VP of Administration

Vice President, Administration 

(Marketing, HR & Talent Development)

Location: Columbia, MO
Reports To: Senior Executive Vice President, Emery Sapp & Sons

About Emery Sapp & Sons (ESS)
We’re not just building roads, bridges, and sites—we’re building an ownership-driven culture where every employee-owner has a stake in what comes next. As a proud subsidiary of ESS Companies, ESS is a leading heavy civil contractor with a field-first mindset and a relentless focus on people, performance, and long-term value.
Driven by our ownership mindset, we operate with grit, accountability, and a shared commitment to doing things the right way.

Why This Role Matters
This role is the bridge between our people, our story, and our future.

The VP, Administration (Marketing, HR & Talent Development) ensures ESS has the talent, leadership, and brand clarity to scale—without losing what makes us who we are. You’ll align three critical functions—Marketing, HR, and Talent Development—into a unified force that supports operations, strengthens culture, and drives growth.

This role operates at a strategic level—setting direction, aligning priorities, and elevating impact—while empowering strong functional leaders to own execution within their respective areas.

This isn’t a back-office role. It’s a field-impact role.
You’ll partner closely with operations and ESSC enterprise leadership to ensure our people are developed, our message is clear, and our systems support the pace and complexity of the business.

What You’ll Own
Operational & Enterprise Alignment

• Serve as the primary connector between ESS operations and the Marketing, HR, and Talent Development functions 
• Partner directly with ESS leadership to ensure support functions are aligned with field needs and business priorities 
• Remove friction between teams—keeping decisions practical, timely, and grounded in reality 
• Translate enterprise (ESSC) strategy into execution that works at the subsidiary level 
• Ensure alignment with ESSC standards and initiatives without disrupting operational momentum 

Marketing | Brand, Communication & Growth Support

• Lead ESS marketing strategy to support recruiting, retention, and project pursuits 
• Ensure brand consistency while keeping messaging grounded in field reality 
• Oversee internal and external communications, including employee-owner engagement 
• Partner with operations and business development to align messaging with real work and real wins 
• Guide a high-performing marketing team with clear priorities and accountability 

Human Resources | People Strategy & Support Systems

• Set direction for HR strategy across workforce planning, employee relations, and compliance 
• Ensure HR is a value-add partner to operations—not a bottleneck 
• Lead initiatives that strengthen employee-owner experience from hire to retire 
• Drive consistency in HR practices while allowing flexibility for operational needs 
• Partner with leadership on organizational design, succession planning, and performance management 

Talent Development | Build the Bench

• Establish and scale training and development programs (craft, foreman, leadership)
• Ensure development efforts are practical, field-relevant, and tied to business outcomes 
• Partner with operations to identify gaps and build programs that close them 
• Create clear pathways for growth across roles and levels 
• Measure effectiveness—participation is not success, impact is 

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach, and develop Directors across Marketing, HR, and Talent Development, ensuring clarity of direction while maintaining autonomy in execution 
• Build strong leaders who can operate independently and in alignment 
• Establish clear rhythms (meetings, reporting, priorities) that drive accountability without friction 
• Foster a culture of ownership, trust, and high standards across teams 
• Operational Partnership
• Work shoulder-to-shoulder with operations leaders to ensure support functions are aligned with field needs 
• Bring practical solutions—not theory—to real operational challenges 
• Maintain a consistent pulse on field sentiment and adjust approach accordingly 

What Success Looks Like

• Marketing, HR, and Talent Development operate as one aligned system—not three separate functions 
• Operations leaders view these teams as essential partners to performance 
• Recruiting and retention improve with clear connection to brand and culture 
• Leadership bench strengthens across all levels of the organization 
• Training programs are adopted, respected, and tied to measurable outcomes 
• Communication is clear, consistent, and grounded in reality—not corporate noise 

What You Bring
Experience

• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience, ideally within construction or a similar field-driven industry 
• Proven ability to lead multiple functions and align them to business outcomes 
• Experience operating in a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment 

Leadership Style

• Field-first mindset—you understand where the real work happens 
• Coach and builder of people, not just a manager of functions 
• High ownership, low ego—focused on outcomes over credit 
• Able to balance enterprise alignment with local execution 

Capabilities

• Strong communicator—clear, direct, and adaptable to the audience 
• Strategic thinker who can also execute at ground level 
• Systems-oriented but practical—build what works, not what looks good on paper 
• Financial and operational awareness—understands impact beyond the function 

Why ESS
Ownership isn’t a tagline here—it’s how we operate.

You’ll have the opportunity to shape how we grow our people, tell our story, and build the next generation of leaders across a $1B+ business. This role sits at the intersection of culture, performance, and scale—and will directly influence where ESS goes next.

If you’re wired to build, align, and lead from the front—we’d like to 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)