Construction Project Manager Federal Design-Build / Central Plant Modernization - Atlanta, Georgia EMPLOYER Apex Facility Services Group / Apex FSE JV LLC
LOCATION CDC Roybal Campus - Atlanta, GA
EMPLOYMENT Full-Time / On-Site
PROJECT Multi-year Federal Design-Build
Position SummaryApex is seeking an experienced Construction Project Manager to serve as a senior, full-time, on-site prime-contractor representative for a major Federal design-build central plant modernization project in Atlanta. The successful candidate will manage Apex's day-to-day project leadership and coordinate a large mechanical/design-build subcontractor, controls contractor, specialty trades, engineers, commissioning personnel, facility operations staff, and Government stakeholders.
This is not a conventional tenant-improvement PM role. The project involves large chillers, cooling towers, pumps, hydronic piping, medium- and low-voltage electrical systems, BAS/controls, structural and roofing work, planned utility interruptions, heavy rigging, startup/TAB/commissioning, and phased execution within an active mission-critical Federal campus. The Construction Project Manager must be comfortable managing risk, documentation, schedule, subcontractors, client communication, and field execution while protecting ongoing facility operations.
Salary: TBD, Please submit salary requirements in cover letter.
Key ResponsibilitiesPrime Contractor Leadership & Client Interface- Serve as Apex FSE JV's day-to-day on-site prime-contractor representative and maintain a professional, responsive presence whenever construction work is being performed.
- Act as a primary operational interface with CDC project personnel while maintaining disciplined contractual communication through Apex leadership and the Contracting Officer structure.
- Lead project meetings, drive action-item closure, coordinate daily priorities, and escalate scope, schedule, safety, quality, or commercial issues before they become project impacts.
- Maintain clear lines of authority between Apex, subcontractors, designers, operations personnel, commissioning, and Government stakeholders.
Design-Build & Subcontractor Management - Manage and integrate the work of the major mechanical/design-build subcontractor, BAS/controls contractor, electrical and specialty trades, design professionals, commissioning resources, and lower-tier vendors.
- Coordinate 30%, 60%, 90%, and final design activities with constructability, procurement, phasing, safety, access, maintainability, and operational requirements.
- Review scopes, drawings, specifications, submittals, RFIs, coordination drawings, vendor data, and field conditions to identify gaps, conflicts, or out-of-scope exposure early.
- Hold subcontractors accountable to approved scope, schedule, quality, documentation, manpower, safety, and closeout obligations.
Schedule, Project Controls & Recovery - Own execution of the overall project plan and work closely with the Lead Scheduler on the Primavera P6 baseline schedule, monthly updates, critical path, procurement milestones, outage sequencing, two-week look-aheads, and recovery plans.
- Coordinate field work to meet the Prime Contract completion period and ensure that design, procurement, construction, testing, commissioning, training, and closeout are logically integrated.
- Identify schedule slippage early and require corrective manpower, resequencing, acceleration, or recovery planning when the responsible party is behind.
- Work closely with the Project Controls / Contract Administrator to maintain accurate logs, commitments, notices, meeting records, submittal status, change status, and Government deliverables.
Cost, Procurement & Commercial Management - Manage project budget performance, commitments, subcontractor pay applications, Schedule of Values, stored-material documentation, forecast-to-complete, contingency use, and change exposure.
- Review subcontractor and vendor change proposals for scope entitlement, labor/material support, markups, schedule impact, and consistency with the Prime Contract before recommending approval.
- Maintain disciplined change control: no unauthorized scope growth, acceleration, premium time, substitutions, or field directives without documented review and approval.
- Track long-lead equipment from submittal through release, fabrication, testing, storage, delivery, installation, startup, and commissioning; aggressively manage at-risk items.
Outages, Phasing & Continuity of Operations - Plan and coordinate service interruptions, plant transitions, electrical cutovers, controls cutovers, fire-protection impacts, and major equipment work in advance with Apex, CDC operations, subcontractors, and commissioning personnel.
- Support preparation and execution of Service Interruption Request / Project Activity Review packages, including sequence, duration, isolations, LOTO, manpower, communications, fallback plans, and return-to-service criteria.
- Confirm materials, personnel, tools, safety controls, temporary arrangements, testing steps, contingency plans, and approvals are in place before any critical outage begins.
- Protect mission continuity by ensuring existing systems remain available as required until replacement systems are tested, verified, and ready for service.
Safety, Quality & Federal Compliance - Lead by example on safety and actively support the Safety Manager, Site Superintendent, subcontractor competent persons, and CDC safety/security requirements.
