Lead Construction Services Professional - Transportation | Highway & Bridge
Quick overview
Job description
Bring your expertise of professional construction services to the roadway, highway, and bridge projects that keep communities connected.
Join TKDA as a Lead Construction Services Professional. In this role, you will lead the field engineering, construction observation, inspection, and contract administration services that carry roadway, highway, and bridge projects from plans to completion. This opportunity is designed for an experienced construction professional who combines strong field judgment with a commitment to developing people and a drive to build a practice.
As a member of our multidisciplinary team, you will collaborate with highway design, traffic, bridge, water resources, and municipal professionals. Projects range from local roadway and street reconstruction to highway corridor improvements, interchanges, and bridge construction and rehabilitation. Your practical field perspective will elevate our project delivery abilities by helping teams to anticipate construction challenges, resolve issues, and keep communication clear among designers, contractors, public agencies, and other stakeholders.
In this lead role, you will serve as a subject matter expert and provide guidance and mentorship to construction engineers, inspectors, and field professionals, and you will collaborate with technical group managers and project managers to coordinate project assignments, schedules, and resources across concurrent projects. You will set clear expectations for safe, consistent field practices and thorough documentation. You will also stay connected to the work through site visits, project reviews, and hands-on support during critical stages of construction.
Beyond day-to-day delivery, you will help shape and grow TKDA’s construction services practice. You will define field-service scopes, staffing plans, fees, and delivery approaches, and you will standardize the tools, procedures, and technologies that keep service consistent across projects. You will also partner with project managers and technical group managers / discipline leaders on proposals, pursuits, and client presentations. Together, you will expand our transportation construction capabilities and strengthen our reputation with state, county, and municipal agency clients.
What You Will Do
- Develop, guide, and mentor construction engineers, inspectors, and other field service professionals who provide construction observation, inspection, and contract administration for roadway, highway, and bridge projects.
- Coordinate staffing, schedules, workloads, equipment, and field coverage across concurrent projects and critical stages of construction.
- Interpret plans, specifications, special provisions, and agency requirements; verify conformance, document deficiencies, and coordinate timely resolution with contractors, designers, and owner representatives.
- Oversee inspection and materials sampling and testing for earthwork, aggregates, bituminous paving, concrete, bridge structures, drainage, and associated utilities; confirm that results and records meet project requirements.
- Support construction phasing, traffic control and staging coordination, constructability, and change management to keep projects moving and minimize disruptions to the traveling public.
- Monitor progress, budgets, and schedules; report cost, quality, and schedule concerns and coordinate their resolution without assuming responsibility for contractor means, methods, or site safety programs.
- Promote safety and compliance with company, client, and project requirements; communicate construction risks, potential claims, and emerging issues; and partner with project leaders on corrective actions.
- Maintain consistent standards for daily reports, quantities, payment documentation, materials records, and as-built information through final acceptance and project closeout.
- Help develop field-service scopes, staffing plans, fees, schedules, and delivery strategies for new and ongoing work.
- Support proposals, pursuits, client presentations, and constructability reviews; contribute field insights that improve project planning and delivery.
- Standardize field tools, templates, procedures, and technologies; apply lessons learned to improve service delivery across projects and locations.
- Build productive relationships with state, county, and municipal agencies, contractors, utilities, and other stakeholders, and represent TKDA in meetings, site visits, and client discussions.
What We’re Looking For
- Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, construction management, engineering technology, or a related field, or equivalent education and experience.
- Substantial experience in construction observation, inspection, administration, or management for roadway, highway, and bridge projects.
- Supervisory, team leadership, or operational management experience.
- Knowledge of construction plans, specifications, contracts, schedules, documentation, and applicable transportation agency standards.
- Ability to coordinate field resources across multiple projects and changing priorities.
- Strong understanding of construction safety, quality, risk, and issue resolution.
- Strong written, verbal, interpersonal, and presentation skills.
- Ability to build effective relationships with employees, clients, contractors, engineers, and public agencies.
- Proficiency with field documentation, project management, scheduling, inspection, and collaboration tools.
- Ability to travel to project sites as needed.
- Valid driver’s license and acceptable driving record.
Nice to Have
- Professional Engineer, Certified Construction Manager, or relevant inspection certification.
- Experience managing geographically dispersed field teams or services.
- Experience developing field procedures, training, quality controls, or standardized documentation.
- Familiarity with MnDOT, counties, municipalities, and other public-sector transportation clients.
- Experience supporting proposals, staffing plans, fees, client relationships, or business development.
- Construction Certifications: MnDOT (Aggregate Production, Bituminous Street Inspector, Concrete Field Tester and Inspector, Grading and Base Tester and Inspector, Bridge Construction, ADA Construction, Signals and Lighting); NASSCO CIPP Lining; UMN Erosion Site Management.
- Health Benefits: Enjoy medical, dental, vision, and life insurance from day one
- Annual Incentive Plan: Eligible for discretionary bonuses
- HSA Contributions: Receive monthly employer contributions if you choose an HSA-eligible plan
- 401(k) Match: Get employer matching on your 401(k) deferrals
- ESOP: Benefit from our Employee Stock Ownership Plan, funded entirely by company profits
- Paid Time Off: Accrue PTO based on your professional experience and enjoy eight paid holidays per year