The Role We Want You ForPrecon OS is Clayco's in-house preconstruction platform (Estimation, GC/GR, Data Manager, Program Management) and the future estimate source for E2B Hub. The foundation is sound, but an estimator cannot yet complete and issue an estimate end-to-end in the platform. Clayco is bringing in an external vendor to close that gap. This role owns the outcome: it directs vendor delivery, protects scope, resolves open decisions, and gets Precon OS to a production-ready MVP that Clayco can run without the vendor.
This is a delivery-governance role, not a coordination role. The work includes a mandatory validation phase, eleven work packages of uneven size and risk, a long list of unresolved Clayco decisions, and two technology stacks.
The Specifics of the Role- Run the vendor engagement - Own the plan, cadence, RAID log and status reporting across all work packages. Hold the vendor to the Definition of Done: delivery is traceable requirements, passing tests and approved evidence, not hours consumed or sprints completed.
- Govern the validation phase (WP-0) - Drive the vendor's codebase and functional validation, then lead the re-baseline of scope, price and schedule against what is actually found. Hold the line against optimistic assumptions about how complete the Estimation module is.
- Manage scope and sequencing - Enforce the in-scope / out-of-scope boundary and the real dependencies: RBAC unblocks UAT, GC/GR authorization precedes the rate-engine cutover, lineage work follows the parity proof, and the E2B Hub re-platform follows the API contract.
- Close open decisions - Maintain the decision register (Program Management/Estimation coupling, authorization model, deploy access, stable role identity, E2B Hub override continuity and cutover approach, scale targets, audit retention). Put each in front of the right Clayco owner with a recommendation and a deadline.
- Own acceptance and quality gates - Run the traceability matrix and merge/acceptance gates: GC/GR byte-identical parity, arithmetic that reconciles to the cent, permission matrix with API-level redaction checks, concurrency, migrations, manual browser verification, and E2B Hub no-regression and read-only enforcement.
- Orchestrate UAT, beta and cutover - Schedule estimator, cost administrator and project director time; triage defects against agreed severity thresholds; plan training and cutover. Lead the final BO-1 acceptance run on a live project with the chief estimator.
- Clear Clayco-side dependencies - Get staging and production environments stood up, vendor repository, Okta and Azure access provisioned, and deploy-path questions settled, so the vendor is never blocked on Clayco.
- Coordinate across teams and stakeholders - Keep preconstruction leadership, Platform/Security, Data/BI, the E2B Hub team and any other module vendors aligned. Report clearly and early to executive sponsors on risk, scope change and budget.
- Manage budget and commercials - Track spend against the separately priced packages (WP-0, WP-10), process change requests, and approve invoices against accepted deliverables only.
- Secure the handover - Make sure architecture, API, runbook and administrator documentation are delivered and that Clayco engineers can deploy, diagnose and onboard unassisted (BO-8).
What Success Looks Like- A nominated estimator produces a complete GMP-level estimate for a real project in Precon OS and issues a client-ready deliverable with no external spreadsheet step.
- Other Clayco applications consume estimate, catalog, GC/GR and program data through a documented, versioned API; E2B Hub reads from Precon OS with no regression and no write path.
- A new GC/GR rate year is published as configuration, with no migration or deploy, and legacy plan totals match byte-for-byte.
- UAT is unblocked, scope held, and Clayco runs the platform without vendor involvement.
Requirements- 7+ years managing software delivery, including 3+ years running large, multi-workstream programs with an external development vendor.
- Proven record governing complex enterprise applications through discovery, build, UAT and cutover, including commercial oversight (SOW, change control, milestone acceptance).
- Comfortable with a modern engineering stack at the level needed to challenge a vendor: Python/FastAPI, React/TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Azure, CI/CD and database migrations. You do not need to write code, but you must read a pull request summary, a test report and an architecture decision with a critical eye.
- Strong requirements and traceability discipline; able to turn acceptance criteria into evidence and say no to "done" when it is not.
- Experience running decision logs and driving unresolved decisions to closure with senior stakeholders.
- Clear, direct communicator who can brief executives and estimators equally well.
- Background in construction, preconstruction estimating, cost data management or other financially rigorous domains (cost-to-the-cent reconciliation, markup and fee logic).
- Exposure to .NET, SQL Server and SignalR applications, or to data-source migrations in production systems with a rollback plan.
- Familiarity with RBAC and identity (Okta, Auth0, Azure AD), API productization (OpenAPI) and ERP or estimating integrations (e.g., Procore, JDE).
- PMP, PgMP, SAFe or equivalent certification; experience in Asana or similar work-management tools.
- Experience taking over or rescuing a partially built internal application.
Some Things You Should Know- Our clients and projects are nationwide - Travel will be required.
- No other builder can offer the collaborative design-build approach that Clayco does.
- We work on creative, complex, award-winning, high-profile jobs.
- The pace is fast!
Benefits- Discretionary Annual Bonus: Subject to company and individual performance.
- Comprehensive Benefits Package Including: Medical, dental and vision plans, 401k, generous PTO and paid company holidays, employee assistance program, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, disability coverage, learning & development programs and more!
Compensation- The salary range for this position considers a wide range of factors in making compensation decisions including but not limited to: Education, qualifications, skills, training, experience, certifications, internal equity, and location. Compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case.