- Ensure planning for LOTO, energized electrical work restrictions, rigging/crane operations, roof/fall protection, hot work, refrigerants, confined spaces, traffic control, fire-watch coordination, and other high-risk activities.
- Support the Quality Control Manager through preparatory meetings, initial/follow-up inspections, receiving inspections, testing, deficiency tracking, punch-list closure, and verification of corrective work.
- Ensure compliance with Federal construction requirements including applicable wage determinations, certified payroll, Buy American requirements, security/badging, NDAs, records management, and required contract flow-downs.
Startup, Commissioning & Closeout - Coordinate equipment startup, TAB, BAS checkout, point-to-point verification, functional testing, integrated systems testing, commissioning, training, and turnover activities.
- Drive deficiency resolution and confirm systems are complete, documented, and operational before turnover to the Government.
- Start closeout early and maintain accountability for as-builts, O&M manuals, warranties, test reports, commissioning records, training materials, spare parts, punch lists, and final turnover documentation.
On-Site Expectations & Work Environment - Full-time, on-site position at the CDC Roybal Campus in Atlanta, Georgia during active project execution.
- Must be available for planned shutdowns, utility interruptions, major equipment setting, startup, testing, and commissioning activities that may occur outside normal business hours, including selected nights or weekends.
- Work is performed in and around an active central utility plant and occupied Federal campus; the role requires regular field walks, stairs/ladders, roof access, mechanical/electrical spaces, and construction environments.
- Must qualify for required Federal/CDC background, badging, security, NDA, and access requirements.
Required Qualifications - 8+ years of progressively responsible construction project management experience, with demonstrated responsibility for subcontractors, schedule, cost, client communication, field execution, and project closeout.
- Proven experience managing large MEP, central utility plant, HVAC, industrial, healthcare, data center, laboratory, higher-education, or other mission-critical construction projects.
- Experience managing projects with significant mechanical and electrical scope; candidates should be comfortable discussing chillers, pumps, piping, VFDs, switchgear/MCCs, controls interfaces, testing, and commissioning at the project-management level.
- Demonstrated ability to read and interpret contracts, scopes, drawings, specifications, schedules, submittals, RFIs, and change documentation.
- Strong financial and commercial skills, including budgeting, forecasting, subcontract administration, change-order review, pay applications, and cost-to-complete management.
- Excellent written and verbal communication, meeting leadership, negotiation, organization, judgment, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to lead multiple subcontractors and technical teams without losing control of documentation, commitments, schedule, or client expectations.
- Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Building Construction, Business, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and highly relevant experience.
Preferred Qualifications - Prior Federal construction experience, particularly with CDC/HHS, DoD, DoS, GSA, VA, USACE, NAVFAC, or other Federal agencies.
- Experience with design-build delivery and active-facility renovations where outages and continuity of operations are critical.
- Direct experience with large chiller plants, cooling towers, central utility plants, medium-voltage electrical systems, BAS/controls integration, or major MEP infrastructure replacement.
- OSHA 30-Hour Construction certification; USACE/NAVFAC Construction Quality Management for Contractors (CQM-C) preferred.
- PMP, CCM, DBIA, PE, or similar construction/project-management credentials are beneficial but not required.
- Experience supporting claims avoidance, time-impact analysis, differing site conditions, Government changes, suspension/acceleration issues, and formal notice requirements.
Technology & Systems
The strongest candidates will be comfortable operating in a disciplined, technology-enabled project environment. Experience with the following is preferred: - Primavera P6 or equivalent CPM scheduling software; ability to interpret logic, float, critical path, milestones, and recovery schedules.
- Procore, Autodesk Construction Cloud, e-Builder, CMiC, or comparable construction PM/document-control platform.
- Bluebeam Revu or similar drawing/PDF review tools.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook, and Teams; ability to produce concise management reports and professional Government correspondence.
What Success Looks Like - Apex maintains visible, accountable prime-contractor leadership on site every day work is performed.
- Critical outages and plant transitions occur only after the team is fully prepared and do not create avoidable disruption to CDC operations.
- Subcontractors are coordinated, documented, and held accountable before issues become claims or schedule impacts.
- Long-lead equipment, submittals, RFIs, procurement, changes, testing, and closeout remain current and transparent to management.
- The project stays safe, professionally managed, commercially controlled, and aligned with the approved schedule and Prime Contract requirements.
- CDC experiences Apex as an organized, responsive, technically credible prime contractor capable of solving problems without losing control of risk.
Ideal Candidate Profile: A senior construction PM who is equally comfortable in the field, in front of a Federal client, reviewing a P6 schedule, challenging a subcontractor change order, coordinating an outage, and driving a complex MEP project to documented completion.
