, representing $30M–$75M+ in combined annual construction volume.
Strong expertise in aerial and underground fiber construction, permitting coordination, and utility partnerships.
Direct P&L ownership across a region or multi-market portfolio, with a track record of improving margin, not just hitting schedule.
Demonstrated success developing Director-level leaders and building bench strength for future growth.
Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

Nice To Haves

Experience running construction across multiple states or regions simultaneously.
Experience supporting hyperscaler deployments, data center connectivity, or mega-scale infrastructure projects.
Familiarity with federal broadband programs (BEAD, RDOF, CAF II).
Experience with electric utility construction and joint-use agreements.
Familiarity with GIS-based construction tools and real-time project reporting software.

Responsibilities

Translate Essentia's national construction strategy into standardized regional operating plans across multiple markets and programs.
Own the P&L, forecasting, and margin performance for your full portfolio of markets—not a single project.
Standardize execution, playbooks, and reporting cadence across markets so quality and pace don't vary by geography.
Serve as the primary link between the VP of Construction's national vision and Director-level field execution.
Build cross-functional alignment with Engineering, Broadband Solutions, and Customer Operations at the regional level.
Oversee execution of FTTH, Metro, and Long-Haul fiber construction across your portfolio, ensuring safety, quality, timeliness, and cost control in every market.
Act as the escalation point for aerial and underground build issues, make-ready, permitting, and utility coordination challenges that exceed Director-level authority.
Audit safety and QA/QC performance across markets, and drive corrective action the moment standards slip anywhere in the portfolio.
Use dashboards and production data to benchmark markets against one another and spread what's working from one program to the rest.
Directly manage and develop a bench of Directors of Construction, sharpening their leadership, financial, and operational acumen.
Identify and coach high-potential Directors into future Senior Director- and VP-track leaders.
Reinforce Essentia's five dimensions of trust across every market you own: Character, Competence, Communication, Concern, and Consistency.
Standardize training, onboarding, and safety-certification programs so every market builds talent the same way.
Set regional contractor strategy—capacity planning, scorecards, and performance standards across every market in your portfolio.
Hold escalation authority for underperforming contractors when Director-level corrective action isn't enough.
Partner with procurement on regional vendor agreements, rate structures, and cost optimization.
Champion consistent adoption of eSpeed™ and D8Acapture across every market in your region.
Identify process improvements discovered in one market and scale them across the broader portfolio.
Monitor KPIs across cost, cycle time, rework, and quality at the portfolio level—turning market-by-market data into a single, comparable view.