Jay Badame Jumps Off Sidelines With Bravo Group Role
Three years after his controversial firing from AECOM Tishman, Jay Badame is back in a prominent position at a construction firm.
The former AECOM president started as chief operating officer at Bravo Group last month, the Commercial Observer reported. He is overseeing dozens of employees at the firm and is a member of its board of advisers.
Talking to the publication, Badame discussed how he was looking for opportunities for Bravo to “increase its market share on the architecture and engineering side.” He added that “there’s a void in the space for small companies.”
Bravo’s subsidiaries, Velocity Architecture and Engineering Group and Bradford Construction, have a combined 150 employees. Badame intends to grow the workforce as he manages public- and private-sector projects.
Badame’s previous work included contributions to the World Trade Center campus, John F. Kennedy International Airport’s new terminals and SL Green’s One Vanderbilt. Badame wants to position Bravo for contracts involving more JFK work, as well as Related Companies’ western part of Hudson Yards.
Since being ousted from AECOM in 2023, Badame has done consulting work and served as an expert witness in construction management cases.
Badame’s exit from AECOM was shrouded in controversy and ultimately, litigation.
A year after his abrupt firing, Badame filed a lawsuit against the construction giant, alleging that he was demoted and then fired after objecting to the firm’s reporting practices. He also alleged that his termination was the result of age discrimination.
Badame raised his concerns about the reporting practice with leaders at the infrastructure juggernaut, but was not taken seriously and subsequently faced retaliation, according to the lawsuit.
AECOM indicated when the suit was filed that it disagreed with the claims and would “defend [against] the lawsuit vigorously.” The litigation is not yet resolved.
Badame worked for AECOM and its subsidiaries for nearly four decades, joining Tishman Construction in 1985 as a project engineer when he was 27 years old. He stayed with the company when it was acquired by AECOM in 2010 and was promoted to president of the firm’s construction management brands in 2019.
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