Senior Construction Manager

About the role

As Senior Construction Manager, you will lead capital construction projects across CookUnity’s growing portfolio of food-production and operational facilities. You will own projects from site evaluation and preconstruction through permitting, construction, commissioning, and operational handoff.

This role requires someone with direct food-production or commercial-kitchen construction experience who can combine technical expertise, commercial judgment, and an entrepreneurial approach. You will manage multiple projects and partners simultaneously, identify risks early, and develop practical solutions that balance cost, quality, speed, and long-term operational needs.

This role is remote and requires approximately 50% travel.

What you’ll do

Project Leadership & Delivery

• Lead multiple concurrent projects across different markets, including expansions, retrofits, adaptive reuse projects, and new developments.
• Own project budgets, schedules, risk assessments, permitting strategies, and execution plans.
• Manage projects from due diligence and design coordination through construction, commissioning, closeout, and operational handoff.
• Identify risks and delays early and implement mitigation or recovery plans to maintain critical milestones.
• Partner with Operations, Culinary, Food Safety, Facilities, Automation, Supply Chain, Real Estate, Finance, and Executive Leadership to ensure facilities are ready for launch.

Contractor, Vendor & Cost Management

• Manage general contractors, subcontractors, consultants, vendors, landlords, and owner’s representatives throughout the project lifecycle.
• Lead RFPs, competitive bidding, bid leveling, contractor selection, and vendor due diligence.
• Review proposals, scopes of work, estimates, change orders, pay applications, and project-cost reports.
• Negotiate contracts and commercial terms while challenging pricing, contingencies, and proposed construction approaches.
• Identify value-engineering opportunities that improve cost, schedule, or performance without compromising safety, quality, or operational requirements.

Technical & Regulatory Oversight

• Review drawings, specifications, schedules, estimates, and technical submittals for constructibility, coordination, sequencing, and cost impacts.
• Coordinate work across architectural, civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire-protection, refrigeration, and specialty food-production systems.
• Partner with architects, engineers, and consultants to resolve technical issues and ensure designs support production workflows, food-safety requirements, and commercial-kitchen equipment.
• Coordinate permitting, plan reviews, inspections, utility requirements, regulatory approvals, and occupancy requirements with municipalities and authorities having jurisdiction.
• Oversee commissioning, punch-list completion, closeout documentation, and final operational handoff.

What we’re looking for

• 5–10 years of experience managing commercial construction projects.
• Direct experience delivering food-production facilities, commercial kitchens, food-manufacturing environments, or similar food and beverage projects.
• Experience owning projects from preconstruction and due diligence through construction, commissioning, turnover, and closeout.
• Proven success managing multiple projects, large construction budgets, schedules, contractors, and project risks.
• Strong experience with contractor procurement, competitive bidding, contract negotiation, change-order management, and value engineering.
• Working knowledge of architectural, civil, structural, and MEP construction, including refrigeration, kitchen equipment, utilities, or other food-production infrastructure.
• Experience coordinating permitting, inspections, health department requirements, regulatory approvals, and occupancy requirements.
• Ability to review and interpret construction drawings, specifications, estimates, schedules, and technical documentation.
• Strong communication, negotiation, commercial judgment, and stakeholder-management skills.
• A proactive, detail-oriented approach and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced environment with evolving priorities.
• Ability to travel approximately 50%.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience delivering large-scale food-production, commercial-kitchen, cold-storage, industrial-processing, fulfillment, or distribution facilities.
• Experience with design-build, construction-manager-at-risk, or other collaborative project-delivery models.
• Experience with tools such as Procore, Bluebeam, MS Project, AutoCAD, Revit, PlanGrid, or comparable platforms.
• Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, or a related field.
• PE, RA, PMP, CCM, LEED, GC, or a comparable professional certification.

Why Join CookUnity?

You’ll have the opportunity to build the physical infrastructure powering the future of food. This role offers significant ownership, visibility, and impact, with the ability to shape a rapidly expanding national network of production facilities while working alongside teams that are redefining how consumers access chef-crafted meals.

Benefits

• 🩺Health Insurance coverage
• 🏖 PTO policy and paid holidays off
• 📈 We grow, you grow: Stock Options Plan granted on Day 1.
• 🌟 Eligible for bi-annual performance bonus
• 🐣 Family leave: 12 weeks for primary caregiver and 6 weeks for secondary caregiver, fully paid
• 🕯 Compassionate Leave: 3-5 days each time the need arises
• 🥙 A generous amount of CookUnity credits to enjoy our amazing meals, added to your account, monthly
• 🧘🏽‍♀️ Wellness perks: access to a nutritional coach and fitness subsidies to build a healthy lifestyle
• 👩🏾‍🏫 Personalized Spanish coach