VP of Administration

Reports to: Senior EVP, Emery Sapp & Sons (ESS)Location: Columbia, MissouriESS: $900M+ Revenue | 100% Employee Owned | Heavy Civil Construction

About Emery Sapp & Sons (ESS)We’re not just building roads, bridges, and sites—we’re building an ownership-driven culture where every team member has a stake in our collective success. As a proud subsidiary of ESS Companies, Emery Sapp & Sons (ESS) is one of the Midwest’s leading heavy civil contractors, delivering top-tier infrastructure with a bottom-line focus on people.

From our field crews to our corporate teams, everyone plays a role in shaping what comes next. If you're energized by impact, accountability, and legacy building, read on.

Why This Role MattersThe VP, Administration is the strategic force behind the people, systems, and support functions that keep our business moving. This isn’t back-office—it’s backbone. This role is not about replacing functional expertise—it’s about aligning it. You’ll lead and develop a bench of department leaders across human resources, talent development, marketing, risk management, and technology support, ensuring these teams stay connected, practical, and in step with the needs of the field and the business. You’ll bring clarity across functions, remove friction, and help good teams operate as one—serving as a close, trusted partner to the Senior EVP of ESS.You’ll also collaborate with ESS Companies’ enterprise leadership to ensure our people-first mindset is reflected across all administrative operations. Your mission? Build resilience, enable growth, and empower every corner of the business to thrive.

People, Culture & Workforce Development

• Champion HR, talent development, workforce development, and leadership development strategies that strengthen staffing, readiness, and long-term bench strength.

• Foster a performance-driven culture rooted in ownership, trust, safety, and growth.

• Ensure HR, Talent Development, and Workforce teams operate as aligned partners to operations—building systems, programs, and processes that elevate our people and support the business.

Technology, Data & Business Enablement

• Collaborate with IT and departmental directors to optimize digital tools, data infrastructure, and cross-team workflows.

• Promote a systems mindset—ensuring technology supports accountability, visibility, and decision-making for administrative and operational partners.

• Guide digital innovation across administrative functions, helping directors adopt tools and process improvements that scale with the business.

Risk, Compliance & Claims Oversight

• Oversee enterprise-aligned risk management programs in collaboration with the Director of Risk.

• Ensure licensing, regulatory requirements, contract standards, and safety-aligned admin processes are met and monitored consistently.

• Provide executive oversight on claims management, from incident through resolution, ensuring learnings and trends influence corrective action and prevention.

Marketing, Communications & Brand Stewardship

• Guide the Director of Marketing in delivering a modern, high-performing marketing function across recruitment, brand, digital, storytelling, and external relations.

• Ensure brand integrity and consistent voice across platforms, working closely with field and operational teams to maintain trust and alignment.

• Support crisis communications, key announcements, organizational messaging, and change-management communications.

Administrative Operations & Cross-Team Integration

• Provide executive leadership to all administrative directors and department leads (HR, Talent Development, Marketing, Risk, Technology).

• Ensure each administrative function is operating with clarity, accountability, and measurable impact.

• Drive modernization of key systems, workflows, and governance across admin teams—reducing friction and improving cross-department collaboration.

• Connect the dots across functions—ensuring admin strategies align with ESS business goals, field needs, and operational priorities.

Enterprise Collaboration

• Serve as ESS’ administrative liaison with ESS Companies enterprise leadership, ensuring alignment between subsidiary operations and enterprise strategy.

• Support execution of enterprise-wide initiatives by coordinating with counterparts across the ESS Companies portfolio.

• Represent ESS in enterprise forums, sharing insights, surfacing needs, and ensuring best practices flow in both directions.

Leadership & Team Development

• Serve as a trusted member of the ESS executive team.

• Lead and develop a high-performing bench of directors and administrative leaders—acting as a coach, mentor, and strategic partner.

• Facilitate recurring admin leadership meetings to drive clarity, alignment, accountability, and cross-functional problem solving.

• Build succession pathways within all administrative departments, ensuring future leaders are identified, supported, and ready.

• Model the ESS leadership standard: clear communication, high trust, strong follow-through, and an unwavering commitment to our people.

• Create a culture where directors feel empowered to own their domains while operating as one unified administrative team.

What Success Looks Like

• Administrative functions run with clarity, confidence, and collaboration.
• ESS culture is felt—and lived—across every jobsite and office.
• Risk is proactively managed, systems are future-ready, and communication is clear.
• Administrative budgets are well-managed, transparent, and aligned with strategic priorities—delivering strong ROI across all functions.
• The VP leads with authenticity, transparency, and a commitment to shared success.

What We’re Looking For:

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's in business administration, HR, Engineering, Construction Management, or related field (master's preferred).

• 10+ years of progressive leadership in administrative functions, ideally in heavy civil construction or adjacent industries.

• Familiarity with enterprise systems like ERP, HRIS, and project management tools.

• This position may be filled at the Vice President or Executive Vice President level, and will be determined based on selectived candidates’s background and demonstrated leadership scope. 

Core Competencies

• Strategic Leadership: You think big and plan smart.

• People-Centered: You build strong teams, strong cultures, and strong relationships.

• Systems Thinking: You see connections others miss and can scale what works.

• Operational Acumen: You know how to run lean, high-impact administrative teams.

• Risk & Compliance Mindset: You know what keeps companies safe, sound, and scalable.

• Communication & Influence: Whether it’s one-on-one or all-company, your message lands.

Where You'll BeThis is an in-person leadership role based in Columbia, Missouri, with regular travel to regional offices and job sites. We believe in leadership by proximity—it’s how trust is built, performance is supported, and culture is sustained. 

The ESS EdgeAt ESS, we don’t just build infrastructure. We build people. We build futures. And we build them together. As a 100% employee-owned company, we’re accountable to each other—and that shows in how we lead, work, and win.

Ready to lead with purpose, build with intention, and shape the next chapter of ESS?Let's talk.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)