VP, Head of Development

Job Description

Who We Are:

Cloud Capital is a Washington, D.C. headquartered digital infrastructure investment firm that acquires, develops, and operates hyperscale and wholesale data center assets on behalf of institutional capital, with an active platform spanning the United States and Europe.

The firm owns 31 assets across its fund vehicles today and has historically relied on third-party developers to execute development and leasing on those assets. Cloud Capital is now building dedicated, in-house development capabilities, with the intent to grow this into a full development platform over time.

The VP of Development is one of two initial hires for this build-out, alongside a VP, Head of Leasing. The role will supplement Cloud Capital's existing developer relationships on current assets while building in-house development capability: site selection, entitlement, power procurement, and delivery for new and existing deals.

There is no dedicated in-house development team, pipeline, or delivery process today - this is a ground-floor opportunity to define site selection criteria, power and entitlement strategy, and delivery methodology as Cloud Capital brings this capability in-house, with direct exposure to the senior executive team and Investment Committee.

What the role entails:

The VP of Development will own the full development lifecycle from site identification through power procurement, entitlement, design, and construction delivery, for Cloud Capital's data center pipeline.

This is a fund-facing role: development underwriting (land basis, power timeline, construction cost, and schedule) is the primary input to investment team decisions and directly drives fund returns.

The VP will work directly with the Head of Leasing to align delivery schedules with tenant demand and lease timing, and will act as Cloud Capital's principal technical and delivery counterparty with utilities, municipalities, general contractors, and EPCs.

What you will get to do:

Site Selection & Power Procurement:

• Identify, evaluate, and underwrite development sites across target U.S. and European markets, with rigorous attention to power availability, timeline, and cost
• Lead utility engagement and power procurement strategy - the critical-path constraint for hyperscale delivery
• Build relationships with landowners, brokers, utilities, and municipalities to source and secure sites ahead of competitors

Entitlement, Design & Pre-Construction:

• Manage entitlement, zoning, and permitting processes across multiple jurisdictions
• Oversee design development and value engineering in partnership with architects and engineers
• Own pre-construction budgeting and schedule development, feeding directly into IC underwriting

Construction Delivery & Cost Control:

• Select and manage general contractors, EPCs, and key vendors; negotiate GMP and lump-sum construction contracts
• Own construction budget, schedule, and risk management across the active development pipeline
• Provide regular cost-to-complete, schedule, and risk reporting to the senior executive team and Investment Committee

Fund & Investment Alignment:

• For acquisition due diligence, lead due diligence process from a technical standpoint working with external consultants
• Translate development underwriting - land basis, power timeline, hard/soft costs, schedule risk - into IC-ready investment cases
• Communicate directly on development risk assessment for go/no-go and capital deployment decisions
• Align delivery milestones with the VP, Head of Leasing to ensure construction timing supports tenant commitments

Platform & Team Building:

• Stand up development processes, vendor relationships, and reporting frameworks from the ground up
• Build out the development team as the pipeline scales - this role owns hiring and structuring the function
• Establish development standards and specifications as Cloud Capital builds a direct development capability

Requirements:

• 10+ years in data center or mission-critical development, with direct ownership from site selection through construction delivery.
• Track record of executing hyperscale-scale developments (25MW+) from land acquisition through energization
• Deep understanding of power procurement, utility interconnection processes, and entitlement/permitting across multiple U.S. and European jurisdictions
• Experience developing on behalf of institutional capital - GP-side, developer-side, or principal investor experience preferred - with fluency in how development risk feeds fund-level underwriting
• Demonstrated ability to build a function from zero - comfortable operating without an existing team or platform
• Strong financial and construction-cost literacy; able to build and defend a development budget to an Investment Committee
• Willingness to travel extensively across U.S. and European markets
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, real estate, or related field; MBA or equivalent a plus

Our ideal candidate will also possess the following:

• Builder's Mindset : Thrives creating structure, process, and delivery capability where none exists
• Technical & Commercial Fluency : Bridges construction and power detail with fund-level investment logic
• Execution Discipline : Delivers complex, capital-intensive projects on budget and schedule
• Stakeholder Command : Operates credibly with utilities, municipalities, GCs, and the Investment Committee alike
• Judgment Under Ambiguity : Makes sound calls in a fast-moving, still-forming platform