Vice President of Design & Construction

Compensation Type

Yearly

Highgate Hotels

Highgate is a leading real estate investment and hospitality management company with over $15 billion of assets under management and a global portfolio of more than 400 hotels spanning North America, Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America. With a 30-year track record as an innovator in the hospitality industry, this forward-thinking company provides expert guidance through all stages of the property cycle, from planning and development through recapitalization or disposition. Highgate continues to demonstrate success in developing a diverse portfolio of bespoke lifestyle hotel brands, legacy brands, and independent hotels and resorts, featuring contemporary programming and digital acumen. The company utilizes industry-leading revenue management tools that efficiently identify and predict evolving market dynamics to drive outperformance and maximize asset value. With an executive team of seasoned hospitality leaders and corporate offices worldwide, Highgate is a trusted partner for top ownership groups and major hotel brands. www.highgate.com

Location

Highgate Corporate Office New York City, NY

Overview

The Vice President of Design & Construction – East Coast will serve as the senior leader responsible for the successful delivery of Highgate’s hotel development, renovation, design, and construction projects across the East Coast. This role will lead projects from initial planning and underwriting through design, construction, completion, and turnover, with full accountability for quality, schedule, budget, risk management, and overall project execution.

The Vice President will operate as a highly driven, hands-on, commercially minded leader who thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment. The successful candidate will bring a strong bias toward action, exceptional attention to detail, sound financial judgment, and the ability to move complex projects forward while maintaining rigorous control over cost, quality, and schedule.

This position requires an executive who can communicate effectively up, down, and across the organization—translating complex design, construction, financial, and operational matters into clear decisions and actionable recommendations for senior leadership.  The successful candidate will be a highly driven, entrepreneurial, and commercially minded leader who combines strategic perspective with a willingness to get into the details and personally drive execution.

