Retail Construction Project Manager – Westchester, IL

position Overview

Follett Higher education is a leading educational service provider and omnichannel retailer that provides students, faculty and staff, parents, and fans with the course materials, learning tools, and retail services needed to successfully support the collegiate journey. Follett Higher Education supports over 6 million students through its 1,100 physical and 1,750 eCommerce campus stores across North America.

The Retail Construction Project Manager is primarily responsible for overseeing all assigned renovations, relocations and new construction projects involving Follett retail store sites, including the duties required to meet on-time and budget requirements for all assigned projects and meeting with and overseeing all internal/external clients, vendors (e.g. GC, fixtures, flooring, and communication/data) and customers (university associates) to complete successful on-time openings of renovated retail locations.

Responsibilities

• Perform all assigned duties of a Project Manager in the Store Design Department.
• Ensure accurate invoicing, purchase orders, and monitor receivables for all projects under his/her direction. Work to accurately forecast construction budgets/costs for utilization across projects.
• Manage the day-to-day operational and tactical aspects of multiple large-scale projects. Minimize company exposure and risk across multiple projects while ensuring that projects are completed on time and within budget.
• Implement and review quality assurance procedures in accordance with the company methodology to ensure the successful execution of all projects. Develop detailed work plans, schedules, and project estimates, while providing ongoing status reports as required.
• Work with the VP of Store Planning and other department leaders to assist the Marketing team in the creation of budgets for capital projects. Identify opportunities to improve processes and procedures across projects.
• Effectively communicate relevant project and practice information to leadership and peers in partner departments.
• Recognize areas for internal improvement and develop plans for implementation. Review the status reports of team members across projects and address issues as appropriate. Comply with and enforce standard policies and procedures.
• Ability to analyze, negotiate, and communicate with our project stakeholders when a project exceeds the budget requirements. It may require the candidate to adjust the scope of work as necessary.

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent.
• 5-7 years of Retail Construction experience required.
• Experience with AutoCAD Desktop is a plus.
• Ability to engage in 40-50% travel, including overnight and occasional weekend travel. Travel throughout the U.S. and Canada.
• Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Project.
• Experience with open store renovations is a plus.