THE ROLE The Construction Project Manager acts as the Owner’s Representative, providing project leadership from the latter stages of pre-construction through construction, commissioning, occupancy, and close-out.

The role drives the Owner-side transition from design into construction, including design coordination, Construction Manager procurement, building permits, MLTC Approval to Construct, utility setup, and overall construction readiness.

During construction, the Project Manager drives overall project performance across schedule, cost, quality, risk, and operational readiness, holding the Construction Manager and project consultants accountable to their contractual obligations, deliverables, commitments, and project requirements. The role proactively identifies risks and issues, drives timely decisions and resolution, and escalates matters where project performance or outcomes are at risk.

The role does not direct construction means and methods, but provides active Owner oversight, challenges project performance where required, facilitates resolution of complex issues, and ensures the Construction Manager, consultants, and internal stakeholders remain aligned with the Owner’s expectations and project objectives.

The Construction Project Manager will oversee multiple projects concurrently, typically managing up to three projects at varying stages of pre-construction, construction, commissioning, occupancy, and close-out. The role requires strong prioritization, organization, and the ability to maintain effective Owner oversight across a diverse project portfolio.

Core accountabilities include pre-construction readiness, schedule and cost performance, change management, quality and compliance, risk and issue management, Construction Manager and consultant accountability, commissioning and operational readiness, project close-out, warranty coordination, and leadership reporting.

Reports To: Director of Development

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

Pre-Construction & Construction Readiness

- Drive the Owner-side transition from design development into construction, including Construction Manager procurement, building permits, MLTC Approval to Construct, utilities, constructability, Owner requirements, and overall construction readiness.
- Identify outstanding design, approval, procurement, and operational requirements and drive them to resolution before they impact construction.
- Maintain visibility over critical procurement and long-lead items, challenging emerging risks that could impact construction, commissioning, or occupancy.

Project Leadership & Stakeholder Accountability

- Act as the Owner’s primary representative during construction, aligning the Construction Manager, consultants, vendors, and internal stakeholders with project objectives.
- Manage multiple projects concurrently at varying stages of delivery, effectively prioritizing decisions, risks, action items, and competing project demands.
- Hold the Construction Manager and consultants accountable for contractual obligations, deliverables, commitments, schedules, and timely resolution of issues.
- Actively participate in OAC meetings and site reviews as the Owner’s Representative, following up on commitments, challenging project performance where required, and ensuring Owner-related decisions, action items, and escalations are advanced in a timely manner.
- Maintain regular site presence across active projects and travel between project locations, offices, and partner meetings as required to provide effective Owner oversight, support timely decisions, and address emerging issues.

Owner Requirements & Internal Coordination

- Coordinate Owner requirements and decisions across Operations, Clinical, IT/Systems, Finance, FF&E;, and other internal stakeholders, ensuring requirements are communicated and incorporated at the appropriate stage. The Project Manager coordinates FF&E;, IT, clinical systems, and operational readiness deliverables and dependencies with the project schedule; functional leaders remain accountable for their functional scope, decisions, deliverables, and readiness confirmation.




- Drive timely Owner decisions and approvals to maintain project momentum and minimize avoidable schedule or cost impacts.
- Maintain alignment between construction delivery, organizational standards, and operational requirements throughout the project.

Schedule, Cost & Change Management

- Oversee schedule performance, key milestones, critical path activities, procurement, commissioning, occupancy, and turnover; challenge delays and drive mitigation and recovery plans.
- Maintain Owner oversight of project costs, forecasts, contingencies, progress draws, schedules of values, and change orders, identifying and escalating material cost or schedule exposure.
- Review changes for scope, justification, cost, schedule impact, and alignment with Owner requirements.
- Maintain awareness of potential claims, delay impacts, contractual notices, and other matters that may create Owner exposure, escalating significant concerns as required.

Decision-Making & Financial Authority

- Exercise delegated Owner decision-making and financial authority within approved project budgets, contracts, organizational policies, and established approval limits, making timely decisions within that authority and escalating matters that exceed it.
- Review and, where within delegated authority, approve change orders, project expenditures, progress draws, and contingency use; where approval rests with another authority, provide a documented recommendation and ensure decisions are obtained in time to avoid unnecessary schedule or cost impacts.

Design, Quality & Issue Resolution

- Drive timely resolution of RFIs, submittals, shop drawings, site instructions, design clarifications, and complex technical issues.
- Hold consultants accountable for construction administration, design coordination, site reviews, and timely responses.
- Oversee construction quality and compliance with contract documents, regulatory requirements, and organizational standards, driving deficiencies and corrective actions to closure. This is Owner-side quality-assurance oversight; consultants remain accountable for required field reviews, design compliance, professional certifications, and other obligations within their respective scopes of service.

