UW-Managed Program Director

University of Wisconsin Stout•Madison, WI

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

The UW-Managed Program Director directs, administers, and manages the UW-Managed program that delivers design and construction projects within the authority of the BOR, but outside of the governor’s biennial state funding program. This role provides oversight and direction including awarding projects to external vendors, planning and scheduling of projects, project delivery design, allocating resources, and construction support. In addition, this role serves as the signatory for project contractual documents in the program. This is a supervisory position, which has management oversight of at least 2.0 FTE.

Requirements

Masters’s degree in Construction Management, Architecture, Engineering, or a related field.
Five (5) years of project management experience.
Demonstrated leadership managing multiple complex projects in institutional environments e.g., higher education, public sector, or complex larger organizations).
Experience operating in occupied and mission‑critical facilities with rigorous safety and compliance requirements.
Experience with strategic planning and portfolio governance.
Demonstrated experience with Risk Management & Negotiation (claims avoidance and resolution).

Nice To Haves

Professional credentials: PMP, CCM, RA (Registered Architect) or PE (Professional Engineer), and/or LEED AP.
Experience with eBuilder, Procore, PMWeb (or similar), Primavera P6 / MS Project, and familiarity with BIM (Revit).
Experience delivering large capital projects ($50M–$500M+ portfolio preferred).
Public sector procurement experience.
Higher Ed/Labs: experience with EH&S, AAALAC, BSL, vivarium/lab environments.

Responsibilities

Establish governance, stage‑gate approvals, and standardized project controls across the portfolio.
Lead portfolio reviews: budget status, risks, cash flow, schedule health, and change trends.
Provide program and project reporting to UWs leadership and BOR.
Oversee full project delivery life cycle: feasibility, programming, schematic design, development, construction documents, procurement, construction administration, commissioning, and turnover.
Select and optimize delivery methods (Hard bid within single prime contracting and design build) based on risk, speed, complexity, market conditions, stakeholder needs, and statute.
Approve project baselines (scope, schedule, budget) and manage escalations, changes, and claims.
Champion safety, quality assurance/quality control, and commissioning standards.
Oversee procurement strategies in alignment with institutional procurement policy, Universities of Wisconsin procurement, and applicable state procurement statutes.
Drive contractor performance through KPIs, governance, and issue resolution; manage disputes and claims.
Manage project and program budgets, contingencies, allowances, and forecasting (including escalation).
Provide continuous improvement of change management and cost/schedule/program control processes; ensure transparent reporting.
Identify, quantify, and mitigate risks (schedule, scope, funding, permitting, supply chain, market).
Coordinate with Finance on capital funding sources, cashflow, and audits.
Lead, coach, and develop a high‑performing internal team (PMs, CMs, analysts).
Serve as the primary liaison to senior leadership, internal departments, end users, and external agencies for the program.
Promote a collaborative culture with architects, engineers, and contractors.
Communicate clearly to non‑technical stakeholders; provide executive‑level briefings and board materials.
Ensure compliance with building codes, permitting, life safety, accessibility (ADA), OSHA, environmental and infection control (healthcare), and institutional design standards.
Integrate sustainability (LEED/WELL/Net Zero/energy codes), resiliency, and universal design goals.
Oversee accurate close‑out, as‑builts, O&M documentation, and warranty handoff to Facilities Operations.
Oversee and direct program for project delivery of design and construction projects.
Serve as the lead technical representative for matters involving design and construction contract changes, related contractual documents and industry software, and claims.
Provide input, supervise the preparation, and approve of the written project scopes of work and other documents and guides the preparation of estimates and project budgets.
Coordinate the scheduling and assigning of project teams both internal and external.
Monitor project portfolios, and communicate project progress and status to university leadership and the BOR.
Forecast workload in preparation of resource planning requests.
Serve as a key liaison to internal and external stakeholders (architects, engineers, consultants, and contractors) to maintain strategic business relationships that foster greater success for the UWs – both on “project” and “program” level matters.
Develop and implement operating policies and procedures to comply with best practices, institutional objectives, program objectives, Board of Regents policies and guidance, and applicable statutes.
Exercise supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees.