Construction Manager

Job Title:

Construction Manager / Owner's Representative - Data Center Projects

Job Description

This role serves as a construction manager and owner's representative for large-scale, mission-critical data center projects, overseeing work from early design and site selection through construction, fit-out, commissioning, and turnover. You act as the central point of accountability between the owner and external stakeholders, providing technical oversight, strategic project management, and proactive issue resolution to ensure each facility meets long-term performance, resiliency, and compliance requirements.

The position is highly independent, involves extensive travel to multiple sites, and focuses on managing brownfield and campus-scale data center developments.

Responsibilities

+ Serve as the primary point of contact and advocate for the owner across all phases of the project, including design, construction, commissioning, and turnover.

+ Lead owner-side project meetings, steering committees, and milestone reviews, providing clear communication and direction to architects, engineers, contractors, vendors, and operations teams.

+ Align project execution with the owner's business objectives, operational standards, and risk management policies, ensuring that all stakeholders understand and meet these expectations.

+ Participate in site selection, feasibility studies, and early due diligence for data center developments, including brownfield sites and large campus projects.

+ Review design development documents to verify alignment with owner standards, resiliency targets, scalability requirements, and mission-critical performance needs.

+ Coordinate with architecture and engineering firms to validate constructability, operational maintainability, and compliance with applicable codes and industry standards.

+ Provide input on procurement strategies, contract structures, and bid evaluations to support transparent, cost-effective project delivery.

+ Oversee general contractor performance related to scope, budget, schedule, and quality assurance/quality control requirements throughout construction.

+ Review and approve contractor submittals, RFIs, and change orders on behalf of the owner, ensuring timely, accurate, and well-documented decisions.

+ Track schedule milestones, cost exposures, and contingency usage, escalating issues to owner leadership with clear, actionable recommendations.

+ Monitor site safety performance and enforce strict adherence to safety and environmental protocols, supporting a culture of safe work practices.

+ Manage construction through interior and fit-out phases, including colocation fit-outs of varying scale, ensuring coordination across disciplines and trades.

+ Provide technical oversight for equipment submittals, installation practices, and integration of MEP systems within mission-critical data center environments.

+ Participate in factory witness testing (FAT), site acceptance testing (SAT), and commissioning activities at Levels 1-5 to validate system performance.

+ Ensure deficiencies are logged, tracked, reported, and resolved through a structured QA/QC and issue-management process.

+ Support integrated systems testing to validate redundancy, failover, and sequences of operations for critical infrastructure.

+ Monitor contractor invoices, pay applications, and progress reports to maintain financial transparency and accuracy.

+ Prepare and deliver detailed reporting to owner executives on budget performance, change management, and forecast-to-complete.

+ Enforce the owner's contractual rights, warranty protections, and performance guarantees with contractors and vendors.

+ Ensure delivery and completeness of as-built drawings, O&M manuals, commissioning reports, warranty binders, and training materials for operations staff.

+ Support a smooth transition from construction to operations, ensuring facilities are ready for day-one occupancy and long-term reliability.

+ Capture lessons learned from each project and contribute to continuous improvement of the owner's data center delivery standards.

+ Represent the owner professionally in client meetings and site interactions, maintaining…