With nearly three decades of construction experience, Hill Project Manager Telesforo Jose “TJ” Pinales has played many roles: from independent consultant to contractor to owner’s representative to his current work as project manager with Hill. However, TJ stresses there is a common thread to his career. “I have a service mindset,” TJ says. “I want to add something to whatever I’m working on.”

Prior to joining Hill, TJ managed projects and contracts for federal agencies, cities, and counties as well as several independent school districts in Texas, Arizona, and California. His background is as varied in project type as in locale and clientele. For example, he was Facility Condition Assessor on a U.S. Army contract team in Kuwait, Outreach Manager for the AT&T Center Renovation in San Antonio, TX, and Design Estimator for the Phoenix College Library Addition in Arizona.

“I like to learn and be challenged,” says TJ. “I’ve had some great mentors and colleagues in the Construction Management Profession. Many of those CM’s were former tradespeople—carpenters, masons, electricians, and so many others—and they taught me to evaluate work from different perspectives. I learned about the entire building lifecycle, from planning through obsolescence, on a wide range of building types and structures. This all taught me a lot of appreciation for the practice of design and construction, and also naturally developed my skills in construction management.”

Dovetailing his focus on service and his construction expertise, TJ served as the Housing Rehabilitation Manager for the City of San Antonio, responsible for managing federal housing programs. One notable success was restoring a program’s funding eligibility with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through exceptional program performance.

“We mainly served low-income residents,” he says. “These people were often elderly, and needed assistance for their family homes. They wanted the place they lived in to remain as their legacy for their families. But when I came to the program, we weren’t delivering like we needed to. Timelines were over by years, in some cases, not months. A lot of attention was on contractor delays, but that wasn’t the real cause.”

In fact, TJ identified bottlenecks in the program’s processes as the primary culprit in the delays. “I’ve realized over the course of my career that the process has to come before the project,” he explains. “If the process isn’t efficient and effective, the project, whatever it is, will not go smoothly. Good project managers, I’ve found, bring that mindset.”

TJ is also a lifelong San Antonio resident, and his focus on service goes beyond his construction career. He serves on numerous boards and associations, offering his construction expertise to non-profit and community groups. A key part of his role, he says, is aligning the expectations of owners and stakeholders with the realities of construction. TJ offers the example of a new YWCA of San Antonio project as one example.

“The YWCA SA planned to renovate a housing facility on an eight-acre parcel it acquired to serve single women, some who were aging out of foster care. Moving vision to reality is always the hard part, of course,” he says. “So, I try to act as the bridge between the organization vision and the practicalities of development and construction process, ensuring all have realistic expectations and outcomes about the project.”

In addition to his work with the YWCA, TJ is also an active member of the San Antonio Mobility Coalition (SAMCO), which advocates for transit funding for the region, and the Hispanic Network, a constituent member of the Texas A&M Former Students Association. He points out San Antonio is a city that, to a degree, remains a family town—in the sense that everyone helps out how they can.

“My father always carried a tow chain and toolbox in his truck,” says TJ. “Just in case somebody along the road needed a hand. As the city has grown, that close-knit attitude has changed some, but we’re still very welcoming, and I try to serve the community in my own way.”

TJ says when he came to Hill, he made it clear he wanted to live his service mindset. “I’m here to add value for our clients,” he says. “And I want our teams here to have a sense of home as well. My family and heritage run through these missions of San Antonio, and I have not strayed far from those roots.

“Yes, we are a business and we’re good at what we do and should be paid accordingly, but we also live here just like our clients and stakeholders.”

With Hill, TJ is supporting numerous higher education and healthcare projects in the greater San Antonio region, including having supported multiple projects at Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo and multiple projects for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He is also Project Manager for Arboretum San Antonio—an in-process project to realize a new arboretum that reflect the city’s unique heritage and diverse history.

TJ holds a Bachelor of Science in Construction Science from Texas A&M and is a certified Economic Development Finance Professional and Housing Development Finance Professional.