Projects & Capital Delivery Recruiting and Staffing
CRE Talent Group recruits and staffs project and capital delivery professionals for corporate real estate teams and the firms that support them. These owner-side roles deliver office fit-outs, relocations, refurbishments, and capital programs for the company that will occupy the space. We fill them on a contract or direct-hire basis.
Projects & Capital Delivery roles we recruit for
Titles vary from one organization to the next, so each role below is described by what the work involves.
Project manager
Leads fit-outs, relocations, and refurbishments from the owner's side: scope, budget, schedule, design team, and contractors.
Senior project manager and program manager
Runs a portfolio of projects or a multi-year capital program, setting standards and managing other project managers.
Owner's representative and construction manager
Represents the company on site and with the general contractor, focusing on quality, schedule, and change control.
Project controls and cost manager
Builds and tracks budgets, forecasts, commitments, and change orders across projects and programs, in tools such as Procore, Kahua, Oracle Primavera P6, or Accruent Lucernex.
Project coordinator
Supports project managers with schedules, documentation, procurement, and coordination with IT, security, and furniture vendors.
Head of design and construction
Leads the projects function, sets design and delivery standards, and owns the capital plan with finance.
What makes project and capital delivery hiring hard
Owner-side project management is a distinct role
Owner-side project managers manage designers, contractors, budgets, and internal approvals on behalf of the business. Contractor-side experience builds strong construction knowledge and covers part of that job.
Project types differ
Office fit-outs, lab builds, critical environments, and ground-up construction each need different technical knowledge and different contractor relationships.
Demand rises and falls
Capital programs ramp up and wind down, which makes it hard to size a permanent team and easy to end up short of people mid-program.
Coordination is most of the job
Projects touch IT, audiovisual, security, furniture, landlords, and business stakeholders. Coordination skill is hard to see on a resume.
What to look for in a project and capital delivery hire
Use these as a starting point for your job description and interview plan.
Owner-side experience on similar projects
Match the project types and sizes you run, and the role the candidate played on them.
Budget and schedule control
Ask how they forecast, manage contingency, and handle change orders, and what they did when a project drifted.
Procurement and contracts
Experience bidding work, comparing proposals, and managing design and construction contracts.
Stakeholder communication
Clear updates for business leaders and close coordination with IT, security, audiovisual, and landlords.
Close-out discipline
Punch lists, documentation, warranties, and a clean handover to facilities.
How we evaluate project and capital delivery candidates
Every candidate is assessed on the same four dimensions, written up in a candidate assessment that comes with their resume. For this specialty, that means:
- Relevant experience
- Project types, sizes, and settings, owner-side or contractor-side experience, and the geography they have worked across.
- Functional expertise
- We ask candidates to walk through a budget, a schedule, a procurement decision, and how they handled a significant change order.
- Delivery capability
- Projects completed and their specific role in each, including how they resolved problems that put scope, cost, or schedule at risk.
- Role fit
- One large project or many smaller ones, travel expectations, and in-house or consultancy setting, compared with what the candidate wants.
Contract staffing or direct hire?
We fill these roles on either basis. Here is where each tends to fit.
Contract staffing
Contract project staff are a strong fit for project and program peaks.
Often a good fit for
- A single relocation, fit-out, or refurbishment
- Extra capacity during a capital program surge
- Project controls support for a large program
- Covering a project manager vacancy mid-project
Direct-hire recruiting
Direct hire fits roles with a steady pipeline of projects or program ownership.
Often a good fit for
- In-house project managers with a continuing pipeline
- Program managers and heads of design and construction
- Project controls leads for ongoing capital plans
Not sure which fits? Choose "Not sure" on the Hire Talent form and we will recommend an approach based on the work.
Projects & Capital Delivery hiring questions
What does an owner-side project manager do in corporate real estate?
An owner-side project manager delivers projects on behalf of the company that will occupy the space. They define scope with the business, hire and manage the design team and contractors, control the budget and schedule, and coordinate IT, security, furniture, and moves. They are accountable for the result from approval through handover.
Should we hire a contract project manager for a single relocation?
Often, yes. A single relocation or fit-out has a clear start and end, which suits contract staffing well. If you expect a steady flow of projects afterward, it can make sense to hire permanently or convert the role later.
What experience matters most for lab or critical environment projects?
Look for direct experience delivering the same type of space, because labs and critical environments involve specialized mechanical, electrical, and compliance requirements. Candidates should be able to describe the systems involved and how they managed commissioning and validation. Our assessment states exactly which project types a candidate has delivered.
What is the difference between a project manager and a project controls specialist?
A project manager leads the project as a whole: scope, team, schedule, stakeholders, and budget. A project controls specialist focuses on cost and schedule data, tracking commitments, forecasts, and change orders across one or many projects. Larger capital programs usually need both.
More corporate real estate specialties
CRE Technology & Systems
IWMS, lease administration systems, workplace technology, and real estate data roles for corporate real estate teams, CRE technology vendors, and implementation partners.
Portfolio, Transactions & Lease Administration
Portfolio strategy, transaction management, and lease administration roles that manage the leases, sites, and occupancy decisions behind a corporate real estate portfolio.
Workplace & Facilities
Workplace experience, facilities management, and integrated facilities management (IFM) roles that run and improve the spaces where employees work.
CRE Advisory & Consulting
Consulting and advisory roles at firms that help corporate real estate teams with strategy, operating models, technology selection, and change management.
Hiring for project and capital delivery?
Tell us about the role and get a shortlist, with a written assessment for every candidate. If you work in this field, submit your profile for current and future openings.