Our Aviation market creates airports that feel like destinations in and of themselves. From reducing curbside congestion and enhancing landside access to improving the passenger experience and expanding airside amenities, our award-winning team of architects, interior designers, engineers, and wayfinding experts have worked on more than one-third of the nation’s top 100 airports. The sky’s the limit with our Aviation group, and we invite you to join us!

The Program Director is ultimately responsible for the delivery of the overall project and directly reports to the client on-site. An ideal mode of operation is that the Program Director performs as if they are an actual client employee acting as if they are the Project Manager for a task. This role could require travel and/or relocation to the following cities: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Knoxville, TN, Dallas, TX, Tampa, FL, Nashville, TN, Charlotte, NC, Richmond, VA, or Chicago, IL.

The responsibilities of a Program Director include, but are not limited to the following:

• Regular client management and interface
• Overall project leadership, including evaluating project progress and ensuring the contractor is staying within scope, budget, and schedule
• Implementation and oversight of a change management system, risk identification, and mitigation plans
• Review and approval of the contractor's payment applications
• Review and oversight of contractor safety plan compliance, contractor MOT plan, contractor security plan compliance, and contractor quality plan compliance
• Planning and forecasting staffing needs
• Preparing, providing, and leading a monthly executive summary presentation to the client
• Preparing project performance reports to support the monthly executive summary reports
  • Illustrative overview of project progress to date, project progress forecasted for the next month, and project progress photographs to support graphics
  • Overall Schedule Milestone Tracking Review
  • Earned Value Financial Report & Budget Review
  • Project Risk Identification and Mitigation Inventory

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Construction, Project or Program Management, Architecture, or Engineering.
• Prefer 15 years of job-related experience.
• 10 years serving Aviation clients in a Construction Management, Consulting, or direct managerial capacity with routine involvement in capital project delivery is preferred.
• Must be exceptional in written and oral communication, with the ability to lead, develop, and deliver highly persuasive presentations that build client confidence and result in securing favorable design contracts.
• Successful project management experience managing multi-disciplinary projects with highly satisfied clients.
• Evidence of strong team leadership, consistently high-quality deliverables, and routinely strong financial outcomes.
• Develop new client relationships and maintain healthy relationships with existing clients.
• Provide solid operational insight and a commitment to quality for driving projects and executing deliverables.

Gresham Smith is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Gresham Smith provides equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, transgender, national origin, status as a protected veteran, disability or any other classification protected by law. 

Gresham Smith will not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters, headhunters, contract recruiters, search firms, or employment agencies. An executed GRESHAM PLACEMENT SERVICES AGREEMENT (PSA) is required prior to any payment obligation for either a referral or recruiter fee. In the event a recruiter or agency submits a resume or candidate without a previously executed PSA, GRESHAM SMITH explicitly reserves the right to recruit and hire those candidate(s) at its discretion, and without any financial obligation whatsoever to the recruiter or agency. Any such unsolicited resume or candidate contact information, including those submitted directly to GRESHAM SMITH’S hiring managers or any other employee, shall become the property of GRESHAM SMITH upon receipt.