Director, Americas Store Planning and Construction

Job Title: Director, Americas Store Planning and Construction

Reporting to the Senior Director, Construction, the Director, Americas Store Planning and Construction leads the regional team responsible for Coach stores from early project definition through opening and closeout. This role provides strategic and operational leadership across the North America portfolio, ensuring disciplined execution of scope, quality and design intent in alignment with PMO schedule governance and Commercial Construction budget controls.
The Director leads and develops Construction Project Managers and Assistant Managers and connects Architecture, Visual Merchandising, Finance, Corporate, market, and operational partners. The role develops project feasibilities using the Commercial Construction cost baseline, establishes delivery standards, and drives consistent execution. The Director partners with the PMO and the Sr. Manager, Construction Commercial Management & Purchasing to align execution, schedule governance, risk, opening readiness, budget controls, purchasing and reporting.

Leadership and Team Development 

• Lead, coach and develop the Coach construction delivery team, including Senior Project Managers, Construction Project Managers and Assistant Managers responsible for planning and delivering projects across the United States, Canada, South America, Wholesale and Travel Retail. 

• Set clear priorities, performance expectations and accountability standards across the team while balancing workloads and aligning resources with portfolio needs. 

• Provide ongoing guidance, feedback and development opportunities that strengthen project management, construction, financial and leadership capabilities. 

• Foster a collaborative, high-performing culture focused on ownership, effective communication, quality execution and compliance with approved operating standards. 

Portfolio and Project Delivery 

• Direct the planning and construction of new Coach stores, renovations, relocations, temporary stores and enhancements across the United States, Canada and South America and within the Wholesale and Travel Retail channels from project handoff through store opening and physical completion. 

• Establish portfolio delivery priorities and execution strategies, partnering with the PMO to align project plans with the PMO-owned integrated schedule, milestone governance and approved opening requirements. 

• Monitor construction progress, schedule performance, quality and compliance with approved design intent, project requirements, applicable codes, permits, landlord requirements and Coach safety expectations. 

• Provide senior-level direction and timely escalation support for complex site conditions, schedule constraints, contractor performance concerns and other project-delivery risks. 

• Establish performance expectations for general contractors, architects of record and construction vendors and direct corrective action when performance does not meet Coach requirements. 

• Review bid analyses and Project Manager award recommendations, confirm alignment with approved scope and ensure bid or award exceptions are escalated in accordance with the approval matrix before Purchasing executes the award. 

• Hold the Project Delivery team accountable for executing within approved scope and budget. Direct scope-control, value-engineering and mitigation decisions and escalate commitments outside delegated authority. 

• Oversee quality-control turnover and completion of outstanding construction work. Provide the physical-completion confirmations required for PMO post-opening tracking and for Commercial Construction and Purchasing to complete financial and administrative closeout. 

Feasibility Budgeting and Cost Partnership 

• Lead and approve the development of project feasibility budgets using the current cost baseline developed and maintained by Commercial Construction. Ensure project-specific scope, site conditions, schedule assumptions, allowances, exclusions, contingency and known risks are complete and documented. 

• Validate feasibility completeness, document material baseline variances and present feasibility budgets for required leadership and funding approval. 

• Participate in Commercial Construction's weekly project budget reviews beginning 30 days before construction start and continuing through closeout. Provide scope, execution-risk and mitigation inputs at the formal preconstruction, midpoint and closeout checkpoints. 

• Remain accountable for project scope, execution decisions, vendor commitments and change impacts within the approved budget while Commercial Construction independently owns budget controls, forecasting and financial reporting. 

• Ensure Project Managers validate scope, business need and percent complete for purchase orders, change orders and invoices before Purchasing enters or processes approved transactions. 

• At completion, confirm the approved construction scope is complete and no known construction exposure remains. Support Commercial Construction's financial closeout and Purchasing's final invoice and purchase-order closure. 

Cross-Functional Partnership 

• Partner with the PMO to align Project Delivery priorities with integrated schedule oversight, milestone governance, survey coordination, permitting oversight, risk mitigation, opening readiness and executive reporting. 

• Partner with the Sr. Manager, Construction Commercial Management & Purchasing to apply the current cost baseline to project feasibilities and align project risks and mitigation with independent budget controls, forecasting, purchasing and financial closeout. 

• Maintain clear decision rights and operating cadences across Project Delivery, PMO and Construction Commercial Management & Purchasing so schedule, scope, cost, procurement and opening-readiness decisions remain connected throughout the project lifecycle. 

• Ensure Project Delivery owns contractor and vendor completion of corrective work. Partner with the Assistant Manager, PMO, who owns punchlist, Day 2 and first-year warranty intake, tracking, follow-up, escalation and closure reporting. 

• Collaborate with Business Development, Architecture, Visual Merchandising, Operations, Information Systems, Finance and other partners to align scope, schedule, budget and opening requirements and translate design intent and business objectives into executable project plans. 

Operational Excellence 

• Implement and sustain approved policies, procedures, controls, tools and reporting standards established by the Senior Director. Maintain required compliance evidence and complete corrective actions resulting from PMO operational reviews. 

• Maintain consistent project documentation, status reporting, risk records and decision evidence across the Project Delivery team in accordance with approved standards. 

• Support PMO operational self-audits and Project Management Plan (PMP) compliance reviews by providing complete documentation, responding to findings and implementing corrective actions within Project Delivery. 

• Provide lessons learned and project-performance data to the Senior Director and Sr. Manager, PMO to support continuous improvement. Implement approved improvements and monitor adoption within Project Delivery. 

Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Construction Management, Engineering or a related field or equivalent relevant experience. 

• 12+ years of progressively responsible experience in retail architecture and construction, including work across multiple countries and business channels. 

• Demonstrated experience leading and developing Senior Project Managers, Project Managers or comparable professionals and directing large, dynamic construction portfolios across multiple geographies and business channels. 

• Experience leading feasibility development, evaluating cost and execution risk and delivering projects within PMO schedule governance and Commercial Construction budget controls. 

• Working knowledge of construction safety expectations, permitting, code compliance, landlord requirements and contractor performance management. 

• Excellent communication, interpersonal, organizational and time-management skills with a collaborative leadership style and strong coaching capability. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience managing large-scale retail portfolios across multiple countries and across Retail, Outlet, Wholesale and Travel Retail channels. 

• Proven success developing and promoting high-performing teams. #LI-DL1 #LI-HYBRID