Assistant Vice President, Architecture, Engineering and Construction

About the role

The Assistant Vice President, Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AVP) will lead the planning, design, and construction of campus facilities and associated infrastructure at the University of Michigan. The AVP will set direction and drive execution across the capital program, ensuring projects deliver value through quality, safety, sustainability, schedule reliability, and fiscal discipline.

Job Duties

• Develop and execute long-term strategies for campus development, major renovations, infrastructure enhancement, utility distribution planning, and deferred maintenance renewal.
• Align Architecture, Engineering, and Construction planning and execution with university mission, Campus Master Plan direction, and Facilities and Operations strategic priorities.
• Lead through subordinate directors and managers across architecture, engineering, construction, and project delivery functions.
• Oversee the full project lifecycle: feasibility, programming, design, construction, commissioning, closeout, and post-occupancy evaluation/learning.
• Serve as a primary liaison to academic leadership, Michigan Medicine, athletics, research units, student life, and administrative partners.
• Provide stewardship of the multi-year capital portfolio; allocate resources and manage expenditures within budget limitations.

Requirements

• Bring senior leadership experience overseeing large, multidisciplinary design and construction organizations and capital programs of significant scale and complexity.
• Show a proven record of delivering major new construction and renovation projects, including work in occupied and mission-critical environments.
• Offer deep expertise in project controls, governance, procurement, contracting, and risk management.
• Have the ability to lead through others, develop leaders, and foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and service.

Other Info

The University of Michigan seeks a dynamic, strategic leader to serve as its next Assistant Vice President, Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AVP). The University of Michigan is a top public research university with global impact and deep public purpose. Its Ann Arbor campus is home to a breadth of highly specialized facilities and infrastructure—research laboratories, clinical and healthcare environments, classrooms and learning spaces, residence halls, athletics venues, museums, and public spaces—supported by extensive utility and distribution systems. The institution's scale and complexity require an Architecture, Engineering, and Construction leader who can translate mission needs into executable plans and successfully build outcomes.

The AVP is the University’s senior leader responsible for planning, designing, and constructing campus facilities and associated infrastructure. Reporting to the Vice President for Facilities and Operations, the AVP sets direction and drives execution across the capital program, ensuring projects deliver value through quality, safety, sustainability, schedule reliability, and fiscal discipline. Additionally, the AVP brings executive-level leadership experience guiding multidisciplinary teams and delivering large-scale projects within complex institutions.

In this role, the Assistant Vice President, Architecture, Engineering and Construction will:

• Develop and execute long-term strategies for campus development, major renovations, infrastructure enhancement, utility distribution planning, and deferred maintenance renewal.
• Align Architecture, Engineering, and Construction planning and execution with university mission, Campus Master Plan direction, and Facilities and Operations strategic priorities.
• Lead through subordinate directors and managers across architecture, engineering, construction, and project delivery functions.
• Oversee the full project lifecycle: feasibility, programming, design, construction, commissioning, closeout, and post-occupancy evaluation/learning.
• Serve as a primary liaison to academic leadership, Michigan Medicine, athletics, research units, student life, and administrative partners.
• Provide stewardship of the multi-year capital portfolio; allocate resources and manage expenditures within budget limitations.

Please direct all nominations and inquiries to the WittKieffer team at erobles@wittkieffer.com. Candidates should provide a resume and a letter of application that addresses the responsibilities and requirements described in the Leadership Profile. Application materials should be submitted by using the WittKiffer Candidate Portal available at https://apptrkr.com/7208795.