Project Manager, Project & Program Management, Operations Management

Project Manager

This Project Manager leads major data center and telecom construction initiatives, including high-visibility infrastructure programs. The role oversees the full project lifecycle and applies disciplined project management, safety, quality, cost-control, scheduling, and operational standards to deliver reliable results across field operations and cross-functional teams.

Location: On-site daily at the client site in DeKalb, IL.

Standard Site

Hours:

Monday–Friday, 7:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., with after-hours and weekend support as needed.

• Lead day-to-day data center field operations across capacity, network services, and physical-layer work.
• Develop and maintain detailed schedules; manage execution against scope, timeline, budget, staffing, and resource requirements.
• Identify and manage change events using established change-control practices, with clear stakeholder alignment and communication.
• Measure service quality against defined service-level agreements and key performance indicators.
• Serve as the on-site escalation and coordination point for planning, scheduling, work prioritization, ticket resolution, and cross-functional delivery.
• Set priorities, build roadmaps, hold owners accountable, track progress, and drive adoption.

• Enforce site safety protocols, procedures, environmental health and safety requirements, building codes, and industry standards.
• Own quality assurance and quality control for physical-layer work, including structured cabling, project intake reviews, documentation, tracking, reporting, and post-acceptance plant ownership.
• Manage incidents and escalations, coordinate updates, close action items, and provide concise leadership reports.
• Identify project risks and blockers early and lead cross-team mitigation efforts and timely conflict resolution.
• Develop and standardize operating procedures, implement best practices at scale, and adapt to evolving tools and processes.
• Use data and analytics to improve decisions, service quality, efficiency, and project performance.

• Apply project accounting practices to forecasting, budget reviews, and financial reporting.
• Manage lump-sum, cost-plus, guaranteed maximum price, design-build, fixed-price, and time-and-material contract and delivery models.
• Monitor vendor performance, approve invoices, and track project expenditures.

• Act as the primary customer-facing contact for internal teams, clients, subcontractors, cross-functional partners, site teams, and senior leadership.
• Communicate project status, milestones, priorities, risks, mitigation plans, roadmap updates, and critical changes on a regular cadence.
• Prepare presentations and lead briefings, planning sessions, reviews, and incident-response forums for small and large groups.
• Monitor communication portals and coordinate timely responses.
• Manage resource utilization, onboarding, training, and accountability to service and operational standards.
• Build trusted stakeholder relationships and represent field needs to improve tools, processes, and service delivery.

• Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Project Management, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• At least five years of construction or project management experience in a leadership role, with a focus on data centers or telecom construction.
• Experience managing large data center or structured-cabling construction projects.
• Knowledge of data center infrastructure, emerging technologies, low-voltage systems, fiber, cable management, and cable audits.
• Strong knowledge of construction safety…