Director of Data Center Construction - Site Development

Basic Function

The Project Director is responsible for leading the successful delivery of hyperscale data center campuses (1GW–8GW+) through a highly collaborative, integrated approach.

This leader is not only accountable for outcomes—schedule, cost, safety, and quality—but also serves as the central facilitator across development, design, construction, and operations, ensuring alignment among diverse stakeholders including internal teams, general contractors, trade partners, utilities, and customers.

Success in this role is defined by the ability to provide leadership, create clarity, foster trust, and orchestrate execution across a complex ecosystem.

In addition to driving project execution, the Director champions SB Energy’s culture—leading with ownership, accountability, collaboration, and a commitment to continuous improvement while building and mentoring high performing teams.

The Director will also lead site development planning and execution, partnering with development, real estate, engineering, and utility teams to advance sites from due diligence through construction readiness. This includes evaluating site constraints, coordinating entitlement and permitting activities, and overseeing site preparation and enabling infrastructure to support phased data center campus delivery and future expansion.

Responsibilities

Program Leadership

• Lead multi-GW campus delivery by aligning cross-functional teams around shared goals, milestones, and constraints.
• Establish a culture of transparency, accountability, and proactive communication.
• Facilitate decision-making across stakeholders, ensuring issues are surfaced early and resolved collaboratively.
• Translate executive strategy into clear, executable plans that can be effectively presented to leadership and communicated across all teams.
• Ensure program provides incentive structure that ensures exceptional project outcomes with respect to cost, schedule, quality and overall execution.

Collaborative Execution & Team Integration

• Act as the integration point across development, engineering, procurement, construction and operations.
• Foster strong partnerships with general contractors and key trade partners, treating them as extensions of the core team.
• Lead structured coordination forums (e.g., multi-GC alignment meetings, pull-planning sessions, interface workshops) and present measurable progress against agreed milestones using current schedules, dashboards, and documented action tracking.
• Break down silos and ensure seamless information flow across disciplines.
• Integrate the customer to the greatest extent without.

Execution Strategy & Phasing

• Co-develop phased deployment strategies with internal and external partners (e.g., 100MW–300MW increments).
• Align construction sequencing with utility delivery, procurement timelines, and customer commitments.
• Facilitate collaborative schedule development (Last Planner System, pull planning, etc.)
• Drive shared ownership of critical path milestones, track planned versus actual progress, and present schedule performance, risks, and recovery plans to leadership and project stakeholders.

Site Development & Infrastructure Delivery

• Lead site development execution for large-scale data center campuses, including clearing, demolition where required, mass grading, earthwork, ground improvement, drainage, access roads, and underground utilities.
• Partners with development and real estate teams on site feasibility and due diligence, evaluating geotechnical conditions, topography, environmental constraints, floodplain exposure, access, easements, and utility availability to identify cost, schedule, and constructability risks.
• Oversee civil engineering and campus infrastructure planning, ensuring building pads, finished grades, stormwater systems, road networks, and utility corridors support phased construction and long-term campus expansion.
• Coordinate with development, environmental, and permitting teams to align zoning, entitlements, site development approvals, and permit conditions with early works and construction milestones.
• Coordinate with utility providers and internal infrastructure teams to confirm capacity, routing, connection points, and delivery schedules for power, water, wastewater, and telecommunications.
• Direct civil contractors and early works packages, establishing clear scopes, budgets, schedules, and handoff requirements between site development and vertical construction teams.
• Integrate off-site infrastructure improvements, including road access and utility extensions, into the overall campus delivery plan.
• Establish and verify site readiness milestones for each construction phase, including approved permits, prepared building pads, construction access, temporary utilities, drainage, and laydown areas.

Construction & Field Leadership

• Lead large, distributed teams by empowering field leaders while maintaining alignment to program objectives.
• Promote a culture where field insights inform decision-making at all levels.
• Ensure site logistics, productivity, and sequencing are collectively owned and continuously optimized.
• Encourage cross-contractor collaboration rather than competition.

Commercial & Contract Strategy (Partnership-Focused)

• Structure contracts that incentivize collaboration, performance, and shared success.
• Lead commercial discussions with a solutions-oriented mindset, balancing risk and partnership.
• Facilitate resolution of changes, claims, and disputes through alignment and transparency.
• Ensure financial decisions support long-term program success—not just short-term outcomes.

