Women In Construction

WIC Profile: Frances Hughes

Frances Hughes, Project Manager, PMCM Group, CHA Consulting, Inc.

Frances Hughes

After earning a B.A. in architecture from Boston Architectural College, Frances Hughes began her career as an architect. After 20 years, she made a life-changing decision to take on a new challenge in the industry: managing projects designed by others on behalf of the owner. As an owner’s project manager (OPM), Frances now draws on her extensive experience to ensure projects maintain the highest level of design and construction quality while remaining within the owner’s project budget, a difficult task in the past two years.

Frances encourages other women to hone their industry skills in project and construction management, budget development, and business development, and then look around. “Leverage personal skills like good verbal and written communication and networking to explore new opportunities within the industry,” she says. “You’ll  find many people who are willing to help you grow your career.”

Frances has managed large, complex projects in Massachusetts, including healthcare facilities such as the nine-floor Shattuck Hospital relocation to Newton Pavilion and MSBA-funded school projects such as the new Westport Middle and High School. This school construction project involved complex phased construction to limit the disruption to the nearby elementary school and library and is constructed for sustainability to achieve LEED Silver certification as determined by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED Ratings System.

Frances loves her role as an owner’s project manager: “I was happy as an architect, but being an OPM utilizes both sides of my brain – rational thinking and creativity – to help owners solve a wide array of challenges in the design and construction phases. Helping a client optimize their considerable financial investment is my daily mantra.”