Responsibilities

• Self-starter with urgency: Takes ownership, requires minimal direction, anticipates issues, and moves quickly from problem identification to resolution.
• Exceptional attention to detail: Maintains rigorous control over the details that drive cost, quality, schedule, risk, and ultimately project success.
• Financially disciplined: Understands that every project decision has a financial consequence and consistently challenges costs, assumptions, and alternatives.
• Commercially astute: Balances quality, design, guest experience, schedule, investment objectives, and long-term asset value when making decisions.
• Strong executive presence: Communicates complex issues clearly and confidently to senior leadership while remaining equally effective with project teams and field personnel.
• Accountable leader: Sets clear expectations, holds internal and external partners accountable, and creates a culture where commitments translate into results.
• Decisive and solutions-oriented: Makes informed decisions quickly, navigates ambiguity, and develops practical solutions to complex problems.
• Highly collaborative: Builds productive relationships across functions while maintaining appropriate ownership and accountability.
• Adaptable and resilient: Thrives in a dynamic environment where priorities move quickly and speed, transparency, financial discipline, and execution matter.
• Portfolio-minded: Can operate at both the strategic and detailed levels, ensuring individual projects support the broader objectives of the East Coast portfolio and Highgate.
• Lead the full lifecycle of hotel development, design, renovation, and construction projects, with accountability for scope, schedule, budget, quality, risk, and overall execution.
• Serve as the senior point of accountability for project delivery, anticipating challenges, removing roadblocks, making timely decisions, and driving projects to successful completion.
• Establish a disciplined and transparent approach to project execution, with clear accountability, detailed schedules, measurable milestones, and rigorous project controls.
• Maintain exceptional attention to detail across design, contracts, budgets, change orders, construction activities, documentation, and project decisions.
• Oversee architectural and construction administration to ensure design intent, specifications, quality standards, and project requirements are maintained.
• Conduct regular site visits to assess progress, workmanship, materials, safety, schedule adherence, and contractor performance.
• Ensure all permits, inspections, approvals, and Certificates of Occupancy are obtained on schedule, and projects are properly closed out and transitioned to Operations.
• Own project financial performance, maintaining rigorous control of budgets, forecasts, cash flow, CapEx, hard and soft costs, Owner Direct costs, contingencies, and reserves.
• Lead the development of construction budgets, financial projections, CapEx underwriting, and construction pro formas in partnership with Finance, Acquisitions, Development, and Operations.
• Monitor forecasts, commitments, variances, and financial risks, providing senior leadership with clear visibility and actionable recommendations.
• Protect the company’s investment by identifying cost pressures early, challenging assumptions, negotiating value, managing change orders, and driving cost efficiencies without compromising quality, schedule, guest experience, or long-term asset value.
• Review contractor payment applications, bids, and proposals and ensure project expenditure remain aligned with approved budgets and investment objectives.
• Translate construction and design decisions into clear financial, operational, and investment implications for senior leadership.
• Lead and collaborate with architects, designers, general contractors, subcontractors, consultants, vendors, operators, and internal stakeholders to ensure alignment and execution.
• Establish clear expectations, performance standards, timelines, and accountability across all project partners.
• Oversee competitive bidding, contractor selection, contract negotiations, procurement, and project execution.
• Continuously evaluate contractor, consultant, and vendor performance, addressing quality, cost, schedule, and performance issues decisively.
• Standardize and improve contracts, bid documents, procurement processes, reporting, closeout requirements, and other project controls.
• Select and manage third-party consultants for environmental, structural, building systems, surveys, inspections, and other technical assessments, translating findings into practical investment and risk-management recommendations.
• Maintain comprehensive job-site safety programs and compliance with applicable requirements.
• Lead, develop, and hold project personnel accountable for performance, execution, and results.
• Determine appropriate staffing, resources, consultants, and project support based on project requirements and evolving priorities.
• Establish consistent reporting, dashboards, controls, and communication protocols across the portfolio.
• Build a culture of ownership, urgency, accountability, transparency, and execution.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, increase efficiency, standardize best practices, and continuously elevate project delivery.
• Communicate effectively up, down, and across the organization, providing timely, accurate, and transparent information to senior leadership and project stakeholders.
• Provide concise, actionable reporting on project status, financial performance, risks, opportunities, and decisions requiring leadership attention.
• Build strong cross-functional partnerships across Development, Finance, Acquisitions, Operations, Legal, Design, and other corporate functions.
• Surface issues early, establish clear paths to resolution, and ensure stakeholders remain aligned throughout the project lifecycle.
• Represent the company professionally and effectively with owners, partners, contractors, consultants, municipalities, and other external stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in construction, design, development, or project management, preferably within complex hotel, hospitality, or commercial projects.
• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Proven track record of delivering complex projects on time, on budget, and to a high standard of quality.
• Demonstrated expertise in CapEx underwriting and project budgeting, including hard costs, soft costs, Owner Direct costs, contingencies, and reserves.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, with the ability to connect project decisions to investment returns, asset value, profitability, and broader business objectives.
• Experience working for an owner, developer, general contractor, construction management company, or comparable organization with significant project accountability.
• Proven ability to manage multiple complex projects and competing priorities in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Strong knowledge of construction contracts, negotiations, procurement, scheduling, estimating, payment applications, project accounting, and project controls.
• Demonstrated experience preparing contract documents, evaluating bids, negotiating with contractors and vendors, and executing construction projects.
• Strong knowledge of applicable state and municipal building codes, permitting requirements, and regulatory processes.
• Hotel construction and hospitality development experience is strongly preferred.
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly to project sites throughout the East Coast and as required by business demand.

Benefits

Highgate offers the following benefits package for this position:

• Medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, short-term and long-term disability insurance
• 401(k) Retirement Plan with employer matching contributions
• Paid holidays
• Paid vacation
• Paid sick leave (provided in accordance with applicable law)
• Employee assistance program (EAP)
• Tuition reimbursement
• Paid jury duty leave, personal leave, medical leave, and military leave in accordance with applicable law

Please click here for additional benefit details for the states of Washington, Colorado, and California.

Posting Date

This job opening was posted on 10/5//2026 and will remain open for at least 75 days.

Compensation: 200000 to 250000 (USD)