Design & Preconstruction Integration

• Lead integrated design and preconstruction efforts with a focus on constructability, scalability, and repeatability.
• Facilitate value engineering sessions that leverage input from all stakeholders.
• Ensure design decisions are informed by real-world execution constraints.
• Promote standardization while allowing flexibility where needed.

Supply Chain & Procurement Coordination

• Align procurement strategies with construction sequencing and program priorities.
• Engage contractors and vendors early to ensure feasibility and buy-in.
• Facilitate coordination across global supply chain stakeholders.
• Proactively identify and mitigate procurement risks through collaboration.

Commissioning & Turnover

• Lead commissioning strategy with strong coordination between construction and operations teams.
• Ensure all parties are aligned on readiness criteria and turnover expectations.
• Facilitate integrated system testing and issue resolution.
• Deliver facilities that are operationally ready and meet customer expectations.

Safety & Risk Culture

• Champion a shared safety culture across all contractors and teams.
• Facilitate open dialogue around risks, near misses, and lessons learned.
• Lead program-level risk workshops and mitigation planning.
• Ensure safety and risk management are collective responsibilities.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as a trusted partner to executives, customers, utilities, and regulatory agencies.
• Communicate program status, risks, and opportunities with clarity and transparency.
• Build long-term relationships that support future growth and collaboration.
• Represent the program as a unified effort—not a collection of silos.

Qualifications/Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in construction management, engineering, or related field.
• 10+ years of progressive experience managing data centers, or other large-scale capital construction projects.
• 15+ years of professional experience in related fields.
• Demonstrated leadership experience managing multiple complex projects and EPC contractors 
  simultaneously.
• Strong financial acumen with expertise in capital budgeting, forecasting, and contract management.
• Experience in multi-prime, design-build, or alternative procurement delivery models preferred.
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite, Primavera P6, MS Project, Monday.com, Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC), or similar project management tools.
• Deep understanding of CSA and MEP construction management principles.
• Experience interfacing with utilities, permitting authorities, lenders, and independent engineers.
• Ability to travel 50-60% as needed.
• Demonstrated experience leading site development and civil infrastructure delivery for large-scale data center, industrial, energy, or similarly complex campus projects.
• Experience advancing greenfield sites from due diligence and preconstruction through site preparation, infrastructure installation, and turnover to vertical construction teams.
• Strong understanding of civil site design, mass grading, earthwork, geotechnical conditions, ground improvement, stormwater management, underground utilities, and roadway construction.
• Experience coordinating zoning, entitlements, site development permits, easements, and off-site infrastructure requirements with internal development teams, local authorities, and utility providers.
• Demonstrated ability to manage civil contractors and consultants, including early works scope development, cost estimating, procurement, schedule management, and phased site turnover.

Location: Ohio, near the PORTS-Pike site in Piketon, OH.

Base Pay - $190,000 - $240,000

The pay range mentioned above is a guideline. We tailor each offer based on your unique skills, experience, location, and market benchmarks—while ensuring internal parity across our teams. The compensation range provided reflects base pay. Total rewards may also include performance-based bonuses, equity grants, and a market leading comprehensive health and wellness benefits package. Final details will be discussed during the later stages of the hiring process.

Our Health & Wellness Benefits

At SB Energy, we invest in our people and their families with benefits designed for flexibility, support, and peace of mind. Full-time employees enjoy:

• 100% Company-Paid Medical, Dental & Vision (for employees and dependents)
• 401(k) with Company Match
• Generous Paid Time Off + 11 Paid Holidays
• 12 Weeks Parental Leave
• Life, AD&D & Long-Term Disability Coverage
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for Medical, Dependent Care, Transit & Parking (with company contributions)
• Mental, Physical & Social Wellness Support (with company contributions)
• Flexible Work Arrangements & Hybrid Office Setup Benefits
• Monthly Reimbursement for Phone, Internet & Data
• Optional Legal & Pet Insurance Plans
• Device Purchase Support

At SB Energy, the success of our projects is driven by a desire to see our projects benefit as many people as possible. We work to serve local communities through volunteering, fundraising, and much more. For example, we’re proud to support access and opportunity in engineering and clean energy through impactful mentorship programs and workforce training. When you join SB Energy, you can become a part of these efforts, collaborating with team members who share a vision of building a better future now! 

SB Energy is built on a foundation of collaboration and inclusion. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class.

To learn more about us, visit www.sbenergy.com.

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