Tyler Steele

Relentless Ally

A “Big Picture” Leader for Higher Education Clients

In some bygone era, it might have been easy to misapprehend the role of construction superintendent as a primarily task-based one, but the best superintendents – like Balfour Beatty’s operations leaders across the country – know that true client service requires so much more.

California Project Executive and higher education market leader Tyler Steele has built a career on stellar client service as a superintendent.  Going forward, his mission remains much the same by way of passing it on. In addition to being our higher education’s foremost advocate within Balfour Beatty, Tyler is helping to create entire generations of operations leaders who understand the entire project lifecycle and strive to best serve our clients at every step.

Tyler’s client advocacy has supported some of our longest-running and most successful client relationships, including MiraCosta College, Southwestern College and Palomar Community College District. These clients, and more, value leaders like Tyler precisely because they can so clearly see the big picture, train future leaders to do the same, and accept only the safest, most collaborative path to achieve it.

From Carpentry to Collaborative Leader

Tyler was already bound for the industry in his San Diego State University (SDSU) construction engineering program, but he took an additional step that few do: he completed most of his undergraduate degree at night while working as a residential framer and carpenter by day. Sure, it put a little extra folding money in his pocket, but he wanted even more to gain a deep understanding of the craft he was pursuing in class.

After school, Tyler quickly found his way to a San Diego-area general contractor where he cut his teeth on the kinds of projects that would soon become a specialty at Balfour Beatty – fast-paced, “summer sprint” K-12 and higher education facility renovations. Every second counted, and the client’s hard and fast deadline of “students in seats by August” counted even more.

“I quickly became an assistant superintendent, and it was very much a trial by fire,” Tyler recalls. “But I enjoyed the work. I could see a clear through-line from my craft experience as a carpenter to understanding the commitment to daily service required of a superintendent.”

Tyler soon joined the Balfour Beatty team and continued to hone that sense for project management and client service – particularly under immense schedule and logistical pressure – as a superintendent and later project manager on higher education projects.

In the midst of all that, he still found time to continue his personal education (again at night) with a Masters of Business Administration, also from SDSU.

High Standards for Higher Education

While the transition from K-12 summer sprints to massive higher education jobs was certainly a change of scale, Tyler had already created a firm foundation of collaborative leadership. The process and principles were the same. In a more material sense, he even found that many of the trade partners he engaged in his new position were also the same.

“I had already been running work autonomously, creating schedules on my own and approaching my work as a superintendent as instrumental to client success, not just task completion,” Tyler said. “Our higher education clients especially understand how consequential the superintendent role is. We treat it that way and provide opportunities for our project leaders to grow in their ‘big picture’ understanding of day-to-day operations and client service.”

Tyler’s career has been a tour de force of Balfour Beatty’s best higher education work in California. Over countless projects for southern California’s leading community college districts, Tyler and our teams have repeatedly defined what it means to provide safe, budget-conscious and high-quality work for educational institutions.

“Safety and site logistics are integral parts of what we do as allies for our higher education clients,” Tyler adds. “We’re often working on occupied campuses, high-traffic from both pedestrians and vehicles, and our clients value project leaders who deeply understand our Zero Harm® values and prioritize keeping everybody safe.”

Building Leaders, Building Relationships

It’s Tyler’s commitment, big-picture thinking, relentless collaboration and safety emphasis that have made him such a successful superintendent and an invaluable ally for our clients – and sharing those values with new client partners and new generations of project leaders.

Whether they’re swinging a hammer on a project, crafting a safety-minded project schedule with an unbelievably fast turnaround or laying the groundwork for new client relationships, Balfour Beatty leaders like Tyler are our clients’ Relentless Allies through and through.