Overview

The Principal Pre-Construction Lead supports regional New Restaurant capital project execution by partnering with Development & Construction (D&C) Regional Directors, Sr. Principal & Principal Development Leads, Sr. Principal & Principal Construction Leads, Consultants, General Contractors and other professional firms. The role is responsible for leading regional strategic sourcing for General Contractors; leading the General Contractor procurement process; implementing cost and schedule controls; providing accurate budgets to support planning and deal approval; and, supporting ongoing change management / innovation through analysis to drive strategy.

Role is a trusted partner with D&C personnel and works autonomously with the D&C regional teams to facilitate procurement strategies and lead the General Contractor Request For Proposal (RFP) strategy and process for regional construction projects.

Role is a professional role and reports to Sr. Principal Team Lead, Development & Construction Services.

Our Flexible Future model offers a healthy mix of working in person and virtually, strengthening key elements of the Chick-fil-A culture by fostering collaboration and community.

Responsibilities

Partners with regions to establish strategic sourcing plans for General Contractors and other professional partners. Role understands both current workload and future workload projections for New Restaurants to ensure adequate partner coverage and a competitive environment. Role is accountable for the strategy and process of vetting and qualifying (and annual requalifying) of these new partners.

Leads regional pre-construction meetings with Development and Construction staff to review project status and ensures projects are prepared to go out to General Contractors for the Request for Proposal (RFP) process.

Leads the General Contractor procurement process by partnering with Development Leads, Construction Leads, pre-consultants, and other outsource partners to ensure the following activities are being executed well:

Design and Development deliverables are ready for distribution
Preparing a thorough Request for Proposal (RFP) package
Qualifying General Contractor teams
Leveling proposals received from General Contractors
Awarding contract to best proposal, while establishing a "reconcilable deal" for General Contractor accountability on costs, construction durations and quality
Providing ongoing cost controls by reviewing General Contractor change order requests against the "reconcilable deal"

Supports regions in annual budget process and with ongoing forecasts by partnering with other groups (National Accounts, Supply Chain, Security, Treasury, etc.) to understand how their restaurant-facing work scopes and associated costs impact budgets.

Partners with regions to oversee regional department budgets and partner with the department budget team to support enterprise forecast updates.

Lead the project budget process to ensure the project's capital investment is accurate to support the deals proforma.

Engage the project team at the due diligence phase to ensure the design is optimized and critical design decisions are made prior to contract drawings being created.

Supports both corporate and department initiatives by analyzing scope, preparing estimates, value engineering and supporting business case development.

Engages staff and industry professionals to understand costs and market trends to drive value.

Minimum Qualifications

High School Diploma
Minimum six (6) years of relevant business experience.
Experience in Design, Pre-construction, and/or Construction Operations
3-5 Years with Significant Pre-Construction expertise & knowledge
- Procurement: Bidding / Analysis / Leveling / Contracting
- Estimating
- Cost Modeling
- Sourcing
High-value personal qualities - interpersonal savvy, establishing relationships, customer focus, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, systems thinking, ability to influence, working in teams, resourceful, responsible, self-starter
Demonstrated strong leadership abilities and can achieve results through others
Strong communication skills (written and verbal, both in 1:1 and in a group settings)

Preferred Qualifications

Bachelor's degree
Experience in data and data automation
Proficiency in analytics and reporting (e.g., Tableau, Power BI)

Minimum Years of Experience

Travel Requirements

20%

Required Level of Education

High School

Preferred Level of Education

Bachelor's Degree

Major/Concentration

Engineering, Building Construction, Economics, Finance or Procurement