Senior Project Director

About the role

The Senior Project Director will serve as the owner’s representative for a major pharmaceutical manufacturing capital program in Houston, TX. This role will lead a portfolio of concurrent projects, providing strategic direction and accountability across scope, cost, schedule, safety, quality, risk, and operational readiness.

Responsibilities

• Provide executive oversight for a portfolio of major capital projects and interdependent workstreams.
• Represent the client’s interests throughout design, procurement, construction, commissioning, qualification, start-up, and turnover.
• Lead Project Directors, Project Managers, consultants, contractors, vendors, and functional project teams.
• Establish portfolio governance, execution strategies, reporting requirements, decision pathways, and escalation protocols.
• Integrate project scope, schedules, budgets, risks, resources, and cross-project dependencies into a coordinated execution plan.
• Maintain accountability for portfolio cost, schedule, safety, quality, and delivery performance.
• Review project plans, forecasts, schedules, risk registers, change requests, and recovery strategies, intervening when performance is at risk.
• Lead resolution of significant technical, commercial, contractual, construction, and stakeholder issues.
• Direct value engineering, constructability, design optimization, and lifecycle-cost initiatives.
• Ensure project delivery aligns with client standards, manufacturing requirements, GMP expectations, and applicable regulatory and safety requirements.
• Oversee contracting and procurement strategies, contractor performance, commercial negotiations, claims, and change management.
• Align engineering, construction, quality, validation, operations, maintenance, and environmental health and safety stakeholders.
• Provide executive reporting on progress, financial performance, risk exposure, critical decisions, and corrective actions.
• Ensure facilities and systems are commissioned, qualified, documented, and ready for start-up and operational turnover.
• Develop and mentor project leadership while driving accountability and consistent execution across the portfolio.

  Requirements

  • Ability to provide executive oversight across multiple concurrent projects and interdependent workstreams.
  • Strong command of project governance, project controls, integrated scheduling, forecasting, risk management, contingency, and change control.
  • Deep understanding of pharmaceutical facility design, construction, commissioning, qualification, validation, start-up, and operational turnover.
  • Strong commercial and contractual judgment, including procurement strategy, contractor performance, negotiations, claims, and dispute resolution.
  • Working knowledge of GMP, OSHA, environmental, permitting, and process-safety requirements.
  • Ability to align engineering, construction, quality, validation, operations, maintenance, and EHS stakeholders around shared project objectives.
  • Ability to identify emerging issues, make timely decisions, and direct corrective or recovery strategies.
  • Strong executive communication, stakeholder management, negotiation, and team-leadership capabilities.

  Skills

  • Ability to provide executive oversight across multiple concurrent projects and interdependent workstreams.
  • Strong command of project governance, project controls, integrated scheduling, forecasting, risk management, contingency, and change control.
  • Deep understanding of pharmaceutical facility design, construction, commissioning, qualification, validation, start-up, and operational turnover.
  • Strong commercial and contractual judgment, including procurement strategy, contractor performance, negotiations, claims, and dispute resolution.
  • Working knowledge of GMP, OSHA, environmental, permitting, and process-safety requirements.
  • Ability to align engineering, construction, quality, validation, operations, maintenance, and EHS stakeholders around shared project objectives.
  • Ability to identify emerging issues, make timely decisions, and direct corrective or recovery strategies.
  • Strong executive communication, stakeholder management, negotiation, and team-leadership capabilities.
  • Preferred: PMP, CCM, PE, or comparable professional credential.

  Benefits

  Cumming Group offers a comprehensive benefits package including:

  • Medical
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • 401(k)
  • 401(k) Matching
  • Paid Time Off
  • Paid Holidays
  • Short and long-term disability
  • Employee Assistance Program

  Pay

  The salary range for this full-time role is $168,300.00-$235,633.37 per year.

  Schedule

  This is a full-time role.