Commissioning, Occupancy & Close-Out

- Drive Owner-side commissioning, inspections, FF&E; coordination, training, occupancy, turnover, and operational readiness. The Project Manager coordinates FF&E;, IT, clinical systems, and operational readiness activities across commissioning and turnover; functional leaders remain accountable for completing and confirming their respective deliverables.
- Ensure building systems, documentation, warranties, certifications, deficiencies, and close-out requirements are completed and effectively transitioned to Operations.
- Oversee warranty and post-occupancy issues, coordinating technical resources and holding responsible parties accountable through resolution.

Owner Risk Oversight

- Maintain awareness of significant construction safety incidents and concerns, ensuring appropriate Owner notification and escalation while respecting the Construction Manager’s responsibility for construction means, methods, and site safety.
- Identify emerging project risks that may create schedule, financial, quality, operational, contractual, or reputational exposure to the Owner and ensure appropriate mitigation is advanced.

Project Reporting & Risk Management

- Prepare and deliver monthly construction reports and leadership updates summarizing project status, schedule, budget, progress, key milestones, risks, issues, changes, decisions, and upcoming priorities.
- Maintain accurate Owner-side project controls, including action items, risk registers, change tracking, key decisions, and milestone status.




- Proactively identify and escalate material project risks, providing clear recommendations, mitigation strategies, and required actions.
- Ensure leadership has timely visibility into project performance, emerging risks, and matters requiring organizational support or decision-making.

Measurable Project Outcomes

- Maintain current cost forecasts and change/contingency logs; ensure material variances are identified, quantified, mitigated, and escalated promptly so the project remains within the approved budget or an approved revised forecast.
- Monitor baseline and recovery schedules and drive achievement of key construction, commissioning, occupancy, and turnover milestones; where a milestone is at risk, ensure a documented recovery plan, accountable owner, and target date are in place.
- Maintain a current risk register with clear owners, mitigation actions, due dates, and status, and ensure material risks are escalated before they affect critical project outcomes.
- Drive completion of Owner-side commissioning, inspections, training, systems integration, readiness activities, and required occupancy approvals in accordance with the approved project plan, with critical deficiencies resolved or formally accepted before turnover.
- Drive completion and handover of deficiencies, as-built documentation, O&M; manuals, warranties, certifications, training records, and other close-out deliverables within agreed project timelines, with clear ownership for any residual warranty items.

Continuous Improvement & Lessons Learned

- Capture lessons learned, recurring issues, and project delivery opportunities throughout construction and close-out.
- Support the continuous improvement of organizational design standards, specifications, construction processes, and future project delivery practices.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

- Post-secondary degree or diploma in Construction Management, Engineering, Architectural Technology, Building Science, Project Management, or a related field; an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.
- 5–8 years of progressive construction project management experience, preferably in an Owner’s Representative, development, consulting, or Construction Management environment.
- Must have valid Ontario driver’s licence and access to reliable personal transportation, with the ability to travel regularly to project sites and meetings across Ontario.
- Experience delivering complex construction projects, with healthcare, long-term care, retirement living, or institutional experience considered a strong asset.
- Solid working knowledge of construction practices, contracts, project controls, building systems, and the Ontario regulatory environment.
- Demonstrated experience working effectively with Construction Managers, consultants, contractors, and multidisciplinary project teams.
- Demonstrated leadership, judgement, negotiation, communication, and conflict-resolution skills, with the ability to influence without direct authority, challenge constructively, and hold Construction Managers, consultants, contractors, and vendors accountable for commitments and performance.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office 365 and construction/project management platforms such as Procore, Autodesk Construction Cloud, and Monday.com, or comparable systems.
- PMP, Gold Seal Certification, P.Eng., CET, or other relevant professional designation is considered an asset.

Thank you for your interest in joining peopleCare. We are excited to learn more about you and the experience you would bring to our team.

peopleCare is committed to an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all stages of the recruitment and selection process.

This posting is for an existing vacancy. peopleCare does not use artificial intelligence to screen, assess or select applicants. Applications are reviewed by members of our recruitment team.

Compensation for this role will be discussed during the interview process and will be determined based on the successful candidate’s qualifications, experience, and internal equity.

📌 Construction Project Manager - Full-Time (Waterloo)
🏢 peopleCare Communities
📍 Waterloo