Subject Matter Expert, Construction Contract Disputes

About the role

The Vertex Companies, LLC (VERTEX) is seeking a Senior level Construction Contract Disputes Expert with prior experience as an Expert Witness. We provide a team of consultants to support our Experts in litigation matters including construction claims related to change order disputes, reasonableness of a termination, damages owed resulting from a termination, cost to complete estimating/analysis, contractor standard of care, scheduling disputes, or responding to construction defect claims on a variety of residential, commercial, and mixed-use buildings.

Responsibilities

• Work Product Creation
• Project Management
• Clinical coordination with team members
• Testify as an expert witness in a court or arbitration regarding your construction damages and standard of care opinions.
• Write expert reports for contract dispute related matters.
• Analyze construction plans, disclosed documents/emails/payment applications/job cost reports, and construction contracts to understand party responsibilities specific to discrete claims and formulate a written response.
• Quantify and allocate damages owed to a specific party.
• Cost estimating and construction accounting forensics (e.g., who is owed what resulting from a contractor termination).
• Attend site inspections of projects to document observable conditions.
• Collaborate with team or other stakeholders (e.g., outside experts) to formulate and finalize high quality expert opinions/reports.
• Be autonomous in completing assignments well in advance of deadlines to allow for client review and feedback.
• Understand at the project outset what the client needs are and efficiently complete the work.
• Ensure the opinions/reports are high quality, thorough and accurate.
• Support assigned Managing Director in monitoring of all relevant data related to own performance such as individual utilization rate vs target, business development, and client deadlines.
• Meet or exceed defined individual average utilization goals as set forth by company leadership.
• Travel, as necessary to support client, employee, and leadership needs.
• Perform quality control of all assigned projects and self-generated work product, maintaining an excellent reputation of quality and client satisfaction.
• Provide feedback to project team leader in a manner that assists with rapid identification and escalation of any client, or technical or operational challenges.

Qualifications & Competencies

• Bachelor's degree and 15 years of related experience or a Master's degree and 12 years of related experience, with 7+ years in a leadership role with significant impact.
• Prior experience as testifying Expert Witness in front of a court or arbitration for construction damages or cost related cases required.
• Working knowledge and ability to read and interpret construction drawings, performed schedule analyses, understand construction means/methods/duties under the contract and perform cost estimating for varying types residential, commercial, and industrial structures.
• A high level of proficiency in Excel and report writing.
• Proficiency in construction software (e.g., Xactimate, Bluebeam, RSMeans, On-Screen Takeoff, etc.).
• Demonstrated experience in business development, including client relationship management and proposal preparation. Experience in providing reliable work product review as assigned.
• Able to communicate effectively (written and verbal) with co-workers and Supervisors, and clients, subcontractors, and vendors.
• Strong communication and organizational skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills for complex construction claims.
• Able to handle multiple priorities and perform consistently and positively under high stress conditions.
• Knowledge of computer operations and standard software packages (word processing, spreadsheets, Adobe) required.