Vice President, Construction
ICON · Austin
ICON is seeking a Vice President, Construction to lead all construction operations across ICON Build's growing private sector and MILCON portfolios. As a vertically integrated Design-Build General Contractor, ICON’s construction operations span residential, commercial, institutional, and expeditionary work for private sector customers for Department of Defense customers nationwide. This role will own budget and schedule performance on every active ICON Build construction project, leads the Directors of Construction and ICON's Print Operations team, and is accountable for the people, processes, and programs that determine how well ICON builds — staffing and development, quality, safety, preconstruction, and trade partner performance.
ICON Build is at an inflection point. The business is expanding geographically into new markets across the country, into new asset classes including multifamily and light industrial, and into new capabilities — including the commercial launch of Titan, ICON’s new multi-story robotics system, and the expansion of self-perform capabilities throughout the build process.
The successful candidate is a seasoned construction executive who has led leaders across multiple regions and concurrent projects, who knows what it takes to stand up a market from zero — trade relationships, field leadership, and operating discipline — and who is energized by integrating new technology and new self-perform scopes into a delivery model that is still being written. This position is based at ICON's Austin, TX campus and reports to the President, ICON Build.
Key Responsibilities
Construction Portfolio Leadership & Performance
- Own construction budget and schedule performance across all active ICON Build projects — private sector and MILCON — and drive decisive corrective action when performance deviates from plan.
- Set strategic direction for ICON Build construction operations, including operating standards, resource deployment, risk management, and regional expansion priorities.
- Lead and develop the Directors of Construction, holding each accountable for project delivery, team performance, and compliance within their portfolio.
- Establish portfolio-level reporting on cost, schedule, quality, safety, and labor productivity, and deliver clear, actionable performance updates to ICON executive leadership.
- Serve as the final escalation point for complex field issues, commercial disputes, and change management across the construction portfolio.
- Ensure MILCON construction operations meet all FAR, DFARS, UFC, UFGS, EM 385-1-1, and USACE/NAVFAC requirements, in partnership with the Director of Construction, MILCON and ICON Prime.
Organization Building, Staffing & Development
- Build the construction organization required to support ICON Build's growth, including recruiting and hiring regional construction leads to establish ICON's presence in new markets across the country.
- Own construction staffing forecasts tied to the project pipeline; manage hiring, onboarding, and resource allocation so every active and upcoming project is staffed with the right leadership.
- Right-size construction overhead relative to project COGS and General Conditions targets, ensuring construction labor is accurately captured in estimates and recovered through project budgets.
- Define role clarity, career pathways, and succession plans for Construction Managers, Superintendents, Quality Control Managers, Project Schedulers, and Print Operations staff.
- Build a culture of ownership, technical excellence, and accountability — a construction team that delivers what it commits to and continuously raises its own standard.
Self-Perform Strategy & Make vs. Buy
- Own ICON Build's make-vs.-buy decisions, establishing a repeatable framework that evaluates cost, schedule control, quality, risk, capital requirements, and labor availability for each candidate scope.
- Lead the initiative to expand ICON's self-perform capabilities, beginning with the full building envelope — printed and conventional wall systems, roofing, waterproofing, windows and doors, insulation, and exterior finishes — and extending to additional scopes as the model proves out.
- Develop the operating model for each new self-perform scope, including crew structure, hiring and training, equipment and tooling, licensing, insurance, and integration with the project schedule.
- Partner with Construction Supply Chain & Procurement, Estimating, and Finance to quantify self-perform margin and cost impact and to source materials and equipment for self-performed work.
- Track self-perform cost, productivity, and quality performance against subcontracted benchmarks, and use the data to guide which scopes ICON brings in-house next.
Print Operations
- Oversee ICON's Print Operations team, as the core self-perform function across all of ICON’s projects.
- Ensure print operations are planned and sequenced as an integrated part of the construction schedule, with clean handoffs between printed scope and follow-on trades.
- Hold Print Operations accountable to safety, productivity, and cost performance, including Uptime %, Active Print %, print quality, and print cost benchmarks that inform estimating and pricing.
- Champion ICON Build's role as Customer Zero for Titan, channeling field performance data and lessons learned to the Tech division and Product Engineering and Development to improve the platform for other builders adopting the Titan platform (Builder’s Guild).
Preconstruction & Trade Partner Management
- Lead the development of a stronger preconstruction process for the construction operations team, ensuring construction leadership is engaged from schematic design through construction documents on every project.
