Principal Construction Project Manager

Job ID: 200061541Posted: 2026-10-22Location: United States, Ohio, ColumbusSalary: USD $130,900 - $277,200 per yearEmployment type: Full-TimeWork site: Fully on-siteRole type: Individual ContributorTravel: Less than 25%Profession: Real Estate, Facilities, & ConstructionDiscipline: Construction Project ManagementCompany: MicrosoftOverviewMicrosoft Overview Microsoft Cloud Operations + Innovation (CO+I) builds and operates the infrastructure powering the world’s largest online services. CO+I delivers global-scale datacenters and services with a focus on operational excellence, security, compliance, and environmental responsibility. Our mission centers on empowering every person and organization to achieve more while cultivating a workplace rooted in respect, integrity, accountability, and inclusion. Role Overview Drives deployment of large-scale campus-based delivery solutions that have the potential to be used globally across entire portfolios. Provides guidance and corrective action when necessary. Analyzes the industry for best practices and internal process flows to recommend changes resulting in cost savings, enhanced customer service, or improved asset management. Makes decisions and influences partners to facilitate and accomplish complex issues impacting global construction projects. Manages any alterations made to the project scope and adjusts the overall plan to accommodate these changes. Reviews cost and key performance indicator metrics, invoices, processes, and policies in order to communicate status to internal and external client partners. Acts as the primary point of contact for project development and delivery. Develops and maintains productive relationships with implementation partners, Operations, Security, Authorities having jurisdiction, and regional corporate leadership. Interprets safety standards and regulatory requirements to direct and enforce compliance and aggressive management of risk. Establishes and communicates risk mitigation goals and develops metrics, dashboards and/or scorecards to drive progress. Helps to manage the relationship with vendor firms leadership team. Capabilities & Skills Analytical Skills - The ability to review quantitative or conceptual problems and situations to draw appropriate and valid conclusions from data presented. This includes analyzing data to determine the most significant elements, identify common elements and themes in situations and actions, and recognize cause and effect relationships. Compliance Management - The ability to supervise and observe the organization's conformity to various standards, procedures, rules, and regulations. Project Quality Assurance - Knowledge of and the ability to apply systematic and continuing processes of making sure that the project is meeting specified requirements. Quality Assurance - Knowledge of and the ability to follow systematic and continuing processes of checking to see whether a product, service, or process is meeting specified requirements. This includes knowledge of quality measurements and defined standards. Regulatory Compliance - Knowledge of the rules, regulations, sanctions and other statutory requirements, guidelines and instructions relating to local and/or international governing bodies and organizations, both internally and externally. Risk Analysis - Knowledge of Risk Management and Analysis, the process of measuring, or assessing risk and then developing strategies to manage the risk. This may include the ability to identify or develop strategies to transfer the risk to another party, avoid the risk, reduce the negative effect of the risk, and accept some or all of the consequences of a particular risk. Construction Planning and Logistics Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction, repair, and engineering of buildings, houses, or other structures such as highways, roads, and bridges. Construction Consulting - The ability to provide management, risk-based advisory, dispute resolution and strategic communications services across all construction and engineering. Construction Management - Knowledge of specialized, project management techniques to oversee the planning, design, and construction of a project, from its beginning to its end. Construction Planning - The ability to plan how the team will manage and execute a construction project. Construction Processes - Knowledge of the design process (creating the description of a new facility, usually represented by detailed plans and specifications) and the construction planning process (identifying activities and resources required to make the design a physical reality). Scope Management - The ability to manage scope over the course of a project, including determining which changes are essential, estimating their impact on the project, ensuring that changes do not expand scope beyond acceptable levels, and keeping a change record to track progress. Financial Responsibility Budgeting - Knowledge of and the ability to develop and utilize budgeting guidelines, practices, and techniques, including forecasting. This may include the knowledge of the department's procedures and reporting systems to establish financial budget information at an appropriate organizational level. Construction Budgets - The ability to manage allotted funds for a specific building or remodeling project. The ability to anticipate all costs and expenses of the building process tracked through a form, tool, or spreadsheet. Construction Risk - The ability to identify and manage any exposure to possible loss. Cost Benefit - The ability to apply a systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives (for example in transactions, activities, functional business requirements or projects investments) to determine options that provide the best approach to achieve benefits while preserving savings. Financial Analysis - Knowledge of and the ability to use basic financial analysis (e.g., return on investment, value