Leadership
Daniel Murphy, Founder
Founder & Principal
Daniel Murphy is a civil engineer and the founder of Murphy Prime Construction. He remains the principal of the firm and the named authority on contract, design review, and project release.
He earned a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of San Francisco and a Master's degree from Penn State College of Engineering. That training covers structural design, construction management, and the coordination of large civil packages.
He spent a substantial part of his earlier career at Bechtel. In 2001 he formed Murphy Prime Construction so that estimating, engineering, and field direction could sit in one office.
- Role
- Founder and principal
- Education
- B.S. Civil Engineering, University of San Francisco
M.Eng., Penn State College of Engineering - Prior firm
- Bechtel, through 2001
- Established
- Murphy Prime Construction, 2001
- Office
- Los Angeles, California
- Focus
- Civil, MEP, and design-build delivery
The office
Directors and managers
Select a portrait to open the biography. Roles follow the Murphy Prime office structure.
As a director of Murphy Prime Construction, Helen puts her energy into making the business the best it can be.
With more than 40 years of board experience, she has helped diversify the company, including an international office and a manufacturing partner.
She pushes for environmentally careful engineering and for work that gives the next generation of the company something worth building on.
Marcus is Chief Executive Officer of Murphy Prime Construction, an electro-mechanical contractor focused on design, procurement, installation, testing, commissioning, and operations after handover.
The work covers data centres, electrical substations, chilled water and energy-transfer stations, and renewable energy. He is a master’s-qualified engineer who came up through building services, first as a design consultant and then as a contractor.
He joined the international operation as a senior engineer, became engineering manager, and later chief operating officer. He was named chief executive in 2022, with the strategy centred on data centres, utilities, and infrastructure.
Priya has more than a decade of experience delivering and managing Murphy Prime projects. She started as a design engineer, moved into project management, and was appointed a director.
She develops and executes business strategy and watches financial performance, investments, and related ventures.
Clients, partners, and authorities know her for clear communication. Her brief is to keep the company moving toward its short-term and long-term objectives.
Owen has 19 years in the design and construction of building services: air conditioning, electrical, fire protection, hydraulics, and industrial installations.
Before joining Murphy Prime in 2011, he was an operations manager with a major engineering and contracting company.
Nathan started in 2000 with a large building-services consultancy, then worked with international firms including Jacobs Engineering and Waterman. That work covered hospitality, pharmaceuticals, industrial, research, and healthcare.
He joined Murphy Prime in 2011 as a senior mechanical engineer and now serves as chief technical officer. He leads engineering, BIM, and technology, with a team of design engineers, Revit managers, coordinators, and technicians.
His projects run from concept and estimate through detailed design, shop drawings, installation, commissioning, and handover. He set up the modular prefabrication design team in 2014, which has delivered tens of thousands of multi-service modules, and he led the firm’s first data-centre main-contract pursuit.
Sofia is Regional Operations Director at Murphy Prime Construction, an EPC contractor for mission-critical data centres. She began in 1998 as a division manager in industry, then spent more than twenty years leading contracting work in hospitality, retail, commercial, and residential buildings.
She joined Murphy Prime in 2015 as a project director and delivered commercial, hospitality, and retail work on time and on budget. In 2020 she led a hyperscale data-centre programme delivered in phases for a major operator.
She was promoted to director of projects in 2024 and then to regional operations director. Her focus is fast-track delivery, commercial strategy, safety, cost control, and MEP integration for technology clients.
James started in 2006 with the UK consultancy Capita Symonds, then worked with Ramboll and WS Atkins across hospitality, education, industrial, retail, commercial, and healthcare services.
He has been with Murphy Prime since 2015, joining as a senior mechanical engineer. He supports estimating, procurement, site installation, and commissioning.
His strength is EPC and design-build work from tender through design, procurement, construction, and commissioning, including projects recognised for environmental performance.
Claire runs the planning function and is responsible for meeting client timelines and milestones without wasting cost. Her project range includes district cooling, commercial, residential, infrastructure, hotels, hospitals, and villas.
She has more than 15 years in project planning, business and strategic planning, and claims. She turns a client’s requirements into a workable programme and flags early warnings with an alternate plan when the sequence is at risk.
Robert has more than 25 years of health, safety, and environment leadership in oil and gas, engineering, and construction, including work in the United Kingdom, Angola, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, and Australia. For 17 years he has led HSE through design, delivery, and performance review on infrastructure, utilities, high-rise, healthcare, education, retail, data centres, and power projects.
He coaches teams to build incident-free cultures in high-risk environments, using a consultative style rather than a paper programme that never reaches the floor.
Elena is a senior project leader with 31 years overseeing MEP phases of large construction, infrastructure, and environmental projects for public and private clients.
Her record is delivery on time, on budget, and to a stated quality, with clear responsibility for stakeholder expectations. The work has included airports, rail, high-rise, commercial, residential, hospitality, and stadium projects measured in the tens and hundreds of millions.
Maya provides HR and administration support for the founder’s office, including the design and rollout of the firm’s HR systems.
She covers hiring, organisation design, learning, equal opportunity, workforce planning, pay and benefits, and employee relations.
She has 13 years in human resources and welfare management and has been with Murphy Prime Construction since 2011.
Lucas has more than 13 years drafting design and shop drawings for hydraulics — plumbing, drainage, fire fighting, irrigation, gas, and related systems — and for MEP coordination. The projects include residential, commercial, retail, and hotels.
He runs the day-to-day CAD team so drawing deliveries stay on the programme and at the required quality.
Before Murphy Prime he was a lead hydraulics draughtsman with Hastie International and NORR Group.
How the office is led
Murphy Prime is founder-led. Day-to-day delivery is handled by the directors and managers above, with superintendents and engineers reporting to the principal.
Owners who need a technical conversation can request time with Mr. Murphy through the Los Angeles office. Bid questions go to info@MurphysPrimeConstruction.com.
