Vice President of Construction – Luxury Custom Homes (Coastal Orange County)

About the Opportunity

A respected Orange County custom-home builder is looking for a construction leader who can take ownership of how its homes get built. The company builds high-quality, highly detailed custom and luxury residences throughout coastal Orange County. It has long-standing relationships with clients, architects, designers, and subcontractors.

The company is growing on purpose. The owner plans to move into a CEO role focused on relationships, business development, and strategic direction. To do that, the company needs one person to take ownership of construction execution, project control, team leadership, and project profitability.

This is that person. You’ll work directly with the owner, have real access to the decision-maker, and help shape the next phase of the business.

The Role

As Vice President of Construction, you’ll gradually take over the day-to-day project leadership the owner carries today. That includes project meetings, client escalations, decisions, budgets, and the team that delivers the work.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You’ll spend meaningful time on jobsites, in the office, and with homeowners, architects, designers, and trade partners. The first goal is straightforward: learn how the company builds, earn trust, improve execution, and take on more over time.

What You’ll Get to Accomplish

• Own construction delivery from preconstruction through completion. Visit every active project regularly, generally weekly, and catch problems before they become expensive.
• Keep projects moving by setting decision schedules and deadlines for owners, architects, and designers. Make sure selections, approvals, and design decisions close out, and that their time and cost impacts are understood.
• Protect project profitability. You’ll own budgets, estimates, bids, buyout, scope reviews, and change orders, and you’ll be the internal owner of project-level financial accuracy.
• Lead and develop the construction team. You’ll coach and hold accountable a Director of Project Management, the project managers, and field leaders. You’ll also help define roles and help hire new construction staff.
• Lead the trade partners behind the work. You’ll pre-qualify, select, negotiate with, and hold subcontractors accountable for schedule, quality, scope, and professionalism.
• Take on client and design-team relationships from the owner over time, explaining construction, budget, schedule, and scope decisions to homeowners and design professionals.
• Help the company grow its project base without giving up the quality its reputation is built on.

What You’ll Bring

• Significant experience in high-end custom-home construction
• A track record of managing multiple projects and the people who lead them
• Strong knowledge of budgets, bids, scopes, buyout, contracts, and change orders
• Experience with architects, designers, engineers, and demanding homeowners
• The ability to drive decisions, hold people accountable, and develop project managers
• Strong construction judgment, attention to detail, and clear written and verbal communication
• High integrity, follow-through, and personal ownership. You should also have the humility to learn the company’s way before changing it, and the judgment to improve it once a better method is proven.

Why This Opportunity Stands Out

• Real authority. You’ll be the person running construction, with a clear mandate to take over day-to-day project leadership from the owner.
• Caliber of work. The company builds high-quality, architecturally significant homes with loyal clients and respected design partners.
• Direct access to the owner and decision-maker, without layers of bureaucracy.
• A culture built on honesty and fairness. The company has long-term employees, deep relationships, and is selective about the projects it takes on.
• Long-term upside. Advancement into a President or broader executive role, and potential ownership or equity for an exceptional long-term contributor, are possible but not promised. They are earned by leading construction operations, developing the team, and protecting profitability.
• Judged on results, not hours. Expect roughly 40–50% office time and 40–60% field, jobsite, or remote work as appropriate.

Compensation & Benefits

• Compensation based on background, skills, experience, and scope
• Annual bonus plus incentives tied to company profitability
• 401(k) with a 3% baseline match (5% for each of the past three years)
• $10,000 annual health insurance allowance, or enrollment in the company health plan
• 8 paid holidays plus 2–3 weeks of vacation
• Company-paid cell phone or a phone allowance
• Company iPad for Procore
• Mileage reimbursement

Location

The role is based in Orange County and requires regular presence across coastal Orange County. Candidates in Long Beach, Oceanside, San Diego County, or the Inland Empire will be considered if they can reliably support the work.

Candidates must have significant experience leading high-end custom residential construction to be considered.