Vice President, Design & Construction

Location

Santa Barbara, CA, preferred; Bay Area-based candidates must commit to ~50% travel to Santa Barbara for the first year.

Summary

SARES | REGIS is seeking a high-energy Vice President to lead a team delivering highly-technical research laboratories for a confidential, leading global technology client. The program operates like a start-up: the science is advancing quickly, requirements evolve while projects are being designed and built, and decisions are often made with incomplete information. We need a leader who thrives in that environment, brings organization to ambiguity, and keeps the team moving forward in spite of the challenges.

This is a player-coach role: the VP leads the people and processes behind the program while staying hands-on, producing deliverables alongside the team. The VP keeps the program moving, anticipates risk, and steps in on critical issues when needed. A large part of the role is navigating a complex client organization with many stakeholders whose priorities do not always align, so strong communication, people skills, and diplomacy are as important as technical expertise.

Key Responsibilities

Client & Stakeholder Management

• Serve as the senior point of contact for the program, building trust at working and executive levels.
• Own the outcome: hold ultimate responsibility for client satisfaction and project success, as well as the success of our team.
• Navigate multiple stakeholder groups (research users, real estate, facilities, EHS, security, finance); build consensus and reconcile competing requests across scope, cost, and schedule.
• Translate evolving technical requirements into clear project direction and advise client leadership with candor and well-supported recommendations.
• Maintain strict confidentiality regarding the client and its programs.

Team & Program Leadership

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of several project managers; set clear expectations and hold the team accountable for delivery to project budget, schedule, quality, and client satisfaction.
• Continually evaluate staffing and reallocate resources across projects as needs shift, supplementing some projects and scaling back others.
• Establish and enforce processes, standards, and reporting that keep projects moving and scale as the program grows.
• Lead as a hands‑on contributor: work alongside the team to produce deliverables (budgets, schedules, reports, and client presentations), dig into technical issues directly, and spot problems early.

Risk Management & Forward Planning

• Identify schedule, cost, technical, and stakeholder risks early, and drive mitigation before they become problems.
• Oversee funding requests; ensure contracts have no scope gaps and risk is appropriately allocated.
• Plan ahead for long‑lead equipment, phasing, and operational impacts in occupied research environments.

Design, Construction, & Entitlement Oversight

• Oversee design team selection, contracting, and management from concept through construction documents and permitting.
• Guide integration of complex MEP and process systems, which may include precise temperature and humidity control, vibration‑ and EMI/RF‑sensitive spaces, cryogenics and specialty gases, process cooling water, specialty exhaust, and redundant power.
• Oversee construction across multiple concurrent projects, including change management, pay applications, and contractor performance.
• Maintain rigorous budget control through design and construction: track costs against approved budgets, manage contingency, and produce accurate, regularly updated cash flow projections.
• Provide reliable, timely reporting on budget, schedule, and risk to keep multiple stakeholder groups informed and aligned.
• Ensure effective commissioning, start‑up, and turnover of complex systems to client users and operations teams.
• Secure entitlements and approvals as needed (zoning, CEQA, coastal, city approvals); Santa Barbara County or Central Coast experience is a plus.

Qualifications

Required

• 15+ Years in real estate development or construction project management, including substantial experience delivering laboratory, research, or other technically complex facilities.
• Bachelor’s degree; engineering or construction background strongly preferred (Construction Management, Civil, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering, Architecture, or related field).
• Strong knowledge of complex MEP systems and the technical depth to support PMs.
• 5+ Years managing and developing teams of project managers.
• Experience representing corporate owners/users with multiple internal stakeholder groups.
• Demonstrated success in fast‑paced environments with evolving requirements.

Preferred

• Experience with advanced computing, physics, or semiconductor research labs (e.g., cleanrooms, cryogenic labs, low‑vibration and shielded environments).
• Experience in start‑up or rapidly scaling client environments.
• Both ground‑up lab and occupied‑facility renovation experience; Design‑Build delivery.

What We Are Looking For

• High energy and drive – leads from the front and moves the team forward through ambiguity and setbacks.
• Process orientation and a forward‑looking, risk‑sensitive mindset.
• Exceptional communication and people skills – builds trust across competing stakeholders and delivers difficult messages with tact and sound judgment.
• Patience and composure when requirements and priorities change.

Compensation

The expected base salary range is $215,000 - $275,000 per year, plus annual discretionary bonus eligibility and Sares | Regis benefits. Actual pay depends on experience, qualifications, and location.