Senior Implementation Manager

Position Title: Sr. Implementation Manager

Your role 

The Senior Implementation Manager is responsible for the successful end-to-end delivery of complex customer implementations across data center facilities within their region. This role provides senior-level project leadership and oversight, coordinating internal teams, external vendors, procurement activities, project schedules, financial performance, quality assurance, risk management, customer acceptance, and final handover to Operations.

The Senior Implementation Manager manages multiple simultaneous projects across several data centers, including large-scale, highly complex, and business-critical customer deployments. Using established project management, construction management, and data center implementation best practices, the Senior Implementation Manager ensures deployments are completed safely, on time, within budget, to scope, and in accordance with customer, technical, and operational requirements.

In addition to individual project ownership, the Senior Implementation Manager serves as a subject-matter resource and escalation point, mentors Implementation Managers and other team members, supports regional initiatives, and identifies opportunities to improve the consistency, efficiency, and quality of implementation delivery.

What you’ll do 

• Lead the effective execution of assigned customer implementation projects in accordance with contractual requirements, approved scope, budget, quality standards, and implementation timelines.

• Manage complex, large-scale, high-value, and/or high-visibility implementations, providing leadership from initial planning through customer acceptance and operational handover.

• Serve as a primary customer interface throughout project delivery, maintaining effective customer communication and coordinating with Customer Success Managers and other stakeholders to align delivery with applicable service requirements.

• Own end-to-end project planning, including scope, milestones, schedules, resource requirements, dependencies, quality requirements, cost management, risk identification, and delivery timelines.

• Proactively identify project risks, schedule impacts, operational constraints, and implementation challenges; develop mitigation and recovery plans and escalate critical issues when necessary.

• Coordinate with Design Engineering, Operations, Sales, Solution Engineering, Customer Success, Property teams, Remote Hands, Security, Procurement, vendors, and other internal stakeholders to drive successful project delivery.

• Develop and/or coordinate Bills of Materials, Statements of Work, scopes, specifications, and other requirements necessary for the procurement and execution of installation work.

• Create and manage project Purchase Orders for outsourced work and ensure project expenditures are appropriately documented, tracked, and reconciled against approved budgets.

• Manage external contractors, material suppliers, installation vendors, Remote Hands technicians, and other delivery resources to ensure work meets contractual, quality, schedule, safety, and business requirements.

• Provide oversight of vendor performance throughout the project lifecycle, including scoping, quotation, procurement, execution, issue resolution, and final delivery.

• Support pre-sales and planning activities by providing implementation expertise, preliminary schedules, project budget estimates, feasibility input, and delivery considerations.

• Support RFP and vendor selection activities for large or complex customer installations, including scope review, bid evaluation, quote comparison, and technical or operational assessment.

• Manage project financial performance, including budget tracking, Purchase Orders, forecasted costs, actual costs, cost changes, and identification of potential cost risks or savings opportunities.

• Manage customer acceptance following project completion and ensure outstanding items are appropriately documented, communicated, and resolved.

• Lead internal handover of completed solutions to Operations and other applicable teams, ensuring required project documentation, commissioning/testing results, acceptance records, and other applicable closeout documentation are complete.

• Conduct project closeout and lessons-learned reviews, documenting what worked well, challenges encountered, root causes where applicable, and opportunities for continuous improvement, and communicate findings to Implementation Services leadership.

• Coordinate on-site deliveries and receipt of customer or project materials not supplied directly by the installing vendor, as required.

• Coordinate Change Management requirements with Operations and ensure required Methods of Procedure (MOPs) and related approvals are completed in sufficient time to maintain project schedules.

• Ensure vendor access requests and other site-access requirements are submitted, validated, and completed in alignment with implementation schedules.

• Manage internal infrastructure projects, including network capacity upgrades within data halls/MMRs and white-space fit-out projects supporting the creation or expansion of sellable capacity.

• Manage post-commencement customer orders and modifications that may not require a full-scale implementation project while maintaining appropriate controls around scope, cost, documentation, and customer expectations.

• Serve as a subject-matter expert in implementation delivery and support the development and adoption of project management and construction management best practices.

• Support regional and global Implementation Services initiatives, working effectively with cross-functional teams to improve consistency and scalability of customer delivery.

• Contribute to the development and improvement of templates, tools, procedures, reporting, training materials, and implementation standards.

• Participate in project reviews and provide guidance to Implementation Managers on complex project delivery challenges, risks, escalations, and stakeholder coordination.

• Willingness to travel locally within the Northern VA Market, based on project requirements.

What you’ll need

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Telecommunications, Computer Science, Business, Project Management, or a related technical field preferred; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.

• Extensive experience in data center implementation, construction, telecommunications, engineering, infrastructure deployment, or mission-critical facility environments, with demonstrated experience independently leading complex projects.