- Promote and strengthen constructability reviews, providing input to Design, Engineering, and Estimating on means and methods, sequencing, cost, and schedule.
- Establish standards for drafting scopes of work, bid leveling, and buyout recommendations, in coordination with Project Management and Construction Supply Chain & Procurement.
- Build trade partner relationships in every active and target market, with particular focus on establishing qualified trade partner benches ahead of entry into new markets.
- Implement a trade partner performance management program — scorecards, prequalification standards, performance reviews, and escalation paths — and use results to inform future awards.
Process, Quality & Safety
- Develop, document, and train to standardized construction processes across all regions and project types, and drive continuous improvement in construction efficiency, cost, and quality.
- Own ICON Build's construction QA/QC program, including inspection and test plans, checklists, documentation standards, and compliance with project-specific QC requirements.
- Own the construction safety program across all ICON Build project sites, ensuring compliance with OSHA, EM 385-1-1 on federal work, and ICON safety standards, and driving a culture where every worker goes home safe.
- Ensure post-construction and warranty feedback flows back into construction standards, details, and trade partner selection.
Cross-Functional & Stakeholder Leadership
- Serve on the ICON Build leadership team and contribute to division strategy, market entry decisions, annual planning, and the labor and hiring plan.
- Partner with Project Management, Estimating, Design, Engineering, and Construction Supply Chain & Procurement to deliver a fully integrated Design-Build process from pursuit through closeout.
- Support Business Development and ICON Prime on pursuits, providing construction strategy, schedule, and staffing input for proposals and client presentations.
- Represent ICON Build construction with clients, developers, DoD customers and contracting officers, authorities having jurisdiction, trade partners, and Titan customers.
Minimum Qualifications
- 15+ years of progressive construction experience, including 8+ years in senior construction operations leadership with responsibility for multiple concurrent projects.
- Demonstrated experience leading leaders — Directors, Senior Construction Managers, or regional construction executives — across multiple regions or markets.
- Proven track record of owning budget and schedule performance across a portfolio of construction projects, with a history of delivering on time and on budget.
- Experience building construction teams and trade partner networks in new markets.
- Direct experience managing self-performed construction scopes, including crew leadership, labor productivity, and self-perform cost and margin management.
- Deep working knowledge of preconstruction, constructability review, scope of work development, buyout, and trade partner management.
- Demonstrated ownership of construction quality and safety programs, including OSHA compliance and QA/QC program development.
- Strong financial fluency: comfort with project cost reports, labor forecasting, overhead management, and make-vs.-buy analysis.
- Executive presence and communication skills to represent ICON credibly with clients, government customers, and executive leadership.
- Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Civil Engineering, Architecture, or a related field — or equivalent professional experience.
- Willingness and ability to travel to project sites and markets across the United States.
Preferred Skills & Experience
- Experience leading construction operations within a vertically integrated Design-Build and/or self-performing general contractor.
- Experience across multiple asset classes, including residential, multifamily, commercial, light industrial, institutional, or expeditionary construction.
- Experience with MILCON or other federal construction programs and working knowledge of FAR, DFARS, UFC, UFGS, EM 385-1-1, and USACE/NAVFAC standards.
- Background integrating advanced construction technologies or industrialized construction methods — 3D printing, precast, tilt-up, modular, or prefabrication — into project delivery.
- Experience scaling a construction organization inside a high-growth construction or construction technology company.
- Professional credentials such as PE, CCM, PMP, or DBIA certification.
- Active Secret security clearance, or eligibility and willingness to obtain one.
Furthermore, as a federal government contractor, the Company maintains an affirmative action program which furthers its commitment and complies with recordkeeping and reporting requirements under certain federal civil rights laws and regulations, including Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended) and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (as amended).
Headhunters and recruitment agencies may not submit candidates through this application. ICON does not accept unsolicited headhunter and agency submissions for candidates and will not pay fees to any third-party agency without a prior agreement with ICON.
As part of our compliance with these obligations, the Company invites you to voluntarily self-identify as set forth below. Provision of such information is entirely voluntary and a decision to provide or not provide such information will not have any effect on your employment or subject you to any adverse treatment. Any and all information provided will be considered confidential, will be kept separate from your application and/or personnel file, and will only be used in accordance with applicable laws, orders and regulations, including those that require the information to be summarized and reported to the federal government for civil rights enforcement purposes.