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About us
We are a Chennai-based warehousing developer building grade-A industrial parks for institutional and 3PL tenants. We work with a top-tier external PMC (CBRE Turner & Townsend / JLL bracket), engage a leading Chennai architect for design, and run lean on the corporate side. We are looking for our first dedicated owner-side construction person to carry that pipeline. This is a step-up role for the right person.
Role purpose
You are our eyes, ears, and authority on site. You sit alongside our external PMC but report only to us. Your job is to make sure vendors deliver on schedule, cost, and quality, that our capital is not sitting idle, and that we do not lose weeks to slow vendor pace or stacked-up decisions. You are not a project manager working under the PMC. You are the owner's representative on the ground. We will back you, train you on the commercial and ownership side, and give you real decision authority. In return we expect ownership of the site outcome.
Key responsibilities
Pre-construction
- Drive vendor pre-qualification with the PMC: audited financials, list of concurrent commitments, capacity to mobilise labour, references on actual on-time delivery (not just quality).
- Review tender drawings and BOQs for buildability and value engineering before tenders go out.
- Sequence long-lead procurement (PEB steel, DG sets, dock levellers, fire pumps, HT panels) so material arrival does not become the critical path.
- Negotiate contract terms with real teeth: LDs that actually trigger, milestone-linked payments, bank guarantees on advances, performance bonds.
During construction
- Daily presence on site. Daily review huddle with PMC and key contractors.
- Push vendors on manpower, materials, and milestones. Escalate to the Director only when escalation is genuinely needed.
- Catch quality issues at the source, well before snagging stage. Maintain a live defect log.
- Track schedule against the critical path. Call out slippage two weeks before it shows up in a Gantt chart.
- Coordinate statutory inspections (CMDA / DTCP / panchayat, EB, fire, OC) so approvals do not become a separate project.
Reporting and decision authority
- Concise weekly written update to the Director: progress vs. plan, top three risks, cash outflows, decisions pending.
- Authority to make day-to-day calls on RFIs, minor design clarifications, vendor coordination, and snag closures without waiting on the Director.
- Escalate cost overruns, material delays, design conflicts, or labour issues early, with options and a recommendation, not just the problem.
Across the pipeline
- Carry institutional memory from phase to phase. We should not relearn the same vendor lessons every project.
- Build and maintain a vendor scorecard (rate competitiveness, delivery, quality, behaviour) that feeds future tenders.
- Be the in-house counterweight to our external PMC so we can flex who we hire on future projects with confidence.
Required experience
- 7 to 12 years in industrial, warehousing, or PEB construction, in Tamil Nadu with strong Chennai market exposure.
- Ex-vendor-side experience strongly preferred. We are specifically looking for someone who has run sites for a PEB contractor, large civil firm, or MEP contractor and is ready to step over to the client side. You know where vendors hide slack because you used to put it there.
- Hands-on PEB delivery experience: structural steel, roofing systems, dock infrastructure, fire and electrical systems.
- Working familiarity with statutory approvals: CMDA / DTCP, panchayat, EB, fire NOC, OC.
- Comfortable reading civil, structural, and MEP drawings independently.
- Has personally been the site lead on at least one or two projects of 75,000 sqft or larger, ideally including PEB warehouses or industrial sheds.
- Diploma or B.E. in Civil or Mechanical engineering. Postgraduate degree is a plus, not a requirement.
Mindset we are hiring for
- Hungry to step up. This is your chance to move from being one engineer in a large setup to being the owner's representative on the ground, with real authority and a direct line to the Director.
- Decisive. Comfortable making the 80% of calls that can be made in real time, and clear-headed about which 20% to escalate.
- Allergic to slow vendors. No tolerance for next-week answers when this-week answers are possible.
- Numbers-literate. Reads a BOQ and a cash flow with equal comfort.
- Calm under pressure. Sites get tense. The role does not need someone who adds heat.
- Wants to build, not climb. You should be excited about being the construction person at a small, growing developer rather than one rung on a large corporate ladder.
Compensation and growth
Compensation: up to ₹8-12 lakhs per annum, CTC inclusive. Flat structure, no separate variable component.
What you get: direct exposure to the owner, end-to-end ownership of construction outcomes, room to genuinely shape vendor selection and contractual terms, and the chance to grow with the company as the pipeline expands.
Growth path: this role can scale into a Head of Projects mandate as the pipeline grows to multiple phases running in parallel and we reduce dependence on an external PMC. Comp will be revisited based on delivery.
How to apply
Send a one-page note covering: (1) the three projects you are proudest of and what was hard about them, (2) one project that ran late and why, and what you would do differently, and (3) earliest possible start date and current compensation. Email to: rayan@arunaholdings.in
Shortlisted candidates should expect: a 45-minute conversation with the Director, a site visit and walkthrough exercise on one of our projects, and reference checks with at least two prior employers (one client-side, one contractor-side).
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