Director, Critical Projects, NA

About Vantage Data Centers

Vantage is committed to being a workplace of inclusion, equity, respect and acceptance. We celebrate diversity and intentionally seek out opportunities to learn from one another’s experience.

Vantage Data Centers powers, cools, protects and connects the technology of the world’s well-known hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprises. Developing and operating across North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific, Vantage has evolved data center design in innovative ways to deliver dramatic gains in reliability, efficiency and sustainability in flexible environments that can scale as quickly as the market demands.

Construction Department

The Construction team is responsible for the entire process flow of delivering the physical data centers from shovel ready state through commissioning, working with Sales, Operations, and management along the way. Construction implements and upon the work product developed by the Development & Engineering (D&E) team. The team also leads Vantage’s build partners to success through technical feedback and review, and actively participating in review of schedule and budget. Many times, a role like this at other companies is purely oversight. One thing that distinguishes Vantage is that our construction teams are given the responsibility and authority to directly drive the process. When compared to external resources, our internal team can ensure the key partners are engaged in the decision-making process to align long-term operational sustainability with value engineering and cost metrics to deliver products aligned with goals of the company. This approach empowers each member of the team to drive high- impact decisions and even more impactful results.

Site Operations Department

The Site Operations Department is responsible for the overall health and wellbeing of all mechanical and electrical systems, building maintenance, customer service and performance of all data modules at each campus. The teams are staffed 24 x 7 on site with Critical Facilities Engineers (CFEs) on each shift. These teams are the face of Vantage to our customers and the first line of defense regarding the uptime of our campus as well as the general health of our customer installations. Using a Critical Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to plan and track needed work, each campus Site Operations department leads all preventative and corrective maintenance on-site for our campuses located throughout North America. Our culture expects and rewards operations teams that engage directly with the customers and the facility infrastructure. These teams do most of the work themselves versus calling out constantly to vendors. As a result, we provide superior service that is faster and more cost effective. We validate that service through transparent reporting on all key performance metrics gives the customers the ability to focus on their operations without having to handle the performance of the facilities.

Position Overview

Vantage is looking for a driven Director, Critical Projects to provide overall leadership for our growing minor capital project portfolio. This position will oversee the internal project approval process, design, permitting, and all aspects of construction. As a leader, you will be responsible for leading multiple projects and teams as well as ensuring all internal customer projects (Operations, Reliability Engineering etc.) are in alignment with the customers’ objectives. Collaboration and integration in the sales lifecycle process including client interface is integral to the role. Coordination and translation of requirements from Vantage’s internal subject matter experts and operation teams ensures long term operational sustainability is preserved while driving towards optimized construction delivery.

Essential Job Functions

Lead all aspects of minor capital construction, including planning, pre-construction, design, permitting, competitive bidding, team selection, construction, commissioning, and project closeout

Create and run project budgets and establish monthly forecasts, including variances

Act as leader with vision and drive coordination and integration of internal collaborators within the project

Guide direct reports and third-party project management resources and track staffing utilization

Duties

Lead companywide execution of minor capital projects from concept through commissioning and prepare various reports on a monthly and/or quarterly basis

Ensure all elements of customer construction align with Vantage’s safety and data center work rules

Partner with customer and internal Vantage teams to standardize customer construction delivery across the Vantage portfolio that minimizes impact/drag on Vantage resources

Own resource allocation and project workflow for direct reports and third-party project management continent workforce

Drive day-to-day construction decisions to conclusion

QA/QC work products of direct reports to confirm accuracy by handling inputs and delivery of work products from internal team members to ensure new data center spaces align with all customer-applicable requirements

Work with the internal team members and customers to create scope, schedule and budgets for their projects to receive yearly project budget approval.

Support sales in customer engagement and fulfillment of requirements as tied to leases. Ensure delivery is in accordance with leases for readiness projects.

Partner with Director, Construction Cost & Finance to produce monthly project forecasts including variance analyses as well as execution of Master Service Agreements (MSAs) and project authorizations for new and existing contractors and vendors

Vendor/Contractor management including qualification and relationship building/maintenance

Review monthly billing with direct reports, confirm substantiation and audit vs budget

Ensure ‘lessons learned’ are held and placed in the feedback loop to drive continuous improvement

Ensure project team aligns with project turnover documentation requirements to Operations

Work closely with Operations to coordinate design criteria and construction with ongoing maintenance and operation of existing facilities

Job Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in construction management, or similar field, or equivalent experience

7 to 10 years of experience in a management role required, 10 to 15 years preferred

Complex and technical construction experience is required

Data Center experience is preferred

Experience in CSA (civil, structural, architectural) and MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) construction management is a requirement

Proficient in Microsoft Office and project management tools like MS Project or P6

Travel required is expected to be 25% but may increase over time as the business evolves

This position will be based on site in Alpharetta, Georgia

We operate with No Ego and No Arrogance. We work to build each other up and support one another, appreciating each other’s strengths and respecting each other’s weaknesses. We find joy in our work and each other, actively seeking opportunities to inject fun into what we do. Our hard and efficient work is rewarded with an above market total compensation package. We offer a comprehensive suite of health and welfare, retirement, and paid leave benefits exceeding local expectations.

Throughout the year, the advantage of being part of the Vantage team is evident with an array of benefits, recognition, training and development, and the knowledge that your contribution adds value to the company and our community.

Don't meet all the requirements? Please still apply if you think you are the right person for the position. We are always keen to speak to people who connect with our mission and values.

Vantage Data Centers is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Vantage Data Centers does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firm agencies. Fees will not be paid in the event a candidate submitted by a recruiter without an agreement in place is hired; such resumes will be deemed the sole property of Vantage Data Centers.