California general contractor Webcor has elevated longtime company leader Jitendra “Jit” Pahilajani to executive vice president (EVP) responsible for all general contractor activities. In his new role, Pahilajani joins the company’s Board of Directors, which directs Webcor’s strategy while representing the interests of the company’s stakeholders.
In his role as EVP, Builders – a new position established as part of a long-term succession plan – Pahilajani is responsible for all general contracting activities and reports to Matt Rossie, Webcor’s president and Chief Operating Officer.
“Jit brings a unique perspective to his new position,” Rossie said. “His tenure in self-perform working closely on the field side and subsequently in preconstruction has given him the tools he needs to succeed in his new position. He’ll work closely with our clients, trade partners, and design team members while focusing on internal talent development to support Webcor’s long-term strategic plan.”
Pahilajani began his Webcor career as a project engineer working with Webcor Concrete, one of the company’s self-perform entities within Webcor Craft. He rose to project manager and senior project manager before becoming Webcor Concrete’s operations manager, where he was responsible for preconstruction and project start-up, among other aspects of the business.
In 2012, Webcor tapped him to take over preconstruction and estimating for structural concrete work. In 2015, he was promoted to vice president, responsible for preconstruction and estimating for Webcor Builders, where he reconfigured the department to include career estimators as well as rotational assignments. The rotational assignments brought engineers from the field into the department for a year to learn how preconstruction and estimating affect projects in the field.
When Pahilajani assumed leadership of Webcor’s San Jose office in 2019, he was promoted to senior vice president.
As EVP, Builders, Pahilajani will work closely with Chris Plue, his EVP counterpart responsible for Webcor Craft, which includes Webcor Concrete, Webcor Drywall, Webcor Carpentry, and Webcor Equipment. The planned 2023 retirement of Webcor CEO Jes Pedersen set the wheels in motion for the restructuring that included the creation of the EVP, Builders position.
Pahilajani earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute in Mumbai, India. He earned his master’s in structural engineering at Arizona State University, where he completed a master’s thesis on “Fabric Reinforced Cement-Based Laminated Composites.”
Throughout his 17 years at Webcor, Pahilajani has worked on some of the company’s most iconic projects in different capacities, including the San Francisco Intercontinental Hotel, UC Berkeley Cal Memorial Stadium, Samsung North America HQ, and The Avery.
