Nick Vovakes has been appointed vice president and division manager of Swinerton’s Seattle office. Vovakes has more than 20 years of experience in the industry and previously held the position of operations manager at the firm, expanding Swinerton’s presence in the health care sector. Vovakes plans to continue the office’s advancements in mass timber construction while placing emphasis on growth in the health care and life sciences industries.

Keith Hempel has been named president of LPA Design Studios. He succeeds Dan Heinfeld, who will remain in an active role with the studio and be an adviser to the board of directors. Hempel retains his role as chief design officer.

STV has appointed David Watson vice president and West region manager for its construction management group. With more than 20 years of experience in project and construction management, Watson will focus on enhancing client relationships and expanding CM services in the West. Liz Justison has joined STV as the transportation West operating group president. In this role, Justison will focus on enhancing client relationships and leading the firm’s expansion in the West. Justison, who has more than 25 years of experience in the transportation industry, previously was senior vice president, transportation lead for Northern California at WSP USA.

George Denise has been chosen director of project management for CBRE’s Hawaii region. He previously served as project executive at Swinerton’s Honolulu division. With more than two decades of experience in commercial construction and development, Denise will oversee complex construction and renovation projects for retail, office, hospitality and institutional properties.

HITT Contracting has promoted Ryan Wagner to vice president and regional office leader of the firm’s Seattle team. Wagner has more than 17 years of experience in the construction industry. In his new role, Wagner oversees operations and strategy for HITT’s Seattle office.

Lucy Villanueva has recently joined Clayco’s senior executive team as vice president of health care for California. With 26 years of experience in the construction industry, she previously served as a project executive at DPR Construction, where she oversaw large-scale health care projects in California.

Jim McDonald is transitioning to divisional president overseeing Ryan Companies’ West, Northwest and Great Lakes regions. A 23-year veteran of the firm, McDonald previously served as leader of the Great Lakes region.

Skanska’s executive vice president of the West Coast region, Mike Aparicio, will be taking on the role of senior vice president of operations as he transitions toward future retirement. James Bailey will move into the role of EVP and Ryan Clayton will be promoted to senior vice president, general manager for Skanska USA Civil’s West Coast region. Dean Lewis has been hired as director of mass timber and prefabrication, a national role within Skanska, based in Seattle. Rob Robinson has been promoted to senior vice president, Dan Curtiss has been promoted to vice president/project executive and Eric Marsh has been promoted to vice president/project executive.

Jeff Watson has been chosen as HNTB’s West division president and senior vice president. A 19-year veteran of the firm, he most recently served as the office leader of the Northern California and Nevada offices. HNTB also named Charles Small the West region government relations officer and vice president at HNTB. Small is a former assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs at the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. Jessica Duboff has been appointed as HNTB’s West division government relations director, operating from the Los Angeles office. With 15 years of experience in Southern California, Duboff previously held positions such as vice president of public policy for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and deputy district director for former Congress member Jane Harman. Basem Muallem has joined HNTB as Southern California practice leader, regional transportation lead and vice president. Muallem brings four decades of experience to the role, previously serving as Caltrans District 8 director, managing Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Angela Hart was promoted to Rosendin’s executive leadership team as executive vice president overseeing operations in the firm’s West region. Hart has been with Rosendin for 33 years, serving most recently as senior vice president. Rosendin also named Axelle Girardot as its chief strategy officer, overseeing the development and communication of all corporate strategies and strategic initiatives as well as the company’s technology teams. Girardot was elected to the company’s board of directors in 2021. She has 25 years of experience as a strategist and operations leader for some of the nation’s top tech giants, including Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Palo Alto Networks and Bain & Co.

The Walsh Group has promoted Luke Lowney to vice president and business group leader within the company’s water division, providing oversight and leadership for water and wastewater projects in the Northern California and Pacific regions. The firm also promoted Blayne Goodman to vice president and business group leader within the company’s water division, leading projects in the Southern California region.

Seema Chavan has joined Brown and Caldwell as the vice president and senior director of strategic funding. Based in San Jose, Chavan will lead the firm’s funding and finance group. She was previously an associate vice president at Carollo and has specialized in securing low-interest loans and grants from federal, state and local agencies for capital improvement programs. Also joining the firm in Los Angeles as water reuse program management director is Sandy Scott-Roberts. She is a former principal and program manager at the Orange County Water District and worked on the Pure Water Southern California program.

HITT Contracting has promoted Ryan Wagner to vice president and regional office leader of the firm’s Seattle team. With 17 years of industry experience, Wagner will oversee operations and strategy for the region.

Neil Murphy has been appointed the new president of OCMI Inc., while former president Justin Peterson transitions to the role of chief financial officer. Peterson will oversee the firm’s finance and administration. Ciaran O’Connor will continue as OCMI’s chief executive officer.

