Vice President of Risk Management

Blach Construction•San Jose, CA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Blach Construction is seeking a Vice President of Risk Management to support the company’s continued growth while managing risk across the business. This newly created executive role reports to the President, serves on the Blach Leadership Team, and has latitude to shape the risk management function. The VP works closely with leaders in Operations, Preconstruction, Finance and HR, advising on decisions that affect the company’s future and balancing risk protection with business opportunities. The VP leads Blach’s enterprise risk strategy, including executive advice on growth, major legal matters, contracts, insurance, project delivery and significant claims or incidents. The position has executive ownership of the safety function and Captive insurance program, and oversees insurance outside the Captive, surety and bonding, subcontractor prequalification, contracts and project compliance, claims and legal matters. The VP builds and develops the risk team, trains project teams, establishes risk and safety standards, and reports key risk, safety and Captive performance measures to the President and Leadership Team. The position is based at Blach’s San Jose, California headquarters, with regular travel to the Monterey and Orange regional offices and jobsites. Compensation includes a competitive base salary and performance bonuses, along with the benefits listed below.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in construction management, engineering, business, risk management or a related field.
At least 15 years of progressive experience in construction risk management, insurance, construction law or construction operations.
At least 5 years of experience in a senior leadership role.
Hands-on leadership of a contractor insurance program, including renewals, broker and carrier relationships, and claims.
Experience overseeing or partnering closely with a construction safety program, including Cal/OSHA matters.
Experience negotiating prime agreements and subcontracts across delivery methods, including design-build, on large commercial and public projects.
Executive presence, sound judgment and excellent communication skills, with credibility among company leaders, owners, sureties, carriers and counsel.
Strong understanding of construction contract law, insurance, surety and risk transfer; negotiation skills that balance risk mitigation with project and client relationships.
Financial acumen, including the ability to read contractor financial statements and WIP schedules, understand their effect on bonding capacity, and make recommendations based on loss and premium data.
Ability to manage multiple priorities across Blach’s three regions.
Proficiency with contract, insurance-tracking and safety management software.

Nice To Haves

Juris Doctor degree.
Experience with a group captive.
Background with a commercial general contractor or construction manager, including working knowledge of California public works compliance.
Professional designations such as ARM, CPCU, CRIS or CSP.
Construction law background, including deep construction practice as outside counsel to contractors or in-house, with the business sense to lead an operating function.
Construction operations background as a senior operations or project executive with firsthand command of contracts, claims, insurance and surety.

Responsibilities

Lead Blach’s enterprise risk approach as a Leadership Team member and advise the President on growth strategy, major legal issues, and project contract and insurance strategy.
Keep the President and Leadership Team informed about significant risks, changes in risk exposure, and mitigation efforts.
Provide risk judgment on go/no-go decisions, contract strategy and delivery models, from pursuit through project closeout.
Lead responses to major incidents, claims and crises; establish escalation protocols and authority levels for reserves and settlements.
Build, develop and coach the risk team, including the Senior Safety Manager and staff working in insurance, contracts and compliance.
Train project teams on contracts, insurance and claim avoidance, embedding risk awareness in project planning and execution.
Set executive direction for the safety function and Captive insurance program, and manage the leaders and teams responsible for day-to-day operations.
Represent Blach to its general liability, auto and workers’ compensation Captive; oversee performance and connect safety results, claims and loss trends to Captive costs.
Set the vision and priorities for safety policies, training, hazard identification, incident and emergency management, workplace violence prevention and subcontractor safety; champion safety technology and continuous improvement.
Own Blach’s Cal/OSHA regulatory posture and report safety and Captive performance, including EMR, incident rates and loss trends, to the President and Leadership Team.
Oversee the design, placement and administration of insurance outside the Captive, including property, builder’s risk, professional and pollution, D&O, cyber, crime and specialty coverage.
Manage broker and carrier relationships, lead annual renewals, and structure coverages, limits and deductibles to manage the company’s total cost of risk.
Set insurance strategy for individual projects, including builder’s risk, OCIP/CCIP and project-specific coverage; ensure recovery on insured losses.
Set insurance requirements in owner and subcontract agreements and oversee subcontractor insurance compliance.
Oversee the Subcontractor Default Insurance program, including enrollment decisions, claims and program performance.
Partner with the President and Finance on surety and surety broker relationships, annual reviews and underwriter access.
Support bonding capacity planning, renewals, terms and indemnity requirements; work with Finance on financial statements, WIP reporting and backlog, and advise on allocation of capacity across pursuits and regions.
Engage the surety early on large or high-risk projects and coordinate communications regarding claims, defaults and subcontractor failures.
Manage subcontractor prequalification, including assessment of financial strength, safety performance, licensing, bonding capacity and insurance; set single and aggregate exposure limits.
Work with Preconstruction and Operations to identify subcontractor risk, develop mitigation plans for higher-risk trade partners and evaluate subcontractor performance at closeout.
Negotiate prime agreements across delivery methods and maintain standard subcontract templates and other agreements; support project teams with revisions to standard terms.
Set Blach’s standard positions on key contract terms and maintain contract review checklists for project teams.
Partner with Preconstruction and Operations to identify contract risks during bidding and buyout.
Lead project-level risk management, including subcontractor insurance tracking, SDI enrollment, lien releases and required state filings.
Oversee public works compliance, including prevailing wage and certified payroll, Skilled and Trained Workforce requirements, apprenticeship ratios, subcontractor licensing and DIR Public Works Contractor registration.
Manage owner insurance documentation, OCIP/CCIP enrollment, PLA and PSA compliance, and DOJ fingerprinting requirements.
Manage major legal claims and dispute resolution, including investigations, litigation strategy, settlement recommendations, and selection, direction and cost of outside counsel.
Lead regular claims reviews with Operations, tracking loss trends, reserves and lessons learned to reduce claim frequency and severity.
Oversee risk policy governance, licensing and regulatory compliance, employment-related risk with HR, and records retention.

Benefits

Competitive base salary and performance bonuses.
Three weeks of paid vacation to start, increasing to four weeks after five years.
Holidays and sick leave.
Medical, dental and vision coverage.
401(k) with company match.
Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
Long-term disability.
Paid parental leave.
Student loan paydown.
Education assistance.
Wellness reimbursement.