Heavy civil and transportation executive search

Retained search across heavy civil and transportation, from highways, bridges and rail through transit, aviation and ports. Operational, technical and commercial leadership, from vice president to C‑suite.

Key roles we place ↓

Overview

What we do in heavy civil and transportation

Metric Geo places senior and executive leaders across heavy civil and transportation, covering highways and bridges, rail and transit, aviation, ports and tunneling. The work spans general contractors, specialty subcontractors and the engineering firms alongside them. Searches are retained and run from vice president through C-suite.

Heavy civil hiring follows the backlog. A contractor who has just won a multi-year transit program needs project executives and operations leadership before the work starts, not after, and the people who can carry a program of that size are usually committed somewhere for the next two years. Timing matters here more than almost anywhere else we work.

Roles

The roles we place in heavy civil and transportation

VP Operations Multi-project operational leadership across a region or a division.
Project Executive Accountability for a major program, from preconstruction through close out.
Chief Estimator Bid strategy, pricing and the discipline behind a win rate.
VP Preconstruction Pursuit leadership, design assist and early contractor involvement.
Area Manager Profit and loss leadership across a geography or a market.
Director of Construction Field delivery, schedule and self-perform capability.
VP Business Development Owner and agency relationships, pursuit selection and positioning.
Head of Safety Safety leadership across heavy civil operations and subcontractors.
Chief Operating Officer Operational leadership across divisions and joint ventures.

+ many others

Within this sector

What heavy civil and transportation covers

Highways & Bridges

Roadway, structures and design build leadership.

Rail & Transit

Track, systems and station delivery on transit programs.

Aviation & Ports

Airside, terminal and marine construction leadership.

Tunneling & Underground

Heavy underground delivery and the technical leadership behind it.

Market

Hiring in heavy civil and transportation right now

Funding has been the story in heavy civil, and it has changed hiring more than most people expected. Programs that were talked about for a decade are now funded and moving, and contractors are staffing for work they have already won rather than work they hope to win.

That has pushed competition into a narrow band. Project executives who have delivered a large transit or airport program, and chief estimators with a genuine win rate on design build, are the two hardest briefs we are asked for. Both are usually mid program and both know exactly what the market is paying.

The practical consequence is that a bid team needs to be in place before the award rather than after it. Contractors who wait for the contract to be signed are hiring against three others working to the same date, and the leaders who would have made the difference have already gone.

Common questions

Heavy civil hiring questions

The questions clients ask most often before briefing a heavy civil search.

How long does a heavy civil leadership search take?

We work to seven days to a shortlist on most briefs. How long the search takes after that depends on the role and on notice periods, so we set out a realistic timeline with you at the start.

Do you work retained or contingent?

Retained. Our heavy civil consultants have spent years building relationships in this market, so most shortlists start from people we already know, and talent mapping, backed by our marketing reach, covers the rest of the market so nobody credible gets missed. Retained is what lets us give that kind of time to one brief.

Do you place below vice president?

Our focus is vice president and above, but we do take on director and senior manager searches where the role is critical, such as a project executive on a flagship program, or a senior estimator on a design build pursuit. What matters is whether it is a hire you cannot afford to get wrong.

Can you hire ahead of an award without committing to anything?

Yes, and it is one of the most useful things we do in this sector. We map and approach quietly while the bid is live, so the people are known and interested by the time the contract is signed. Nothing is offered until you have the work, but you are not starting from nothing on day one.