Senior Research Program Manager, Construction

Position Overview

Autodesk Research is hiring a Senior Research Program Manager to lead a portfolio of forward-looking construction research programs. You will sit at the intersection of research strategy, construction domain expertise, AI-enabled workflows, and cross-functional program execution — helping teams move from ambiguous opportunity areas to structured plans, measurable progress, and strategic impact.Autodesk Research explores advances that may shape products and customer workflows five to ten years out, investigating how intelligent, agentic, and AI-driven systems can transform how ideas move from concept to reality. This is not a traditional Technical Program Manager role. Research Program Managers here are horizontally focused connectors: they organize programs, manage ambiguity, coordinate stakeholders, and link research work to Autodesk outcomes.

Responsibilities

Lead program management for construction research initiativeManage a program spanning multiple related projects, experiments, prototypes, and partnerships across complex, extended timelines.

• Build and maintain integrated program plans across workstreams, defining scope, objectives, milestones, dependencies, and owners

• Align the portfolio with Research priorities, Autodesk’s long-term construction vision, available capacity, and strategic outcomes

• Help teams prioritize when opportunities compete for attention, staffing, or funding

• Coordinate across researchers, engineers, designers, product teams, external partners, and leadership

Manage the research lifecycleHelp teams move through opportunity framing, discovery, experimentation, validation, and transition — keeping work visible and actionable without forcing it into a rigid delivery model.

• Establish lightweight governance for planning, reviews, decisions, and risk tracking

• Ensure research artifacts, learnings, demos, and decision records are findable and reusable

• Support transition planning when research is ready to inform product strategy, incubation, or future investment

• Partner with other Research Program Managers to improve shared practices, tools, and operating rhythms

Bring construction domain fluencyYou don’t need to be the deepest expert in the room, but you must understand construction well enough to ask informed questions, confidently engage with partners and connect research to real industry needs. Relevant areas:

• Project delivery phases: preconstruction, planning, estimating, scheduling, procurement, field execution, and handover

• BIM/VDC workflows, model coordination, construction documentation, site data, and connected data environments

• Reality capture, digital twins, construction analytics, and AI-enabled decision support

• Autodesk Construction Cloud, Revit, Navisworks, Forma, Tandem, or adjacent AEC platforms

Coordinate AI and emerging technology researchSupport programs exploring how AI, generative AI, intelligent agents, simulation, and connected workflows can transform construction.

• Help researchers structure AI-enabled workstreams with clear milestones, experiments, and evaluation plans

• Coordinate research integrating BIM, schedules, reality capture, field data, and other construction information sources

• Translate emerging technical work into clear narratives, decision briefs, and next-step recommendations

• Use AI tools in your own practice to improve planning, synthesis, documentation, and follow-through

Drive accountability and communicate clearlyCreate enough structure to help people do their best work — without slowing research down.

• Maintain dashboards, milestone trackers, decision logs, risk registers, and stakeholder updates

• Identify blockers, ambiguous ownership, unresolved decisions, and priority conflicts

• Facilitate planning sessions, research reviews, workshops, and decision forums

• Prepare crisp executive summaries, narratives, and briefing materials for senior leaders

Manage resources and external engagements

• Track program budgets, planned expenditures, and resource needs in partnership with leadership and finance

• Support annual and quarterly planning, goal-setting, and resource prioritization

• Coordinate external collaborations, customer engagements, and academic or industry partnerships

Minimum Qualifications

• 8+ years in program management, project management, research operations, construction technology, or a related field

• Experience managing complex, multi-workstream programs with diverse stakeholders, dependencies, and deliverables

• Working knowledge of construction workflows: preconstruction, BIM/VDC, scheduling, field execution, or construction data management

• Demonstrated ability to build structure in ambiguous, newly forming areas.

• Strong written, verbal, and visual communication skills, including executive-ready summaries and dashboards

• Strong facilitation and influencing skills across multidisciplinary teams

• Proficiency with tools such as Jira, Confluence, Miro, Slack, or equivalents

• Ability to work effectively across global teams and time zones

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in construction technology, AEC, digital twins, BIM/VDC, reality capture, or AI-enabled construction workflows

• Familiarity with Autodesk Construction Cloud, Revit, Navisworks, Forma, Tandem, or related platforms

• Background in applied research, innovation programs, incubation, or early-stage product exploration

• Familiarity with AI/ML, generative AI, intelligent agents, or data-driven product development

• Experience coordinating programs involving data integration, connected workflows, or scalable data pipelines

• Experience managing research collaborations, customer advisory engagements, or academic/industry partnerships

• Degree in Construction Management, Civil Engineering, Architecture, Computer Science, HCI, Business, or related field; equivalent experience welcome

The Ideal Candidate

You create clarity without pretending the future is already known. You thrive managing ambitious, ambiguous work while keeping teams accountable, informed, and aligned.

• Research-minded: You understand that research is iterative and uncertain, but still requires accountability and decision discipline

• Construction-fluent: You connect research activity to industry problems, customer needs, and Autodesk opportunity areas

• Structurally rigorous: You turn broad goals into milestones, workstreams, decision points, owners, and measurable progress

• Cross-functional: You build trust with researchers, engineers, designers, product teams, executives, customers, and domain experts

• AI-curious: You actively use AI tools to improve your own program management, synthesis, and communication

• Strategic thinker: Ability to define and communicate a forward-looking vision, anticipate shifts in the construction and technology landscape, and align research priorities with long-term business objectives

What Success Looks Like (6–12 Months)

• A clear, trusted operating rhythm for the construction research program

• An integrated view of priorities, workstreams, milestones, risks, and decisions

• Strong relationships with researchers, engineers, product stakeholders, and Research leadership

• Improved visibility and accountability without reducing research velocity

• Clearer connection between construction research and Autodesk strategic outcomes

• Better documentation and reuse of research artifacts, insights, and decisions

• Active, demonstrable use of AI tools to improve program operations

Learn MoreAbout AutodeskWelcome to Autodesk! Amazing things are created every day with our software – from the greenest buildings and cleanest cars to the smartest factories and biggest hit movies. We help innovators turn their ideas into reality, transforming not only how things are made, but what can be made.We take great pride in our culture here at Autodesk – it’s at the core of everything we do. Our culture guides the way we work and treat each other, informs how we connect with customers and partners, and defines how we show up in the world.When you’re an Autodesker, you can do meaningful work that helps build a better world designed and made for all. Ready to shape the world and your future? Join us!Salary transparencySalary is one part of Autodesk’s competitive compensation package. For Canada based roles, we expect a starting base salary between $111,400 and $163,350. Offers are based on the candidate’s experience and geographic location, and may exceed this range. In addition to base salaries, our compensation package may include annual cash bonuses, commissions for sales roles, stock grants, and a comprehensive benefits package.Belonging
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