chain analysis) related to marketing effectiveness, resource allocations, and new business opportunities. Project Cost - Knowledge of the process of identifying project resources, estimating costs, developing the budget, and managing the finances for a project. Managing Vendor and Stakeholder Relationships Conflict Resolution The ability to manage conflict, disharmony, and strife among people and situations, while recognizing and addressing sensitivities. Incident Handling - The ability to lead and direct others in the process of resolving escalated problems through communication. Influence Others - The ability to garner support for initiatives by gaining the respect of others and inspiring trust and confidence. Negotiation - The ability to achieve mutually satisfying agreements in negotiations with others by listening to their objectives, acting as the company's representative to effectively communicate the company's objective, and seeking common ground and collaborative solutions. Team Facilitation - The ability to lead and orchestrate cross-functional teams to complete objectives. This includes the skills of communicating and collaborating with others, leveraging resources and tools, and coordinating processes. Vendor Management - Knowledge of the process through which products and services are purchased for use by the corporation and the ability to identify, select, and manage vendors and suppliers who provide products and services to the company. This includes knowledge of the development of RFI's and RFP's and the ability to incorporate necessary technical requirements into contracts. Project Management and Judgement Change Management - The ability to define and implement procedures and/or technologies to deal with changes in the environment. This may include adapting to change, controlling change, and/or affecting change. Decision Making - The ability to make decisions in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment. This includes the ability to define, diagnose, and determine an appropriate resolution, recommendation, or decision while considering alternatives and factors (e.g., resources, costs, tradeoffs). Incident Management - The ability to identify, record, classify and apply a structured response process to manage incidents until the affected service is restored. Includes knowledge of the progression of an incident through occurrence of the incident, detection of the incident, diagnosis of the cause of failure, repair of the problem, recovery of the problem back to the live infrastructure and restoration of the service. Multitasking - The ability to process and attend to multiple types of information and/or perform multiple tasks simultaneously. Problem Solving - The ability to identify problems and review related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions. Project Management - Knowledge of and the ability to carry out the process of planning, organizing, and managing tasks and resources to accomplish a well-defined objective. This includes the ability to manage and provide project deliverables, optimize the contribution of the people involved, and assess the impact of project decisions on quality, productivity, schedules, cost, performance, etc. Project Planning - The ability to manage a project schedule, defining and sequencing activities, estimating activity durations, and developing and controlling the schedule. Vendor Selection and Evaluation - The ability to evaluate and select vendors who meet specifications and requirements. This includes knowledge of the development of RFI's and RFP's and the ability to incorporate necessary technical requirements into contracts. Other: Creativity - The ability to apply ingenuity, inventiveness, and imagination to the inclusive design and construction of a product, service, program, or initiative. Oral Communication - The ability to make a verbal message understood and to receive/understand messages during in-person or remote (e.g., telephone) interactions. Presentation Skills - The ability to prepare effective presentations in content and function, and to speak competently to the level of the audience. ResponsibilitiesBudget and Controls - Develops and reports on scope, schedule, and budget of project. Implements project controls in work activities (e.g., project expenditure requests (PERs), Professional Service Requests (PSRs), change orders, and pay applications). Reduces cycle time, improves quality, and identifies and implements ways to lower cost. Change Management - Analyzes the industry for best practices and internal process flows to recommend changes resulting in cost savings, enhanced customer service, or improved asset management. Coordination - Acts as the primary point of contact for project development and delivery. Shapes and implements regional construction execution plans. Initializes and identifies opportunities to discuss and integrate lessons learned, advocating for safe and secure security-first mindset during project planning. Participates in and may drive Microsoft partner engagement, communications plans, and community events. Drives Results - Makes decisions and influences partners to facilitate and accomplish complex issues impacting global construction projects (e.g., establishing and executing upon team goals, following business processes, engaging vendor relationships, and fostering cross-group collaboration efforts with the agreed-upon project strategy, milestone delivery, and core values and priorities (Safety, Security, Quality, Schedule, Cost)). Financial Acumen - Creates, applies, and shares best practices to identify and drive cost-effective solutions for the strategic and tactical delivery of a construction project. Applies influence, strategy, and decision-making to drive solutions, schedules, and manage change with clients, sponsors, vendors, and operational units including lower-level staff and internal partners. Goal Alignment - Develops and maintains productive relationships