2022 Global Leaders in Consulting: Steve Pitaniello

Steve Pitaniello is a Senior Managing Director and the Global Leader of the Construction Disputes Advisory practice at Ankura. He manages a team of over 225 professionals worldwide who partner with clients through every step of the construction lifecycle to protect, create, and recover the value of the capital investment.

Steve is a registered professional engineer with 30 years of diverse construction, engineering, and consulting experience. His experience includes management consulting, construction claims analysis and dispute resolution services, capital project and program advisory services, and integrity monitoring services. His advisory experience includes organizational and capital program management consulting as well as advisory services through the life cycle of a given capital project. His construction dispute consulting experience includes the preparation and analysis of various complex construction claims. Steve has authored expert reports and offered expert testimony in deposition, arbitration, and trial, as well as assisting clients in mediation and settlement negotiations.

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement?

My time as a commissioned officer in the US Air Force — it was incredibly important in guiding me to the path that I took as an engineer, working in the industry, and ultimately parlaying that experience into a valued tenure in consulting.

What advice would you give a professional just beginning a career in consulting?

"It's not a sprint, but rather, a consistently-run, never-ending marathon". I believe that if you focus on long-term goals regarding client service and technical expertise and carefully build those skills and foster relationships that it will benefit you in the long-run and will translate into multi-year, long-standing relationships with your clients and colleagues.

What have you loved most about your consulting career?

As I look back on my career to date, I am proud of what we have created and excited about what the future holds. My senior teammates and I continue to instill a sense of teamwork, professional growth, and camaraderie which has resulted in a team that continues to celebrate numerous multi-year anniversaries year after year. If I and the team have truly done our job, we will have built a team that is scalable, cohesive, and collaborative and will be sustainable and successful well into the future.

What's the best advice—personal or professional—you've ever received?

To have a "one team" mentality that invests in professional development and advancement. Success is built on the collective strength of the team where all contributions are recognized and rewarded, rather than the expertise of only one or a few senior experts.

What does being honored as a Global Leader mean to you?

I must certainly share this prestigious honor with my team, most of whom I have worked side-by-side with for the past 20+ years. I am proud of the team we have built and continue to build together. We are a team that values our teammates as much as we do our clients. Even though we are situated across the globe, our team is a close-knit group, who work collaboratively to bring our best to our clients and colleagues alike.