Project Manager, Real Estate Planning & Development

Job Description

At UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement, we know why we come to work.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Project Manager, Real Estate Planning & Development at UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement, based in our Columbia, MD or our Washington, DC, office. The Project Manager, Real Estate Planning & Development supports planning, design coordination, owner requirements management, and workstream execution for complex capital projects within UL Research Institutes (ULRI) and UL Standards & Engagement (ULSE). The role manages day-to-day engagements among internal stakeholders, design and delivery partners, and program leadership to ensure requirements, decisions, risks, and deliverables are documented, coordinated, and advanced through programming, schematic design, design development, construction documents, procurement, construction, and closeout.

UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement

At UL Research Institutes (ULRI) and UL Standards & Engagement (ULSE), we expand the boundaries of safety science to create a more secure and sustainable world. For more than a century, we have studied the unintended consequences of innovation, designed solutions to mitigate risk, created new safety standards and shared our findings with academia, scientists, manufacturers, and policymakers across industries. We identify critical safety and sustainability issues, asking the tough questions because we believe a safer world begins with knowledge.

What you’ll learn and achieve:

As the Project Manager, Real Estate Planning & Development you will play a key role in the rapid growth of ULas you:

• Coordinate project workstreams across planning, design, procurement, construction administration, commissioning, and closeout, ensuring alignment with program objectives and owner requirements.

• Manage day-to-day coordination with architects, engineers, consultants, contractors, internal functional leads, end users, and operations stakeholders to keep decisions, reviews, and deliverables moving on schedule.

• Support development, maintenance, and compliance tracking of Owner Project Requirements (OPR), including identification, documentation, escalation, and resolution of departures from owner requirements.

• Track design deliverables through programming, schematic design, design development, and construction documents; maintain comment registers and ensure owner review comments are documented and closed.

• Review architectural, engineering, and technical design documents to identify coordination issues, incomplete scope, constructability concerns, and potential impacts to scope, schedule, cost, risk, or operations.

• Prepare agendas, facilitate project and design review meetings, document decisions and action items, and follow up with responsible parties to drive timely closure.

• Use the program management information system (PMIS) and document control processes to maintain drawing registers, meeting records, action logs, RFI/submittal records, and project documentation in accordance with program standards.

• Coordinate owner-furnished equipment planning and procurement interfaces, including design accommodation requirements, delivery schedules, and construction or site sequencing impacts.

• Identify issues that can be resolved at the project level and escalate matters with clear framing, options, and recommendations.

• Support project reporting by providing accurate status updates on deliverables, risks, decisions, action items, budget, schedule, scope, and stakeholder inputs.

• Maintain productive relationships with design and delivery partners while enforcing owner requirements, review cycles, quality expectations, and agreed project processes.

• Perform other duties as directed.

What you’ll experience working at UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement: For the organizations across the UL enterprise, corporate and social responsibility isn’t new. We have pursued our mission of working for a safer, more secure, and sustainable world for nearly 130 years, embedding conscientious stewardship into everything we do.

• People: Our people make us special. You’ll work with a diverse team of experts respected for their independence and transparency and build a network, because our approach is collaborative. We collaborate across disciplines, organizations, and geographies to build the global scientific response that today’s global challenges require.

• Interesting work: Every day is different for us here. We see what’s on the horizon and use our expertise to build the foundations of a safer future. You’ll have the opportunity to push the boundaries of human understanding as part of a team working to advance the public good.

• Grow and achieve: We learn, work, and grow together through targeted development, reward, and recognition programs.

• Values. Four core values guide our work: collaboration, respect, integrity, and beneficence. By living our values, we inspire the trust essential to fulfilling our mission and foster the partnerships that enable us to pursue a beneficent future in which we all can thrive.

• Total Rewards: All employees at UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement are eligible for bonus compensation. We offer comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans and a generous 401k matching structure of up to 5% of eligible pay. Moreover, we invest an additional 4% into your retirement saving fund after your first year of continuous employment. Depending on your role, you may be able to discuss flexible working arrangements with your manager. We also provide employees with paid time off, including vacation, holiday, sick, and volunteer days.

What makes you a great fit:

While no one candidate will embody every quality, the successful candidate will bring many of the following professional competencies and personal attributes:

• Working knowledge of programming, schematic design, design development, construction documents, procurement, construction administration, commissioning, and closeout.

• Ability to read and interpret architectural and engineering drawings, specifications, drawing organization, discipline coordination, and related technical design information.

• Ability to translate owner needs into requirements, track compliance, identify departures, and coordinate timely resolution across design and delivery phases.

• Ability to manage review cycles, comment registers, deliverable schedules, and day-to-day coordination with design and consultant teams.

• Working knowledge of PMIS workflows, document control principles, drawing version management, action logs, RFI/submittal logs, and project recordkeeping.

• Ability to distinguish between project-level issues and matters requiring higher-level escalation; frames issues clearly with recommendations.

• Ability to coordinate internal functions, end users, operations stakeholders, and external partners while maintaining alignment with program priorities.

• Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills; able to prepare concise meeting records, status updates, decision summaries, and action logs.

• Ability to manage multiple concurrent review cycles, priorities, deadlines, and stakeholders with initiative and professional independence.

Professional education and experience requirements for the role include:

• Bachelor’s degree in real estate, architecture, engineering, construction management, facilities planning, or related field.

• PMP certification preferred.

• A minimum of 8 years’ experience in real estate development, capital project delivery, owner’s representative services, design management, construction management, or related fields.

• Experience supporting technical, laboratory, research, higher education, healthcare, manufacturing, or similarly complex facilities preferred.

• Demonstrated ability to read and interpret architectural and engineering drawings, specifications, and construction documents.

• Experience coordinating owner requirements, design review cycles, comment resolution, document control, and PMIS-based project workflows.

About UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement

UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement are nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing safety science research through the discovery and application of scientific knowledge. We conduct rigorous independent research and analyze safety data, convene experts worldwide to address risks, share knowledge through safety education and public outreach initiatives, and develop standards to guide safe commercialization of evolving technologies. We foster communities of safety, from grassroots initiatives for neighborhoods to summits of world leaders. Our organization employs collaborative and scientific approaches with partners and stakeholders to drive innovation and progress toward improving safety, security, and sustainability, ultimately enhancing societal well-being.

Learn more about us and the offered benefits, visit our websites at UL.org and ULSE.org.

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