• Strong experience managing projects throughout the complete lifecycle, including planning, design coordination, procurement, construction/installation, commissioning, customer acceptance, financial closeout, and operational handover.

• Advanced knowledge of data center infrastructure, including racks, cages, electrical distribution, structured/data cabling, network infrastructure, and associated customer deployment requirements.

• Ability to read and interpret construction drawings, specifications, single-line/one-line diagrams, scopes of work, and other technical documentation.

• Demonstrated experience managing material suppliers, contractors, and installation vendors throughout project scoping, bidding, procurement, execution, commissioning, and closeout.

• Strong working knowledge of project financial management, including budgeting, Purchase Orders, forecasting, cost tracking, change management, and cost variance management.

• Experience working effectively within a global organization and coordinating stakeholders across multiple regions and time zones.

• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft productivity tools, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Project.

• Experience with enterprise systems such as Salesforce, ServiceNow, Oracle, or comparable platforms.

• Project management certification such as PMP or equivalent is preferred. The successful Senior 

Implementation Manager will demonstrate:

• Senior-level project leadership with the ability to independently manage multiple concurrent, complex projects across multiple data center sites.

• Strong ownership and accountability for project scope, schedule, cost, quality, risk, documentation, and customer outcomes.

• Advanced ability to anticipate project risks, identify dependencies and constraints, and develop practical mitigation and recovery plans.

• Strong financial acumen and ability to manage project budgets, Purchase Orders, forecasts, cost changes, and financial reporting.

• Strong technical understanding of data center construction and implementation sufficient to challenge assumptions, identify risks, and coordinate effectively with engineering, construction, Operations, and vendors.

• Ability to lead effectively through influence across cross-functional teams without requiring direct reporting relationships.

• Demonstrated ability to manage difficult project situations and escalations while maintaining productive customer, vendor, and internal stakeholder relationships.

• Strong judgment and decision-making skills, particularly in situations involving competing priorities, incomplete information, operational risk, or schedule constraints.

• Advanced analytical, problem-solving, and quantitative skills.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate project status, risks, decisions, and recommendations clearly to customers, technical teams, and senior leadership.

• Strong customer focus with the ability to balance customer expectations against contractual scope, operational requirements, cost, risk, and schedule.

• Ability to provide guidance, mentoring, and knowledge transfer to less-experienced Implementation Services team members.

• Strong organizational and prioritization skills with demonstrated ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, mission-critical environment.

• A proactive, accountable, flexible, and solutions-oriented approach to project delivery.

• Commitment to continuous improvement, standardization, knowledge sharing, and the development of Implementation Services best practices.

A bit about us

Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL®, the company’s global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx®) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges. Digital Realty gives its customers access to the connected data communities that matter to them with a global data center footprint of 300+ facilities in 50+ metros across 25+ countries on six continents.

To learn more about Digital Realty, please visit digitalrealty.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Operations

Our Operations team keeps our customers’ infrastructure running safely and securely. We get plenty of opportunities to take on a variety of tasks and develop our technical skills. From overseeing electrical power to cooling and fire suppression systems, our team plays a vital role in making sure everything in our data centers operates as it should.

What we can offer you

Our rapidly evolving business sector offers the opportunity to be part of a courageous and passionate team who work together to understand and meet the changing needs of our global customers. 

Join us and you’ll be part of a supportive and inclusive environment where you can bring your whole self to work. As part of our team, you’ll get to work with people from different business areas, challenge the way we do things and put your ideas into action. We’ll also give you plenty of development opportunities so you can build a rewarding and successful career with us. 

Apply today, take charge of your career and grow your talents with us.

Health and Safety

Safety isn't just a priority here at Digital; it's critical to everything we do. Safeguarding lives, protecting assets, and securing data aren't just ideals - they're essential pillars of our commitment to excellence for our people, our partners and our customers. We have a culture of care where every member of Team Digital embraces a relentless pursuit of working safely across Digital Realty. Together we are Safely Powering Progress.

Our Compensation Philosophy

Digital Realty offers its employees a highly competitive compensation package, excellent benefits, and an environment that recognizes and rewards your contributions. Central to our compensation philosophy is rewarding our employees for achieving the values and objectives aligned to the company's overall goals and values.

Our published pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum target for new hire pay for the full-time position determined by role, level, and geographical location. Individual pay is based on additional factors including but not limited to job-related skills, experience, and relevant education and/or training. Moreover, an employee’s total compensation package varies by role and may include salary, cash bonus or commissions, and equity awards not quantified below.

Compensation range: $140,000 to $150,000 annually . This compensation range represents the Company’s good faith belief as to what it will pay as a base salary for this position at the time of this posting.

Benefits: For this role, Benefits include medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D insurance, 401k match, disability benefits, wellness and education benefits, employee stock purchase plan, paid time off, holidays, and more.