Data Center Design & Construction PMs (Hyperscale)

Role: Design & Construction Project Manager (Data Centers / Hyperscale)

Engagement type: Contract (1099 or C2C only)
Duration: 6–12 months initially with extensions (program is slated/budgeted ~3 years)
Interview process: Video interviews; final round in-person likely, might not be necessary (per location)
Openings: 5 immediate (client has indicated a larger ramp later; we are filling the first 5 now)

Role summary

We need senior Design & Construction Project Managers who function as Design Execution PMs/Design Managers supporting ground‑up hyperscale data center buildouts and associated site/campus infrastructure. This is design-forward work: permitting strategy, design maturity, early construction readiness, schedule alignment, and multi-discipline coordination across civil/structural/architectural/MEP teams.

Ideal consultants can speak construction and design engineering terms and coordinate effectively with internal teams, A/E partners, vendors, utilities, and AHJs to keep projects moving through design, permitting, and readiness milestones.

Travel and location

Working model: Primarily remote with periodic on-site engagement as required.

Preferred (not required): Candidate located within a 2-hour driving distance of the assigned site/region.
Not a hard requirement: Candidate must be able to travel to the sites whenever needed (there are no expenses).

Official regions (5 openings; starting with one per region):

1) West Virginia

2) Virginia Beach, VA area

3) Northern Virginia

4) Columbus, OH

5) Charleston, SC

(Additional regions may come into scope as the rollout evolves)

What the client means by “PM” in this program

These roles are closer to design execution leadership than traditional construction-only PMs. TPM’s will work as well. The client strongly prefers candidates with a Professional Engineer (PE) and/or Registered Architect (RA) background who can lead multidisciplinary design delivery, coordinate permitting, and ensure design packages are ready for procurement and construction.

Common target titles in the market:

• Design Execution Project Manager
• Senior Design Engineering Manager
• Data Center Design Project Manager
• Hyperscale Data Center Design Execution Project Manager
• Project Manager, Data Center Construction (with strong design/permitting depth)

Key responsibilities

• Serve as the owner’s representative for new data center construction projects, managing design and preconstruction activities.
• Lead multidisciplinary A/E coordination across civil, structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical, fire protection, and environmental stakeholders.
• Own permitting strategy and execution:
• site/civil/building/electrical/mechanical permitting
• fire/life safety, environmental, and utility approvals
• manage AHJ comments, resubmittals, inspections, and approvals
• understand and communicate impacts of permitting on design maturity, sequencing, and schedule
• Coordinate with AHJs, utilities, design consultants, contractors, and internal teams to remove blockers and maintain schedule readiness.
• Ensure design packages reach appropriate maturity for permit submissions and construction start.
• Manage schedules, budgets, milestones, risk registers, decision logs, and recurring status reporting.
• Drive constructability reviews and value engineering.
• Support scope changes, contract amendments, and design-related negotiations.
• Maintain document control and manage the design documentation lifecycle.

Required qualifications

• Proven project management experience supporting new data center construction or mission-critical facilities.
• Demonstrated construction design fluency across civil/mechanical/electrical infrastructure:
• heating/cooling/HVAC concepts
• site plans and physical infrastructure
• power distribution and cooling architecture at a program level
• ability to discuss design constraints, limitations, risk, and workable solutions with engineering teams
• Strong understanding of permitting workflows and how they affect design maturity, schedules, and construction readiness.
• Experience coordinating with AHJs, utilities, design consultants, and construction partners.
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams, schedules, budgets, and risk.
• Strong communication, coordination, and documentation skills; comfortable with C-level interaction.
• Education: Bachelor’s in civil/mechanical/electrical engineering preferred (experience may substitute).

Preferred experience (high signal)

• Active PE and/or RA credentials (strongly preferred).
• Hyperscale data center experience and/or mission-critical campus rollouts.
• Background with data center campus rollout consulting companies and major A/E firms (examples the client likes: Black & Veatch, AECOM, CyrusOne, and similar).
• Google Workspace (Sheets/Drive/Docs) for reporting, document control, and cross-functional coordination.
• Familiarity with Google Cloud Platform (Google Cloud Platform) for data-driven reporting/dashboards and infrastructure planning support (as applicable).
• Primavera P6 and/or MS Project scheduling.
• Exposure to AutoCAD/BIM workflows (Revit/Navisworks, etc.) for design coordination and clash/conflict awareness.