Senior Director, Construction Innovation

About Suffolk

Suffolk is a national enterprise that builds, innovates and invests. Suffolk is an end-to-end business that provides value throughout the entire project lifecycle by leveraging its core construction management services with vertical service lines that include real estate capital investment, design, self-perform construction services, technology start-up investment (Suffolk Technologies) and innovation research/development.

Suffolk – America’s Contractor – is a national company with more than $5.0 billion in annual revenue, 2,600 employees, and main offices in Boston (headquarters), New York City, Miami, West Palm Beach, Tampa, Estero, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. Suffolk manages some of the most complex, sophisticated projects in the country, serving clients in every major industry sector, including healthcare, life sciences, education, gaming, transportation/aviation, government, mission critical and commercial. Suffolk is privately held and is led by founder, chairman and CEO John Fish. Suffolk is ranked #8 on ENR’s list of “Top CM-at-Risk Contractors.” For more information, visit www.suffolk.com and follow Suffolk on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram.

The Role

The construction technology landscape is rapidly evolving with over 8,000 construction technology startups emerging in the last few years. At Suffolk, we are capitalizing on this surge of solutions to identify the tools that will create the most value to our operations project teams. Suffolk is seeking a Senior Director of Construction Technology to equip teams with the best tech tools to solve their operational needs that will drive safety, efficiency, and quality.

The Senior Director of Construction Technology will define the menu of construction technology tools used across our jobsites and drive adoption of those tools. They will steer the product innovation stage-gate process to transform innovative ideas and products into standard operating procedures. They will lead a team of regional associates to design and execute data driven pilots, and support teams with selecting and utilizing the best tech tools for their project. The Senior Director will stay up-to-date on emerging trends and best practices in the construction technology landscape to proactively identify opportunities to incorporate new ideas into Suffolk's ecosystem.

This is a highly cross-functional role that will partner with operational and functional leaders to test and embed solutions. The ideal candidate has a passion for technology and a deep understanding of how it can be leveraged to improve construction workflows and project outcomes.

• Drive adoption of our required and recommended construction technology tools 
• Continuously assess and update the set of recommended and required tech tools to ensure they represent the best tools in the market to meet our operational needs  
• Lead change management efforts to embed approved tools into the organization including revising standard operating procedures, integrating data and applications, and providing training and support across job sites 
• Work with external vendors to influence their product roadmap based on Suffolk operational needs and requests 
• Work cross functionally to prioritize, design, and implement product enhancements and integration requests by project teams 
• Systematically collect feedback to understand operational pain points and effectiveness of current systems, tools, technologies 
• Own the construction innovation strategy to address priority operational issues 
• Refine and drive the product innovation stage-gate process to systematically prioritize ideas and transform them into standard operating processes across jobsites 
• Design, execute, and analyze pilots to inform the scaling potential of construction technology 
• Lead a team of regional construction technology associates to execute process and product pilots, drive utilization of standard toolkit, support training and adoption of processes and tools, and solicit on-the-ground feedback 
• Work cross functionally to perform required technical and legal assessments of products at each stage of the innovation stage-gate process 

• Manage vendor relationships and Master Service Agreements for tech tools 
• Stay up-to-date on emerging trends and best practices in construction technology and proactively identify opportunities to incorporate new ideas into Suffolk's innovation roadmap 
• Refine construction innovation metrics and report on the progress of construction innovation program 

• Bachelor's degree in construction management, engineering, or related field 
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in construction technology, construction operations, or related field 
• Strong understanding of construction workflows and technology tools used in construction 
• Demonstrated ability to assess, prioritize, and deploy technology solutions 
• Experience influencing and collaborating at all levels of an organization 
• Strong project management experience  
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and managing direct reports 
• Clear and concise written and oral communicator, able to adapt information by audience  
• Ability to adapt to changing priorities and work in a fast-paced environment 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit for long periods of time; talk or hear; perform fine motor, hand and finger skills in the use of a keyboard, telephone, or writing. The employee is frequently required to stand; walk; and reach with arms and/or hands. Specific vision abilities include close vision, distance vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus. The employee will spend their time in an office environment with a quiet to moderate noise level. Job site walking.

Suffolk provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity, national origin, citizenship, genetic information, disability, protected veteran, gender identity, age or any other status protected by law.  This policy applies to recruiting, hiring, transfers, promotions, terminations, compensation, benefits, and all other terms and conditions of employment.  Suffolk will not tolerate any unlawful discrimination toward, or harassment of, applicants or employees by anyone at Suffolk, or anyone working on behalf of Suffolk.