The Construction Manager (CM) provides oversight and assistance to new and existing franchisees in the coordination, planning, and implementation of new shop construction. They will support franchisees in all site feasibility efforts, milestone tracking, owner furnished orders, entitlement procedures, General Contractor (GC) management and provide resolution to an assortment of problems in moderately complex scope using defined policies, procedures, and subject matter expertise. They will also serve as the Project Manager (PM) for communication and coordination with cross-functional teams.

This position may also be responsible for the oversight and execution of company owned new shop projects and refresh/remodel/reimaging initiatives across the company's existing portfolio.

Responsibilities:

• Utilize company's project management platform to ensure that franchisees, general contractors, architects and engineers (A&E), national account vendors, operations, training, supply chain, and other cross-functional teams are aligned to support timely and cost-effective development.
• Facilitate the leadership of bi-weekly update calls with franchisees and participants from multiple departments within the organization for status updates on all sites in development.
• Provide weekly pipeline reports to senior leadership so there is a clear and concise understanding of construction progression for all sites in development. Maintaining a comprehensive understanding of each project's plans, timelines, and potential risks.
• Review franchisee development proformas to determine site feasibility and establish realistic construction budget for new site development.
• Review franchisee financial budgets, architectural/engineering drawings, permitting procedures, GC bids and construction timelines to ensure company standards and procedures are being met and followed.
• Maintain consistent focus on driving schedule to deliver expedited timelines while identifying methods of course correcting/resolving potential delays.
• Review and redline permit and bid construction drawing sets providing comments to the preferred A&E vendor and ensuring any errors or omissions in plans are caught prior to construction
• Coordinate smooth turnover of all new shops to the operations and training teams.
• Site visits to shops under construction at specific milestone events to ensure compliance, schedule and quality

Skills:

• Has broad based business acumen and ability to collaborate with business leaders
• Experienced project manager of cross-functional and outside vendors to deliver project on time and on budget
• Creative problem solver, working through challenges with adaptability, resilience, and expertise
• Can develop contingency plans to deal with unexpected situations in the development process
• Able to prioritize duties and tasks with a sense of urgency
• Recognizes emerging patterns, makes connections among data and issues, and appropriately reacts
• Can analyze business challenges and offer solutions based on best practices and subject matter expertise
• Eye for delivering and ensuring high-quality workmanship and adherence to strict design policies
• Strong communication skills, both written and oral
• Conflict management skills
• Strong presentation skills (in person and virtually)
• Strong collaborative skills that demonstrate teamwork, creativity, and innovation
• Excellent computer skills
• Ability to travel up to 50% of time to include our Support Center in Chicago, IL, visit franchisees, and see sites under construction

Essential Physical Functions:

• Must have the ability/stamina to work 45-50+ hours a week
• Must be able to work in both warm and cool environments, indoors and outdoors
• Must be able to engage in problem-solving skills to help identify and solve potential issues
• Ability to travel up to 50% of the time
• Ability to stand/walk for 9-10 hours per day and sit for 1-2 hours per day
• Must be able to lift up to 50 pounds occasionally
• Will frequently reach, feel, bend, stoop, carry, finely manipulate, and key in data

Experience, Education and Behaviors:

• Must represent The Potbelly Values
• Demonstrated success in meeting or exceeding goals/quotas
• Cool and collective under pressure
• Must be passionate about the food business in general and Potbelly in particular
• Self-starter who can work well with others as well as independently
• Must be highly organized with the ability to handle multiple projects at once
• 5-8 years of construction management in QSR development highly preferred
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills
• Strong analytic skills
• Must be coachable, driven, focused, confident and a self-starter
• Must have experience performing in a highly competitive environment
• Must strive for excellence and have only the highest integrity in their intentions
• Experience with CRM, FranConnect, SmartSheet/PM, and all Microsoft products for collaboration and communication
• Bachelor's degree preferred in related field (Construction, Architecture or Engineering)
• Knowledge of Auto CADD and Revit a plus