Position Description

Job Summary:

Penhall is seeking an experienced Senior Project Manager - Branch Support to provide hands-on project-management leadership, mentoring, and oversight to branch-managed projects across the company.

This is not a traditional project ownership role. The Senior PM will serve as an experienced resource for branch teams, particularly on projects being managed by personnel who may not have extensive formal project-management experience. Working alongside Project Controls and Branch Managers, the Senior PM will coach and support Account Managers, Project Managers, and other branch personnel to help ensure projects are properly set up, actively managed, accurately forecasted, and protected from avoidable cost, schedule, contractual, and commercial risk.

The Senior PM is expected to stay close enough to project performance to recognize developing problems early, ask the right questions, help teams establish corrective actions, and escalate significant concerns before they become major project issues. The objective is not to replace branch ownership or manage the project for the team, but to help branch personnel successfully manage their own projects while providing the experience, structure, and support needed to keep projects from getting into trouble.

The ideal candidate is an accomplished construction professional who enjoys mentoring and developing people, solving difficult project problems, managing stakeholders, and using years of practical project experience to help others succeed. Success in this role requires someone who can recognize what an experienced Project Manager would be watching, teach those habits to others, and know when a project needs additional intervention.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Support branch-managed projects identified as needing additional project-management experience, structure, or oversight.
• Participate in project turnover and startup to confirm scope, budget, schedule, contract requirements, execution strategy, and key risks are understood before work is underway.
• Review project cost performance, forecasts, schedules, manpower and resource needs, pending changes, billing status, documentation, and developing risks.
• Stay close enough to project performance to identify warning signs early and help project teams establish corrective actions before issues materially impact cost, schedule, margin, or customer relationships.
• Coach branch personnel in project controls, forecasting, scheduling, change management, documentation, contract administration, project planning, and closeout.
• Work closely with Project Controls to improve project visibility, reporting accuracy, forecast reliability, and consistency in project-management practices.
• Help teams prepare for significant customer or contractor conversations involving changes, schedule impacts, commercial issues, recovery plans, or other project risks.
• Assist with significant change orders, contractual notices, claims support, recovery plans, and project closeout.
• Help branch teams develop practical action plans when projects begin to drift and follow through to confirm corrective actions are being implemented.
• Share lessons learned, repeatable processes, and successful project-management practices across branches and regions.
• Provide experienced guidance and coaching without replacing the authority or day-to-day responsibility of branch leadership and the assigned project team.
• Escalate significant project risks when additional branch, regional, Major Projects, or executive leadership involvement is required.

What Success Looks Like:

• Project risks are identified earlier and addressed before they materially impact performance.
• Forecasting, scheduling, and project controls become more accurate and consistent.
• Branch teams improve their project-management capability and become increasingly self-sufficient.
• Project setup, change management, contractual documentation, and closeout improve.
• Fewer projects require late-stage recovery or executive intervention.
• Avoidable margin deterioration is reduced.
• Corrective actions are established earlier and followed through when projects begin to drift.
• Best practices and lessons learned are shared across the organization.
• Branch operations receive experienced support while retaining ownership and accountability for their projects.

Position Requirements

Required Skills and Abilities:

• 10+ years of progressively responsible construction project-management experience.
• Significant experience managing complex, high-risk, or distressed construction projects.
• Strong knowledge of cost control, forecasting, scheduling, project planning, contract administration, change management, documentation, and project risk.
• Heavy civil, demolition, infrastructure, specialty contracting, or self-perform construction experience strongly preferred.
• The ability to quickly evaluate project performance, recognize warning signs, and identify developing risks before they become major problems.
• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills, with the credibility to work effectively with field personnel, branch leadership, customers, and executives.
• Patience and a genuine interest in mentoring Project Managers, Account Managers, Branch Managers, and developing project personnel.
• The ability to influence, coach, and guide teams without relying on direct reporting authority.
• Sound judgment regarding when to coach, when to intervene, and when to escalate.
• A practical, hands-on approach to project management and the ability to translate experience into clear actions for less-experienced project personnel.
• Willingness to travel nationally based on project and branch needs

Essential Core Competencies:

• Leadership: Drives team performance, accountability, and successful project outcomes across multiple projects.
• Strategic Thinking: Ability to see the big picture and align project execution with business objectives.
• Financial Acumen: Expert-level management of budgets, forecasting, and margin performance.
• Contract & Risk Management: Advanced understanding of contracts, claims, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Communication Skills: Highly effective communicator with executive presence.
• Team Development: Mentors and develops talent across project teams.
• Adaptability: Thrives in complex, fast-paced, and high-visibility environments.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Engineering, or related field preferred (or equivalent field experience).
• 10+ years of project management experience in construction, with significant focus in heavy civil, demolition, or self-perform environments.
• Proven experience managing large, complex, multi-million-dollar projects and/or multiple projects simultaneously.
• Demonstrated success leading teams across multiple locations and delivering strong financial performance.

Physical Requirements:

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.
• Ability to walk job sites when necessary.
• May be required to travel to job sites and other locations.

Work Environment & Travel:

• Remote work flexibility based on project phase and business needs.
• Travel is required and driven by project demands, including short-term visits and extended onsite assignments.
• Per diem, lodging, and travel accommodations provided as applicable.
• Ability to work extended hours and weekends as required to meet project demands.