Buildings National Leadership

Our Buildings national leaders oversee operations for our vertical construction services and projects.

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Brian Cahill

President, California (Retiring 12/31/24)

Relentless Ally since 1993

A 40-year construction industry veteran, Brian Cahill joined Balfour Beatty in 1993 when it was known as Barnhart, Inc. in San Diego, California. In 2015, Brian was promoted to his current position as president of California, overseeing operations and business acquisitions throughout California and Arizona.

Brian retires as President at the end of 2024 and will serve in a part-time role to assist the new President and aid in operational oversight

Throughout his career, Brian’s leadership skills and industry expertise have been acknowledged through several avenues including recently being named one of San Diego’s 500 Most Influential Leaders by the San Diego Business Journal for his leadership, dedication to our Zero Harm safety culture and continuous commitment to the communities where we build. He has also co-authored a book, Humanizing the Education Machine, which explores the many challenges facing public education today.

Brian is a Certified Construction Manager and a LEED® Accredited Professional: he holds a degree in aviation science from San Diego Mesa College and attended San Diego State University. He is also a certified flight instructor and served for five years in the U.S. Navy as a deep-sea diver, having graduated from the U.S. Navy Deep Sea Diver School in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

In his free time, Brian is active on several Boards including Junior Achievement of San Diego and Imperial Counties, and Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego. He enjoys anything aviation related including flying the backcountry airstrips in Idaho and Montana and training his two Labrador retrievers.

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Emily Kay

VP, Operations (President, California eff. 1/1/25)

Relentless Ally since 2014

Emily Kay has been with Balfour Beatty for 10 years and has more than 30 years of experience in the construction industry. She started her career in the trenches on jobsites as a formwork carpenter in Nebraska before becoming a field engineer and prior to joining Balfour Beatty she was a senior construction administrator for more than 10 years.

Emily has held various operations positions at Balfour Beatty where she leads teams in providing operational excellence through deliveries of county facilities, and K-12 additions, summer modernizations and new construction projects for the Torrance, Culver City, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach communities. She also spearheaded the expansion of Balfour Beatty’s special projects operations in the Los Angeles area where the company provides services for a wide variety of market sectors.

Her passion for construction and the success of the company spreads beyond the jobsite where she has been involved in several company initiatives including co-managing Balfour Beatty’s cultural framework and being actively involved in the Connecting Women employee affinity group. Emily has also been recognized by Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the top Outstanding Women in Design and Construction.

In May 2024, Emily was appointed President in California. She will work in a transitional role with the current President until the end of 2024 and assumes her new role and responsibilities as President in California effective January 1, 2025.

Emily is a graduate of the University of Nebraska and holds a bachelor’s degree in construction management with an emphasis on business management.

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Eric Stenman

President and Chief Executive Officer, US

Relentless Ally since 2001

Eric Stenman serves as Balfour Beatty US’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Under his leadership, the company has achieved the leverage and scale of national capabilities, operational excellence standards, team growth and development and industry innovation.

In his current role, Eric is directly responsible for more than $5 billion in revenue and more than 3,000 employees throughout the U.S. In his 35 years in the construction industry, Eric has established a proven track record of leading teams across all departments to drive managed growth, shareholder value and employee experience.

Eric began his career in construction with boots on the ground as a plumbing contractor. He owned his own business and later became a general contractor while putting himself through college and law school.

His tenure with Balfour Beatty began in 2001, and since that time, he has served in many leadership roles including Division President, Chief Enterprise Development Officer, Regional CEO and Chief Operations Officer. 

Eric is active at the state and national levels of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), having chaired the National Contract Documents Forum as well as the Building Division. As a testament to his inspirational leadership, Eric was recognized by the San Diego Business Journal as a “Most Admired CEO” in 2014 and one of the “Most Influential People in San Diego” in 2022.

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Pat Dean

Senior Vice President, National Operations

Relentless Ally since 2006

Pat Dean never imagined spending his summers framing houses as a Kansas State University student would jumpstart a career in building for Fortune 100 companies and leading teams in the delivery of industry-leading projects across the U.S.

Fast forward to today, Pat serves as senior vice president of national operations where he oversees all operations for Balfour Beatty’s Buildings business and works with teams and industry partners in providing exceptional service and operational excellence on projects such as Los Angeles International Airport’s Automated People Mover.

Since joining the company in 2006, Pat has held roles of vice president and business unit leader of the Southeast and, subsequently, president of the Southeast providing strong operational and strategic leadership. He was integral in the Southeast business’ significant growth in both the private and public sectors and becoming the largest general contractor in North Carolina and the third largest in South Carolina.

With an entrepreneurial spirit, Pat is a leader guided towards achieving sustainable business growth while fostering the talent of next-generation leaders. It is this focus on investing in others that led Pat—the son of two lifelong educators—to serve on the Charlotte board of Teach for America, an organization Balfour Beatty supports through hands-on training and mentorship opportunities.

Pat has also dedicated his time and talents as a board member for the American Heart Association, Discovery Place and the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.