Owner’s Representative

Location: Onsite in Chicago, IL

Our client is seeking an accomplished Owner's Representative to take a highly visible leadership role across complex, mission-critical construction in the Chicago market. This is an opportunity for a seasoned construction professional to step into challenging capital projects, strengthen contractor performance, protect the owner's interests, and bring disciplined execution to environments where schedule certainty and operational reliability matter. The right leader will be equally comfortable walking an active jobsite, resolving issues with contractors and local authorities, and presenting a clear path forward to senior executives.

This Role Offers

• Proven ability to lead complex, high-profile capital initiatives in mission-critical environments.
• The opportunity to directly influence contractor performance, project recovery, schedule execution, and successful turnover.
• A hands-on owner's-side position with meaningful authority across cost, schedule, risk, quality, safety, and project controls.
• Exposure to both new construction and improvements within active mission-critical facilities.
• Competitive compensation with a comprehensive benefits package, retirement programs, paid time off, and company-supported business expenses.
• A collaborative environment where sound judgment, accountability, and decisive project leadership are valued.

Focus

• Direct concurrent mission-critical construction assignments while protecting the owner's commercial, operational, schedule, quality, and safety priorities.
• Provide concise executive updates and maintain disciplined reporting on cost, schedule, field progress, staffing, risk, inspections, contractor performance, and required decisions.
• Drive contractor performance improvements by addressing schedule delays, resource gaps, execution issues, and contractual concerns.
• Independently validate contractor schedules, progress claims, staffing levels, pay applications, and change activity against actual field conditions and contractual commitments.
• Work directly with Authorities Having Jurisdiction to advance permitting, plan reviews, inspections, and occupancy approvals while identifying and mitigating potential schedule impacts.
• Own project controls across budgets, forecasts, contingency, changes, critical milestones, risk registers, and overall schedule performance.
• Maintain Procore as the central project record, ensuring documentation remains current and auditable while developing dashboards and reporting for executive stakeholders.
• Oversee MEP-intensive construction, commissioning, integrated systems testing, turnover, and work within active facilities, including review of methods of procedure, shutdowns, and phased tie-ins.
• Lead project teams and consultants while driving contractor accountability, quality standards, safety expectations, issue resolution, and clear recommendations to senior stakeholders.

Skill Set

• Minimum 10 years of project management experience within commercial or industrial construction, including at least 5 years delivering mission-critical or data center projects.
• Proven experience managing and recovering an underperforming general contractor, including recovery scheduling, corrective action planning, performance escalation, and contractual remedies.
• Proven ability to navigate regulatory approvals and compliance requirements in partnership with local authorities throughout complex construction projects.
• Strong command of Procore for managing project workflows, creating leadership reports, and building performance dashboards.
• Proven expertise overseeing cost, schedule, change, contingency, and risk performance across a portfolio of simultaneous capital initiatives.
• Strong understanding of complex mechanical and electrical infrastructure, construction documents, mission-critical commissioning, and integrated systems testing.
• Experience overseeing construction within occupied or operational facilities where shutdown planning, phased work, and uninterrupted operations are critical.
• Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and communicate project performance, risks, recovery strategies, and decisions to executive and ownership-level stakeholders. 
• A bachelor's degree in a construction or engineering-related discipline, relevant certifications, and prior owner's representative experience are preferred.

About Blue Signal:  

Blue Signal is an award-winning, executive search firm specializing in various specialties. Our recruiters have a proven track record of placing top-tier talent across industry verticals, with deep expertise in numerous professional services. Learn more at bit.ly/46Gs4yS