Senior Vice President of Construction

The Senior Vice President of Construction is responsible for driving performance, growth, and integration across a large portfolio of construction‑focused operating companies within a rapidly expanding MEP roll‑up. This executive owns a $1.4B P&L generated by 35+ operating companies across five divisions, ensuring consistent execution, strong financial results, and a unified operating model. The SVP sets strategy, scales systems and processes, leads integration of newly acquired businesses, and builds a culture of safety, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

P&L Ownership & Operational Leadership

• Lead and manage the construction portfolio’s $1.4B P&L, ensuring predictable financial performance across 35+ operating companies
• Directly oversee 5 Divisional Vice Presidents, with responsibility for expanding leadership capacity as the business grows
• Drive operational excellence, margin improvement, and disciplined project execution across all construction divisions

Growth Strategy & Organic Expansion

• Develop and execute strategies to achieve consistent organic growth across all construction operating companies
• Identify new market opportunities, service line expansions, and operational enhancements that drive year‑over‑year revenue and EBITDA growth

Profitability & Continuous Improvement

• Identify and implement initiatives to increase profitability through improved processes, labor productivity, project controls, and cost management
• Champion continuous improvement methodologies and standardization across all construction businesses

Financial Partnership & Forecasting Accuracy

• Partner closely with Finance to improve budgeting, forecasting, and financial visibility
• Enhance CRM utilization, pipeline management, and backlog reporting to increase forecasting accuracy and operational planning

Standardization & Best Practices

• Establish and enforce enterprise‑wide best practices for project management, estimating, scheduling, safety, procurement, and operational reporting
• Build scalable operating procedures that unify historically decentralized businesses

M&A Integration Leadership

• Lead construction‑focused operating companies through the post‑acquisition integration process, ensuring smooth transitions, cultural alignment, and rapid adoption of enterprise standards
• Evaluate construction capabilities and risks during diligence for future acquisitions

Enterprise Scaling & Support Function Alignment

• Partner with functional leaders (Finance, HR, Accounting, Safety, IT) to design and scale support structures that meet the needs of a rapidly growing, multi‑division business
• Ensure operating companies receive consistent, high‑quality support as the enterprise expands

Culture/Safety Leadership

• Maintain and build upon Kelso’s incredible culture by ensuring that employees feel valued, respected and motivated to give their best every day
• Keep relentless focus on Kelso’s core values—Partnership, Innovation, Excellence, and Safety— and ensure that all leaders stay true to them
• Champion a world‑class safety culture across all job sites and operating companies
• Partner with the corporate safety function to ensure compliance with safety standards, regulatory requirements, and proactive risk mitigation practices 

Required Skills & Experience

• Proven experience managing a very large P&L (hundreds of millions to >$1B)
• Significant M&A integration experience, ideally across multiple acquisitions
• Deep construction industry expertise, preferably within mechanical, electrical, or plumbing sectors
• Demonstrated ability to standardize operations across decentralized or multi‑site businesses

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Experience in a rapid‑growth or private‑equity‑backed environment
• Entrepreneurial background or experience working within an acquired company
• Strong change‑management capability and comfort operating in dynamic, evolving environments

Leadership Competencies

As a senior leader at Kelso, the SVP of Construction is expected to demonstrate Kelso’s six Leadership Competencies:

• Growth Mindset — Learns, adapts, and grows through curiosity and resilience
• Decisiveness — Makes timely, informed and effective decisions to move forward
• Builds People — Invests in the development of others through coaching and mentoring
• Collaboration — Builds trust and partnerships to achieve shared success
• Communication — Turns ideas into action through clear, authentic messaging
• Emotional Intelligence — Leads with self-awareness, empathy, and calm under pressure

Success Metrics

• Improved profitability and margin consistency across all divisions
• Increased accuracy of forecasting, budgeting, and pipeline visibility
• Successful integration of newly acquired companies with minimal disruption
• Adoption of standardized operating procedures across all construction businesses
• Sustained organic growth across divisions
• Strong safety performance and reduced incident rates
• Scalable support functions aligned with enterprise growth

Other Details

• Location: SLC, UT or another major hub‑airport city
• Reports To: Chief Operating Officer
• Travel: 30–40%
• Direct Reports: 5 Divisional Vice Presidents (with continued expansion expected)