Program Manager, Data Center Delivery

Program Manager, Data Center Delivery

Location: Dallas, TX
Employment Type: Direct Hire
Work Arrangement: Hybrid
Reports to: SVP, Infrastructure Programs

Overview

We are seeking an experienced Program Manager, Data Center Delivery to oversee the overall execution of a large-scale, multi-year data center development and construction program.

This individual will serve as the central point of coordination across design, engineering, construction, power, cooling, procurement, commissioning, operations, vendors, and other critical workstreams. The Program Manager will maintain visibility and accountability across the overall program schedule, budget, milestones, dependencies, risks, and operational readiness.

While individual Project Managers, engineering leaders, contractors, and functional teams may own specific phases or scopes of work, this role will ensure all workstreams remain aligned to the overall program plan and delivery objectives.

This is a hybrid role based in Dallas, TX, requiring regular in-person collaboration with executive leadership, engineering, construction, infrastructure, and program stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

Program Delivery

• Oversee end-to-end delivery of a large-scale data center program from planning and design through construction, commissioning, turnover, and operational readiness.
• Maintain overall accountability for program schedule, budget, milestones, dependencies, risk, quality, and delivery performance.
• Develop and maintain the integrated master program plan across multiple phases and infrastructure workstreams.
• Ensure individual project schedules remain aligned with overall program milestones and business requirements.
• Identify critical-path issues, schedule conflicts, resource constraints, and cross-functional dependencies.
• Drive resolution of risks and issues that could impact overall program delivery.
• Maintain clear ownership and accountability for major milestones and deliverables.

Program Management & Governance

• Establish and maintain consistent program management processes, reporting standards, and governance.
• Manage RAID logs, dependency tracking, change control, decision tracking, milestone reviews, and escalation processes.
• Conduct regular program reviews with Project Managers, engineering leaders, construction teams, contractors, and functional stakeholders.
• Track progress against baseline schedules, budgets, forecasts, and delivery commitments.
• Develop recovery plans when milestones or critical workstreams begin trending off plan.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Serve as the primary integration point across engineering, construction, commissioning, operations, procurement, supply chain, finance, technology, and commercial teams.
• Coordinate major dependencies involving electrical infrastructure, utility power, on-site generation, cooling, networking, controls, compute infrastructure, and commissioning.
• Align design completion, equipment procurement, installation, testing, commissioning, and turnover schedules.
• Partner with operations teams to ensure staffing, documentation, training, and operational readiness are incorporated into the program plan.
• Coordinate long-lead equipment, material availability, vendor capacity, and supply chain risks.
• Partner with finance on capital planning, forecasting, expenditure tracking, and budget reporting.
• Coordinate with utility providers, permitting authorities, municipalities, and other external stakeholders as required.

Project & Workstream Integration

• Provide program-level oversight across Project Managers responsible for individual projects, phases, or infrastructure workstreams.
• Integrate individual project plans into the overall program schedule.
• Identify and manage dependencies between construction, engineering, technology, and commissioning workstreams.
• Facilitate coordination across contractors, engineering disciplines, vendors, and internal stakeholders.
• Support Project Managers in resolving issues that extend beyond an individual project or workstream.

Vendor & Contractor Management

• Provide program-level oversight of general contractors, specialty contractors, engineering partners, equipment vendors, and commissioning providers.
• Track vendor performance against contractual milestones, schedules, quality requirements, and program commitments.
• Identify vendor-related risks that could affect construction, commissioning, or operational readiness.
• Ensure external partners understand overall program priorities, sequencing, dependencies, and delivery expectations.

Schedule, Risk & Change Management

• Maintain visibility into the integrated master schedule and overall critical path.
• Monitor schedule movement, procurement timelines, construction sequencing, and commissioning dependencies.
• Identify emerging risks early and lead mitigation and recovery planning.
• Evaluate proposed scope, schedule, and design changes for broader program impact.
• Ensure major program changes are documented, approved, and communicated.
• Escalate significant risks and decisions to senior leadership with clear recommendations.

Executive Reporting

• Develop and maintain executive dashboards covering schedule, budget, milestones, risk, quality, procurement, commissioning, and overall program health.
• Provide leadership with clear visibility into program status, critical-path activities, upcoming milestones, and required decisions.
• Translate complex technical and construction issues into clear business impacts and recommendations.
• Maintain accurate forecasts for major milestones, capital requirements, and operational turnover.

Commissioning & Operational Readiness

• Ensure commissioning activities are integrated into the overall construction and delivery plan.
• Coordinate construction completion, equipment startup, testing, integrated systems testing, punch-list resolution, and turnover.
• Track readiness across electrical, mechanical, controls, networking, security, life safety, and other mission-critical systems.
• Partner with operations leadership to ensure procedures, documentation, training, and staffing are ready for turnover.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Business, Computer Science, or a related discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in program management, project management, data center delivery, construction, engineering, or large-scale capital programs.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing complex, multi-year, multi-phase infrastructure or construction programs.
• Direct experience delivering hyperscale data centers, HPC facilities, cloud infrastructure, colocation facilities, mission-critical environments, or comparable technical infrastructure.
• Strong experience managing integrated schedules across multiple projects, contractors, disciplines, and workstreams.
• Strong understanding of critical-path scheduling, dependency management, risk management, change control, forecasting, and program governance.
• Experience coordinating construction, engineering, procurement, commissioning, and operational readiness activities.
• Experience working with general contractors, engineering firms, equipment manufacturers, specialty contractors, and commissioning providers.
• Strong financial awareness with experience managing capital budgets and forecasts.
• Proven ability to identify program risks, drive issue resolution, and communicate effectively with senior leadership.
• Ability to work effectively in a hybrid environment with regular in-person collaboration in Dallas.

Preferred Qualifications

• PMP, PgMP, or comparable project/program management certification.
• Experience delivering data center or mission-critical capital programs exceeding $250M.
• Experience managing integrated master schedules for large-scale infrastructure developments.
• Experience with utility coordination, electrical capacity development, permitting, and municipal stakeholders.
• Familiarity with electrical distribution, generators, UPS systems, cooling plants, mechanical infrastructure, controls, networking, and commissioning.
• Experience supporting high-density compute, HPC, AI, GPU, or advanced data center environments.
• Experience managing phased data center developments where construction, commissioning, and operational activities occur simultaneously.

Ideal Background

Strong candidates may come from hyperscale data centers, cloud infrastructure, colocation development, HPC facilities, semiconductor facilities, advanced manufacturing, energy infrastructure, or other mission-critical capital environments.

The strongest candidates will have experience overseeing the overall delivery of a major data center development while coordinating multiple projects, contractors, and technical disciplines across schedule, budget, risk, commissioning, and operational readiness.