with implementation partners, Operations, Security, Authorities having jurisdiction, and regional corporate leadership. Engages and sources other internal teams (e.g., Security [OSSC], Information Technology [MSIT], Legal, Project Engineering, Business Risk Management, etc.) to maintain the corporate vision and create goals for the project. Advises and directs internal teams and supporting specialty consultants to update and edit the Basis of Design (BOD) as needed. Managing Resources - Manages any alterations made to the project scope and adjusts the overall plan to accommodate these changes. Project Management - Drives deployment of large-scale campus-based delivery solutions that have the potential to be used globally across entire portfolios (e.g., new and/or retrofit datacenter facilities). Develops/establishes program/project goals for teams, assigns overall responsibilities, ensures performance measurements, and seeks and delivers feedback to achieve timely results that prioritize security in documentation, design, and/or execution. Project Tracking - Reviews cost and key performance indicator (KPI) metrics, invoices, processes, and policies in order to communicate status to internal and external client partners. Takes accountability for on-schedule delivery by providing project progress reports including scope, schedule, and budget. Risk Mitigation - Establishes and communicates risk mitigation goals and develops metrics, dashboards and/or scorecards to drive progress. Presents and reports safety and security goals and progress to regional executive leadership. Safety and Regulation - Interprets safety standards and regulatory requirements (e.g., Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA]) to direct and enforce compliance and aggressive management of risk. Creates and reinforces safety program routines, security, project, and contractor audits. Demands safe environments/work sites and participates in governance, policies, and decision-making regarding risk compliance and management. Technical Acumen - Provides guidance and corrective action when necessary. Provides unique knowledge and answers questions regarding delivery options. Vendor Management - Helps to manage the relationship with vendor firms' leadership team. Establishes and monitors vendors' performance goals in order to ensure compliance with security policies, non-disclosure agreements, contracts, and prior audit results. Presents cash flow and budget summary reports to the delivery and executive teams. Vendor Selection - Develops, reviews, and approves vendor scope of work, design review of site and building plans, pay-application, and invoices. QualificationsRequired/minimum qualifications:Bachelor's Degree in Construction Project Management, Architecture, Engineering, or related field AND 12+ years related experience OR equivalent experience. Additional or preferred qualifications:Bachelor's Degree in Construction Project Management, Architecture, Engineering, or related field AND 15+ years related experience OR equivalent experience. 15+ years experience working on data center projects. The Construction Project Manager delivers Microsoft’s datacenter capacity by leading high‑impact, multi‑stakeholder construction programs across U.S. campus and metro regions. This role ensures alignment to Microsoft standards for Safety, Security, Quality, Schedule, and Cost while driving program maturity, consistent execution frameworks, and coordination across Engineering, Operations, Security, and vendor teams. The CPM represents CO+I and DCD as a senior individual contributor with broad influence across internal/external partners to ensure technical, operational, financial, and compliance goals are met. Impact & Scope - CPMs operate autonomously, owning major program packages or multi‑building deployments. They influence cross‑functional teams, resolve blockers requiring deep judgment, and standardize practices that scale across regions or portfolios. This role shapes strategy for future delivery methods, creates repeatable processes, and uplifts execution quality across multiple sites. Core Success Measures Delivery predictability across multiple concurrent builds Cross‑functional alignment with Security, Engineering, Project Controls, and Operations Cycle‑time reduction and consistency of program execution methodologies Portfolio‑level adoption of best practices and standards Vendor performance stability and audit readiness Regional readiness for handover to Operations Working Conditions / Requirements Ability to work on active construction sites and comply with PPE requirements Ability to coordinate with teams across time zones Experience leading multi‑building or campus‑scale construction programs Experience influencing cross-functional design, engineering, or commissioning orgs Demonstrated progression in leadership responsibility across large technical programs Strong executive‑level communication experience (briefings, escalations, portfolio reporting) Competencies Strategic Agility: Connects project execution to broader business and regional strategies Enterprise Partnership: Builds alignment across Engineering, Operations, Security, and external authorities Execution Excellence: Establishes repeatable methodologies supporting consistent delivery Systems Thinking: Anticipates multi‑system interactions across construction, MEP, IT, and operations Microsoft Values Fit Models a culture of Safety and Security in all decisions Demonstrates a growth mindset, inclusion, collaboration, and customer obsession Acts with integrity and sound judgment when resolving complex issues Background Check Requirements: Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.#COICareers | #EPCCareers | #DCDCareersConstruction Project Management IC6 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $130,900 - $277,200 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $165,600 - $303,600 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.