Vice President, Real Estate Construction

We are Sienna Senior Living, a publicly traded company (TSX:SIA) and one of Canada’s leading owners and operators of seniors’ residences. We offer care, support, services and housing in Retirement and Long Term Care to seniors/residents and their families. And we truly believe it is a privilege to serve Canada’s seniors, ensuring they live fulfilling lives with the utmost comfort, dignity and respect.

The Vice President, Real Estate Construction is a key member of the Senior Leadership team and will be an integral contributor to the Real Estate and Asset Management areas of the business responsible for leading the Construction of the Long Term Care and Retirement portfolios while also supporting Sienna’s Asset Management team.

Based in Markham, Ontario, and reporting to the Chief Corporate Officer & Executive Vice President, this critical role will assist to drive Sienna’s real estate development and redevelopment program. The role will support planning/entitlements, lead design/development, effectively manage and oversee construction activity and deliverables, liaise with joint venture partners and work closely with internal teams to execute projects from initial concept to successful construction and Operational integration.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

General:

- Lead and participate as part of the construction team in managing and delivering projects professionally, expeditiously and effectively delivering to program, schedule and budget
- Establish/enhance/refine current construction processes, policies and practices ensuring a high standard of project management
- Refine and recommend enhancements to current organizational development program
- Recommend and manage experienced development and construction consultants
- Oversee and lead site, design and construction due diligence
- Work with Planning towards expeditious construction execution and close out
- Oversee and engage in ensuring a high level of project administration and documentation throughout project durations
- Manage environmental matters, risk and liabilities, and assist with insurance ensuring appropriate levels for each project
- Lead, in collaboration with leaders in Operations, transition from construction to Operations Management, including phased occupancies, deficiencies and project close out
- Engage as a knowledgeable and experienced support to Sienna’s Asset Management team
- Report to, and regularly engage with senior leadership and executive on all construction project activities

Financial:

- Inform project underwriting for development projects
- Lead ongoing project value engineering during the development and construction process
- Effectively manage change orders, contracts and related queries by ensuring adherence to a high level of project management
- Report on project schedule and budget, and manage/resolve construction related challenges to expeditious resolution and progress activities
- Oversee and approve payment requisitions and ensure compliance with policy, budgets and process

Stakeholder Management:

- Coordinate inter-departmental communications with respect to development by keeping various departments informed of all new developments and the status of the implementation stages in order to facilitate ongoing cooperation, foster a team environment and enhance decision making and strategic response
- Participate in joint venture oversight and management
- Develop and sustain critical people relationships including members of the senior management team, all departments involved in development projects, consultants, architects, engineers, municipal staff, residents and government
- Possess and exhibit a senior working level understanding of internal/external clients’ areas of business and applies own discipline to enhance the company’s business relationship with them
- Provide technical input to strategic development decisions for project and assigned properties

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
- 12+ years of experience developing and constructing a variety of real estate projects, with preference for senior housings/hotels/and healthcare environments
- Minimum 6 years senior leadership experience and 4 years asset management experience
- Established understanding and technical experience with various construction contract types, contract negotiation, building code, various construction methods and processes, major building systems, tendering, permitting, industry activity, standardization and quality control
- Experience in principles of site planning/entitlements, political/community engagement, project management and administration, design, and construction
- Demonstrated experience with problem solving, conflict and crisis management, risk mitigation, scheduling, budgeting, cost control, value engineering, estimating, budgeting and working with multi-disciplinary stakeholders and teams
- Ability to negotiate to preserve company reputation, project budgets and schedules
- Proven abi