Salas O’Brien has promoted Grant Reindl to chief financial officer. Reindl joined Salas O’Brien in 2020 and has served as vice president for corporate development, financial planning and analysis.

Craig Shannon has joined Parametrix as vice president and California regional leader. Shannon most recently worked at Parsons and has more than two decades of experience in the industry. Julian Franco has joined Parametrix as an owner’s representative. He brings nearly two decades of experience in program, project and change management and delivery. Franco comes to Parametrix from Amazon Web Services, where he served as a technical program manager for the electrical solutions team. Ryan Farncomb, a senior consultant at Parametrix, will lead the firm’s Oregon/Idaho region transportation division. He has 15 years of experience as a transportation planner and project manager. Farncomb joined Parametrix in 2019 as a senior transportation planner and led the Oregon transportation planning group.

Sound Transit has named Nora Friend as its chief communications and engagement officer, a newly created position overseeing government and community relations as well as communications, marketing and engagement. The transit agency also named Russ Arnold its deputy CEO and chief service delivery officer. In this newly created role, Arnold will oversee the rider experience through the Sound Transit system as well as external system operations and maintenance.

Primoris has appointed James Pratt president of its power delivery line of business within its utilities segment. Based in Sacramento, Pratt previously held senior leadership positions at MasTec, Quanta, RES, HDR and SMUD. Michael Luckey has joined Primoris’ power delivery line as senior vice president of major projects.

Alice Chuan has joined Blach Construction as chief financial officer. Based in San Jose, Calif., she will also become a member of the cross-functional Blach leadership team that manages overall firm operations. Blach has also added John Kern as its new director of information technology. Kern joins Blach from Cisco Systems, where he spent 24 years amassing experience in various IT-related management roles.

TYLin has appointed Daven Oswalt as senior vice president and water sector growth leader. He will drive the strategic growth of TYLin’s water sector, including at Greeley and Hansen, a TYLin company. With three decades of industry experience, Oswalt previously held executive management positions at engineering firms including AECOM, Parsons and MWH (Stantec). He will be based in San Diego. Jeffrey Hurley has been named TYLin’s associate vice president and sector manager for the firm’s rail and transit sector. With over 32 years of leadership experience in rail and transit infrastructure programs, Hurley will manage operations and lead the team in delivering projects in Northern California. David Williams has been selected as TYLin’s project management/construction management practice area sector manager for the Northwest region.

Laura McCarty has joined Vanir as executive director of education. With three decades of experience, she recently served as program manager at the University of California, San Diego; director of capital projects for the Peralta Community College District; and director of modernization for the College of Marin.

The Kleinfelder Group Inc. has selected Bill Corley as senior vice president and corporate services director. A 14-year veteran of the firm, Corley will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of information technology and corporate procurement.

John Solis, vice president of design-build EPC at Total-Western, is assuming an expanded leadership role as vice president, north district, after relocating to Bakersfield, Calif. With over 20 years of experience, Solis has worked for leading firms and has expertise in design-build projects across various industries.

Belinda Young has been promoted to regional leader for HOK’s health care practice in San Francisco. In her new role, Young will lead HOK project teams, guide strategy, mentor staff and collaborate with other regional leaders. Levi J. Rippy has been promoted to technical principal for HOK’s San Francisco and Seattle studios. Mike Goetz has been promoted to director of design, interiors in HOK’s Los Angeles studio.

Mylene Retama has joined Bernards as director of business development with the K-14 business unit based out of the firm’s Orange County, Calif., office. Retama will assist the firm’s expansion in the California Community College market sector.

RICK Engineering Co. has appointed Teresa T.G. Wilkinson director of environmental planning services. She has more than 30 years of experience in environmental planning and expertise with the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Wilkinson has been the principal at TTG Environmental since 2013.

Infrastructure software firm Bentley Systems Inc. has named Bill Panos as senior director for North America transportation, based in Irvine, Calif. According to the firm, he is a former transportation department director in North Dakota and Wyoming and port director in West Sacramento, Calif. He also had been a vice president and senior director at Gannett Fleming and group manager at TRW Automotive Group.

Tualatin, Ore.-based Perlo Construction has promoted both Chris Culbertson and Thomas Quesenberry to vice president.

Pam Elardo has joined Brown and Caldwell as a senior advisor based in Seattle. In her previous role she was the deputy commissioner, Bureau of Wastewater Treatment for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. In her new role, she will assist water and wastewater agencies navigating environmental regulations, addressing climate challenges, optimizing business practices and building resilient systems.

Taylor Design has hired Linda Pearson as principal and director of marketing. With more than 30 years of experience in marketing and business development roles for architecture, engineering and construction firms, Pearson will oversee efforts across the firm’s five California offices.

