Vice President - Operations
Skanska USA Building, Inc.
Jim Whitaker has 22 years of architectural and construction experience. He is a corporate vice president working throughout Skanska, coast-to-coast, implementing best practices, lesson learned, and improving all aspects of design-build project delivery, especially design management. Mr. Whitaker specializes in large-scale, schedule-driven, design-build projects for public and private sector clients, where strategic planning of complicated projects is critical. His project portfolio includes commercial, institutional, higher education, heavy / highway, and sport projects.
Mr. Whitaker’s personal responsibilities have included contract negotiation and preparation, for both contractor and designer agreements; all phases of design management for traditional and alternative project delivery methods; pre-construction services, including logistical planning, value engineering, scheduling and pricing; construction operations, including permitting, execution planning, bidding, cost control, and personnel management; dispute resolution; government relations with local, state and federal agencies and elected officials; and sales / business development.
Prior to entering the construction business, Mr. Whitaker was a professional practitioner and managing architect of a 60-person, full-service architectural firm. There, he was responsible for client relations, contract negotiations, personnel management, project and workforce scheduling, consultant selection, construction administration, and sales / business development. In this practitioner capacity, he served as designer- and architect-of-record for numerous institutional, higher education, and sports projects.
Mr. Whitaker is a requested speaker by industry groups and at universities. His no-nonsense communication style and aggressive leadership skills are recognized by peers and industry groups, where he is considered a design-build expert. He has presented to various groups, including AIA, DBIA, AACE, ASCE, AOD, collegiate architecture and engineering programs, and law firms on a variety of topics including design-build project delivery, alternative careers for design professionals, effective design-build teaming arrangements, dispute resolution strategies, and environmentally sustainable design.