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JESI NEILL
Project Sponsor at Kiewit
JESI NEILL is a registered Professional Engineer who leads
complex heavy civil and geotechnical infrastructure projects,
earning deep credibility through hands-on leadership, technical precision, and collaborative 昀椀eld management. Holding a
Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of
Manitoba, Jesi brings 14 years of construction experience, including 11 years with Kiewit. Her progression through the 昀椀rm
spans 昀椀eld engineering, subcontract management, estimating,
昀椀eld supervision, and commercial leadership to project manager
and sponsor roles. Throughout her career, she has delivered
major infrastructure initiatives across challenging environments,
including the Pointe du Bois Spillway, G3 Terminal Vancouver,
Ten Mile Slide, the T___ch_ All-Season Road, Nicomen Bridge,
and the Trans Mountain Expansion Spread 5B.
As one of Kiewit’s in-house trenchless subject matter
experts, Jesi specializes in microtunnels, auger bores, guided
track bores, down-the-hole hammers, deep shoring pits, and
temporary works. On Trans Mountain Spread 5B, she helped
optimize and deliver more than 100 trenchless crossings critical
to pipeline commissioning—working closely with engineering, clients, and local stakeholders to reduce complexity and
complete key crossings, including the Coquihalla Highway,
ahead of schedule. Most recently, Jesi served as Project Sponsor
for the $130 million Cheekeye Debris Flow Barrier, guiding
construction, commercial execution, and technical coordination.
She helped transition the project from an early contractor involvement phase into a target price contract by aligning design,
stakeholder, and commercial priorities, ultimately driving the
project ahead of schedule, below target cost, and past 250,000
recordable-free hours.
Jesi’s leadership is de昀椀ned by a commitment to problem-solving, operational excellence, and organizational capability building.
When the Cheekeye project required self-performing roller compacted concrete (RCC)—a scope Kiewit’s Western Canada District
had not executed in years—she sent leaders to Gross Reservoir for
hands-on training to bring that expertise back to the team. She
also spearheaded on-site structural concrete batching, reducing
dependence on distant third-party plants while improving cost and
schedule certainty. On Trans Mountain Spread 5B, when concrete
productivity lagged, she paused operations to restructure planning
and crew access, improving the performance factor from 0.5 to 0.9
and saving $6 million against projections. Shortlisted for the prestigious Peter Kiewit Award, Jesi actively builds lasting partnerships
with clients and Indigenous communities, hosting Squamish Nation
Elders on-site and engaging local stakeholders. As Corporate
Co-Chair of Women in Kiewit and co-leader of Western Canada’s
Emerging Leaders program, she mentors early-career engineers,
craft leaders, and underrepresented groups across the industry.
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SITE REPORTS
NEILL never intended to become an engineer. She got into
construction to make some money for a solo backpacking trip.
Quote: “No matter how busy you get, no matter how much
is going on in your world as a project manager, you are nothing
without your people. Make the time to develop them and get
out there to connect with the craft building the work.”
Jesi helps lead Kiewits Western Canada’s Emerging Leaders
program, supporting development plans, training retreats and
growth for high-potential employees.