Lacy Vong has been named location leader for HNTB’s San Jose office, where she will drive HNTB's growth strategy in Santa Clara County and across the state in her new position. Luis Piek has been appointed as the principal tunnel engineer at HNTB. Drawing on more than two decades experience, he will play a key role in expanding the company's tunneling business nationally and in the West. Serge M. Stanich has joined HNTB as program manager, overseeing environmental planning, permitting and compliance for significant infrastructure projects based in the Oakland office. Jugesh Kapur has joined HNTB as a bridge and structures department manager based in Bellevue, Wash. Kapur was with the Washington State Department of Transportation for 22 years.

NV5 has named Douglas M. Taft chief operating officer for its power delivery and utility services. Josh Fisher was promoted to senior vice president of electric operations. Dan Klausenstock was promoted to senior vice president of special operations and client growth. Gary Clark, previously vice president of distribution engineering has been named senior vice president of project delivery, a new business unit in the firm.

Tangram Interiors has announced the retirement of its chief operating officer, Jack Hooven, and the promotion of Luis Carmona to vice president of operations. Carmona, who has been with Tangram for a decade, will oversee operations in California and Texas and establish a standardized process to support the company's sales team. In addition, Denyse Sharp has been named chief administrative officer. Sharp, a 26-year veteran of the firm, previously held the position of vice president of creative and administrative services. Mark Chaput will be serving as the vice president of sales in Los Angeles.

Ware Malcomb has promoted four employees to the role of principal: Moses Gonzales has been promoted to principal, information technology; Leslie Espiritu, has been promoted to associate principal, human resources; Sergio Valentini has been promoted to principal in the Los Angeles office; and Jonathan Thomas has been promoted to principal at Ware Malcomb's Seattle office. Gonzales and Espiritu will be based in the firm’s Irvine, Calif., corporate office.

Jill L. Vaughan has joined Sundt’s Transportation Group as project director supporting the company’s Northwest expansion. Vaughan comes with more than 13 years of experience in managing business development, engineering and construction operations. Sundt Construction’s Industrial Group recently hired startup manager Sean Johnson and project managers Tyler Schulz and Ryan Knox to support the construction of the Willamette Water Supply Program Water Treatment Plant. Sam Fakih has joined Sundt’s Building Group in Irvine, Calif., as a senior project manager. 

Gensler has appointed Jon Niemuth as director of sports, based in Los Angeles. He has 30 years of experience designing arenas, stadiums and practice and operations facilities for professional and collegiate sports teams.

Seattle-based LMN Architects is pleased to announce the addition of Scott Crawford to the firm partnership. A 14-year veteran of the firm, Crawford was a founding member of LMN’s Tech Studio.

Jim McLamb has been named Suffolk’s general manager of Northern California. He will expand the company’s presence across various high-growth sectors, including aviation, higher education, municipal and technology.

January Tavel has joined Parametrix as a senior cultural resources specialist based in Seattle, Wash. Tavel comes to Parametrix from ICF where she served as senior manager of historic preservation. Jeff England has joined Parametrix as a senior consultant based in Bend, Ore. England previously worked as a senior project manager at WSP and owned CIP Consulting. Parametrix has hired Jonathan Gordon as a senior engineer based in Puyallapu, Wash. He brings a decade of experience in the water industry specializing in odor control, and previously worked for HDR. Ronny Kraft has joined Parametrix as a senior planner leading the firm’s Northern California transportation planning practice at Parisi – a division of Parametrix based in Berkeley and Marin County. Ebrahim Amiri has joined Parametrix as California/Nevada structures lead. He comes to Parametrix from WSP USA where he served as vice president for bridges and structures. Erin David, Matilda Evoy-Mount and Daniel Harris have joined Parametrix as senior planners with the firm’s Seattle and Portland transportation and environmental planning and compliance divisions. Amber Bailey, Shira DeGrood and Ingrid Kimball have joined the Parametrix northwest environmental planning and compliance team as senior scientists. Chrissy Bailey has returned to Parametrix as a senior planner in the firm’s northwest environmental planning and compliance team.

Gilbane Building Company announced that Angeles Garcia-Pineda joined the team as healthcare center of excellence leader for the west. 

HMC Architects selected Bill Kwon as the chief technology officer and will drive the strategic implementation of cutting-edge technologies to enhance the firm’s design solutions.

MG2 has hired Sarah Wortman as the architecture and design firm’s director of marketing based in the Seattle office.

Spence Carter has joined the Coffman Engineers fire protection team in Anchorage, Alaska. Carter's previous roles include fire protection engineering at the Idaho National Laboratory and fire and gas engineering for BP Alaska.

SmithGroup has hired Daniel Cusick as health studio leader and principal in its Los Angeles office.

Massoud Safaee has joined AMA Group's TM Technology Partners Business Unit as the managing principal of its Los Angeles office. He previously held positions at Syska Hennessy, ARUP & Partners, Stantec Consulting Services and TK1SC/WSP.