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A Ticket to Program Management Success: Hill Welcomes Randy Richardson

“Hill is well known for successfully managing construction programs and projects across the globe,” says Hill President of the Americas Region Drew Jeter. “Our teams regularly help governments reduce the uncertainty and risk in their capital programs by controlling projects, managing knowledge, establishing processes, and putting procedures in-place. But we want to marshal what we’ve learned from those collective successes and leverage industry best practices and innovations to further improve upon our current program management service offerings and processes. This is why Hill hired Randy Richardson to serve as our vice president of program management.

“A high-powered, program management subject matter expert, Randy is going to help us refine our ability to win and deliver major capital programs for clients across all market sectors and regions in the U.S. and internationally. He is also going to provide best-practice-based direction to the program management professionals throughout our firm. Having gotten to know Randy and having seen him in action during prior working experiences, I am extremely confident that he’ll be able to bring our program management teams to the next level.”

Drew originally worked with Randy at CH2M Hill and then Jacobs on the Global Program Management Team. There, Randy served under Drew as a regional program management director in the Southern U.S. and Latin America, as well as U.S. Federal Government programs. In fact, Drew also hired Randy to CH2M Hill as a senior program management expert in 2016. “I specifically sought Randy out because he had the reputation of being the very best program manager at his former company, MWH,” Drew explains.

After receiving his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from West Point, Randy served in the U.S. Army as a combat engineer. While serving in the military, he held leadership positions, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and served in two overseas combat deployments. In addition to becoming certified as a Professional Engineer in West Virginia and a certified Project Management Professional from the Project Management Institute, Randy also acquired a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Public Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

Randy’s professional background stretches more than 38 years and includes a combination of managerial oversight and hands-on program management experience on numerous megaprojects and programs. Notable examples include a $5 billion program replacing the locks on the Panama Canal, a $5 billion program reconfiguring Miami’s wastewater and stormwater collection systems, and a $4 billion expansion program of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s transit system. Randy has also supported disaster recovery, such as New Orleans’ Hurricane Katrina Disaster Recovery Program, involving over 600 interrelated projects, and a $2.8 billion federal project to alleviate flooding in Fargo, ND, Moorhead, MN, and surrounding areas.

In his role with Hill, Randy will serve as the functional leader and subject matter expert for all of Hill’s program management operations. Although he will report directly to Drew in the Americas, Randy will serve the entire company as the program management lead, helping to win and deliver major programs around the world. Drawing upon his military experience with the U.S. Federal Government and his experience working with FEMA in the New Orleans Katrina Recovery Program, Randy will also work to accelerate the development of our U.S. Federal Government and disaster recovery growth initiatives.

“I am very happy to be joining Hill and supporting the company’s growth initiatives,” says Randy. “I think the opportunity is at hand for this company to capitalize on some of the major infrastructure programs currently being carried out in the U.S. and abroad. Construction work on critical facilities, airports, transit systems, highways, and water infrastructure will always be important and we are going to continue seeing significant growth in spending on such programs due to continuing demands on the built environment. In particular, maintenance programs are hugely important on urban rail systems, as well as on aging U.S. airports all around the country. Hill is well positioned to leverage its relationships and experience to play an even larger part in the process of developing the country’s infrastructure.

“Internationally, many cities in North Africa, Southern Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe are experiencing surges in infrastructure spending on programs of national significance. Hill already has impressive experience on many such programs in these regions. Each of these locations is unique and faces unique challenges in the development of its infrastructure. Some regions have never had well developed infrastructure and lack the technical capacity for its successful implementation. Others are coping with demographic trends and need rapid infrastructural development to respond to this.

“In the wake of COVID-19, it’s likely that we’ll see even more money invested in critical infrastructure. It’s also true that the work environment created by COVID-19 is here to stay. For the foreseeable future, anyway, we’re going to have to deliver projects according to the safety standards the coronavirus pandemic demands. Workers will need to be social distancing, procurement will remain challenging, and some of our work will need to be done remotely. Clients undertaking capital programs in this atmosphere will need professionals like those at Hill to help them nimbly address challenges and capitalize on available opportunities. I look forward to being a part of that process.”

Welcome to Hill, Randy!

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