Buried Utilities Project Manager
Location: New Kensington, PA
Salary: $130,000–$150,000 per year
Employment Type: Full-Time
Vendor fee:12%
Estimated Pay:$15600-$18,000
Net payment- 27 days
Guarantee Period- 45 days
About the Organization:
We are an established heavy civil and infrastructure construction organization specializing in complex transportation, utility, and site development projects. The organization has a strong presence in the regional construction market and is known for delivering technically demanding projects with an emphasis on safety, quality, schedule performance, and operational excellence.
This is an opportunity to join a growing team in a role that combines buried utility construction expertise with project development, preconstruction, estimating, and strategic planning. The position will work closely with internal operations and estimating teams as well as owners, developers, engineers, and other project stakeholders.
Position Overview:
We are seeking an experienced Buried Utilities Project Manager to lead and support the development of complex buried utility and heavy civil opportunities throughout the region.
This position is particularly suited to a construction professional with a strong background in buried utilities, preconstruction, project development, estimating, constructability, and heavy civil construction.
The ideal candidate will bring practical field and project knowledge and be capable of evaluating projects from the early conceptual stage through planning, estimating, proposal development, and execution strategy.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead project development and preconstruction activities for buried utility and heavy civil projects.
- Evaluate project opportunities and develop conceptual approaches, budgets, schedules, and execution strategies.
- Review plans, specifications, site conditions, and proposed utility routes to identify constructability issues and project risks.
- Develop and evaluate means and methods for trenching, boring, plowing, conduit installation, earthwork, and related utility construction.
- Support conceptual and detailed estimating activities and proposal development.
- Coordinate with estimators, operations teams, engineers, designers, owners, developers, and subcontractors.
- Analyze utility conflicts, site constraints, constructability challenges, and potential project risks.
- Assist with preliminary scheduling, resource planning, sequencing, and construction methodologies.
- Evaluate utility permitting requirements, easements, right-of-way constraints, route planning, and utility coordination.
- Participate in client and owner discussions during project development and preconstruction.
- Provide technical and commercial input for proposals, bids, and project pursuits.
- Help transition successfully developed projects from preconstruction into field operations.
- Monitor market opportunities and contribute to the organization's growth within the buried utilities and heavy civil sectors.
- Support project teams with technical expertise and construction planning as needed.
Key Qualifications
- 8+ years of progressive experience in heavy civil construction, buried utilities, infrastructure, preconstruction, estimating, project development, or a closely related field.
- Strong hands-on knowledge of buried utility construction, including:
- Trenching
- Horizontal boring
- Plowing
- Conduit installation
- Utility relocations and conflicts
- Earthwork
- Site development
- Strong project development and pre construction experience rather than traditional project management experience alone.
- Demonstrated experience with:
- Constructability reviews
- Means and methods
- Conceptual budgeting
- Preliminary scheduling
- Risk analysis
- Proposal and pursuit support
- Strong understanding of utility permitting, easements, right-of-way, route planning, and utility coordination.
- Ability to collaborate effectively with owners, developers, engineers, designers, estimators, operations personnel, and other stakeholders.
- Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Construction Management, or a related discipline.
- Strong analytical, communication, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to evaluate complex projects and develop practical, cost-effective construction strategies.
- PA, OH, or WV market experience highly preferred.
Preferred Technical Skills
Experience with the following systems and tools is highly desirable:
- HCSS HeavyBid
- HCSS HeavyJob
- Blue-beam
- Microsoft Office
- Advanced Excel
- Construction scheduling software and tools
Ideal Candidate Profile
The strongest candidates will bring a combination of:
Buried Utilities + Heavy Civil Construction + Pre-construction + Project Development
Candidates whose experience is limited primarily to traditional project administration or general commercial construction will be less aligned with this opportunity.
We are particularly interested in professionals who understand how utility projects are developed, priced, planned, permitted, and constructed and who can bridge the gap between early project pursuit and field execution.
Compensation
Base Salary: $130,000–$150,000, depending on experience and qualifications.
This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced heavy civil professional looking to take a strategic role in the development and delivery of major buried utility and infrastructure projects.