Development Associate

Development & Construction Associate

Location: Orange County, CA

A private real estate investment group is seeking a Development & Construction Associate to help oversee a growing portfolio of multifamily projects. This is an owner-side role for someone who enjoys getting into the details of budgets, construction progress, contracts, and project risk.

You will work closely with senior development leaders and alongside developers, general contractors, consultants, and financing partners. As you grow in the role, you will take ownership of more project oversight responsibilities.

What You’ll Do

• Monitor project budgets, schedules, commitments, approvals, and major milestones across multiple developments.
• Review monthly draw packages, pay applications, cost reports, invoices, lien waivers, and forecasts. Identify missing support, unusual cost movement, or discrepancies between reports.
• Track proposed and approved change orders, allowances, contingencies, and potential exposures. Review supporting documents and prepare questions for the senior team.
• Compare baseline and updated schedules to spot milestone changes, shrinking float, progress concerns, and gaps in recovery plans.
• Maintain organized project records, including contracts, drawings, permits, reports, meeting decisions, and action items.
• Attend project meetings and site visits, document observations, and compare reported progress with field conditions and draw requests.
• Prepare concise updates that explain what has changed, why it matters, and which decisions or follow-ups are needed.

What You’ll Bring

• Two to five years of relevant experience in construction, real estate development, owner’s representation, project engineering, architecture, engineering, or a related field.
• A degree in construction management, real estate, architecture, engineering, finance, business, or a related discipline. Equivalent relevant experience will be considered.
• Experience working with several of the following: budgets, pay applications, cost reports, schedules, drawings, RFIs, submittals, change orders, meeting minutes, or field reports.
• Strong Excel skills, clear writing, sound organization, and consistent follow-through.
• The ability to compare information from multiple sources, identify what does not align, and ask useful questions.
• Good judgment when handling confidential project, contract, and investment information.

Experience with multifamily or mixed-use construction is especially valuable. Exposure to GMP contracts, lender or equity draws, Bluebeam, Procore, Primavera P6, Microsoft Project, or multidisciplinary construction drawings is also helpful.

This role offers a practical path into development and construction management from the owner and investor perspective, with direct exposure to how project decisions affect cost, schedule, and investment outcomes.