Director of Utility & Infrastructure Coordination in Phoenix, Arizona at LGE
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Job Description
POSITION OVERVIEW
The Director of Utility & Infrastructure Coordination owns dry utility coordination – electric, gas, and telecommunications – across all active LGE Design Build projects in Arizona. This role exists because utility availability has repeatedly surfaced as a critical-path risk late in project delivery – discovered only near completion rather than managed from the outset. Unlike a builder or business-development role, this is a hands-on, technical liaison position: success is measured by problems caught and resolved months before they threaten a schedule, not by scale of team built. The right person is equally comfortable in a utility company's engineering office and in a project trailer, and treats “we found out late” as a personal failure condition.
This role is intentionally NOT a delegator or oversight function. Unlike a director role that manages primarily through a team, this position's impact comes from direct technical engagement – plan review, utility company relationships, and daily schedule tracking across every AZ project. There is no team to build initially; the mandate is hands-on ownership of utility risk across the entire portfolio, not oversight of others doing that work. |
MAIN CRITICAL OUTCOME (MCO)
Zero project delays attributable to dry utility availability – every AZ project reaches temporary and permanent energization/service activation on or ahead of the APS/SRP/Southwest Gas/telecom-provider-confirmed schedule.
THE OBSESSIONS
These are the standing performance obsessions for this role. They are not a soft culture statement – they are the specific dimensions this role is reviewed against, alongside the MCO.
- Utility Risk Surfaced Early, Never Late – Power, gas, and telecom capacity, queue position, and service/energization timeline confirmed with APS, SRP, Southwest Gas, and telecom/fiber providers at site selection/entitlement, not discovered near completion.
- Zero Surprises at Closeout – No AZ project reaches substantial completion without a confirmed, documented energization/service-activation date on file for every dry utility.
- The Utility Company Knows Our Name – Proactive, named relationships with APS, SRP, Southwest Gas, and telecom/fiber provider planning/engineering contacts, maintained continuously – not built from scratch under deadline pressure.
- One Schedule, No Translation Gaps – Utility milestones – electric, gas, and telecom – live inside the master project schedule; PMs, supers, owners, and developers are never guessing what any utility's timeline means for theirs.
- Documented, Not Tribal Knowledge – A standardized utility tracker and process exists across every AZ project and every utility type, independent of any one person's memory or contact list.
FUNCTIONS OF POSITION
Dry Utility Coordination & Risk Management (55%)
- Engage APS/SRP, Southwest Gas, and telecom/fiber providers at the earliest possible project stage – ideally site selection/entitlement – to confirm capacity (transformer/service, gas main/meter, telecom conduit/fiber), queue position, and realistic service/energization timeline.
- Own and maintain a live utility-status tracker across all active AZ projects and all utility types (electric, gas, telecom), flagging schedule risk well ahead of substantial completion.
- Serve as the primary liaison between APS/SRP/Southwest Gas/telecom providers, LGE preconstruction/construction teams, and owner/developer stakeholders on all dry-utility matters.
- Manage submission and follow-through of utility applications, easements, transformer/pad orders, gas service/meter orders, telecom conduit/vault agreements, meter sets, and utility agreements across all utility types.
- Escalate and drive resolution of utility delays directly with utility company project managers/engineers, across electric, gas, and telecom providers.
- Maintain current, detailed knowledge of APS, SRP, Southwest Gas, and major AZ telecom/fiber providers' processes, typical lead times, tariffs, and capacity constraints by submarket/service territory.
- Coordinate relocation, abandonment, and removal of existing overhead/underground dry-utility infrastructure that conflicts with new construction, working with the applicable utility company and civil/electrical designers.
Schedule Integration & Design Coordination (30%)
- Integrate utility milestones – electric, gas, and telecom – into the master schedule for every AZ project; flag conflicts before they erode float.
- Attend kickoff, OAC, and progress meetings as needed to represent utility status across all dry-utility types.
- Partner with Preconstruction and Design so utility capacity is confirmed before entitlement/permit submittal, not after.
- Coordinate with civil engineers and electrical/MEP designers on service sizing, points of connection, and joint-trench/conduit coordination across dry utility types.
Reporting & Process Development (15%)
- Build and maintain a standardized utility coordination checklist/process usable across all AZ projects and all dry-utility types, with an eye toward portability to TX/FL and expansion into other utility types as volume justifies.
- Provide regular utility-risk status reporting to the Regional VP – AZ.
- Capture lessons learned from past delays to build institutional knowledge and utility-side relationships that outlast any single project.
REQUIRED ATTRIBUTES
- Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Civil Engineering, or related field preferred; equivalent experience considered in lieu.
- 5+ years in utility coordination, civil engineering, land development, or construction project management in Arizona, with direct working experience with APS and/or SRP; experience coordinating with Southwest Gas and/or major AZ telecom/fiber providers strongly preferred.
- Existing relationships with APS/SRP planning, engineering, or project management contacts strongly preferred; existing relationships with Southwest Gas and/or major AZ telecom/fiber providers a plus.
- Working knowledge of utility service processes across electric, gas, and telecom: applications, easements, transformer/pad orders, capacity requests, energization/service-activation sequencing, and relocation/abandonment coordination.
- Strong cross-functional communicator – able to translate utility timelines/constraints into construction-schedule impact for internal teams and owners.
- Highly organized and proactive by nature – this role exists to surface problems early, not to react well to late ones.
- Familiarity with construction project management software.
REPORTING
Reports directly to the Regional Vice President – Arizona. Regular (bi-weekly recommended) check-ins covering utility status across the active AZ project portfolio, escalations in progress, and any emerging risk.
EVALUATION
Annual review by the Regional VP – AZ, measured directly against the Main Critical Outcome and the Obsessions defined above:
- MCO – count/severity of dry-utility-caused delays (electric, gas, telecom) across the AZ portfolio versus prior year.
- Early Identification – utility risk – across all dry-utility types – confirmed by site selection/entitlement, not discovered later, across all active projects.
- Relationship Management – depth and responsiveness of APS/SRP, Southwest Gas, and telecom/fiber provider contacts; escalation turnaround time.
- Schedule Integration – utility milestones – electric, gas, and telecom – present and current in every AZ project schedule.
- Documentation – tracker completeness and usability across the portfolio and across utility types.
A positive attitude, proactive communication, and team spirit remain part of the overall review – but for this role they are read through the lens of the MCO and Obsessions above, not as a separate, softer standard.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
LGE Design Build provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.
NOTE: This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employee may perform other related duties as negotiated to meet the ongoing needs of the Team. |