Project Manager

Project Manager

This Project Manager leads major data center and telecom construction initiatives, including high-visibility infrastructure programs. The role oversees the full project lifecycle and applies disciplined project management, safety, quality, cost-control, scheduling, and operational standards to deliver reliable results across field operations and cross-functional teams.

Position Details

Location: On-site daily at the client site in DeKalb, IL.

Standard Site Hours: Monday–Friday, 7:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., with after-hours and weekend support as needed.

Key Responsibilities

Project Leadership and Execution

• Lead day-to-day data center field operations across capacity, network services, and physical-layer work.
• Develop and maintain detailed schedules; manage execution against scope, timeline, budget, staffing, and resource requirements.
• Identify and manage change events using established change-control practices, with clear stakeholder alignment and communication.
• Measure service quality against defined service-level agreements and key performance indicators.
• Serve as the on-site escalation and coordination point for planning, scheduling, work prioritization, ticket resolution, and cross-functional delivery.
• Set priorities, build roadmaps, hold owners accountable, track progress, and drive adoption.

Safety, Quality, Compliance, and Improvement

• Enforce site safety protocols, procedures, environmental health and safety requirements, building codes, and industry standards.
• Own quality assurance and quality control for physical-layer work, including structured cabling, project intake reviews, documentation, tracking, reporting, and post-acceptance plant ownership.
• Manage incidents and escalations, coordinate updates, close action items, and provide concise leadership reports.
• Identify project risks and blockers early and lead cross-team mitigation efforts and timely conflict resolution.
• Develop and standardize operating procedures, implement best practices at scale, and adapt to evolving tools and processes.
• Use data and analytics to improve decisions, service quality, efficiency, and project performance.

Financial and Contract Management

• Apply project accounting practices to forecasting, budget reviews, and financial reporting.
• Manage lump-sum, cost-plus, guaranteed maximum price, design-build, fixed-price, and time-and-material contract and delivery models.
• Monitor vendor performance, approve invoices, and track project expenditures.

Stakeholder Communication and Service Delivery

• Act as the primary customer-facing contact for internal teams, clients, subcontractors, cross-functional partners, site teams, and senior leadership.
• Communicate project status, milestones, priorities, risks, mitigation plans, roadmap updates, and critical changes on a regular cadence.
• Prepare presentations and lead briefings, planning sessions, reviews, and incident-response forums for small and large groups.
• Monitor communication portals and coordinate timely responses.
• Manage resource utilization, onboarding, training, and accountability to service and operational standards.
• Build trusted stakeholder relationships and represent field needs to improve tools, processes, and service delivery.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Project Management, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• At least five years of construction or project management experience in a leadership role, with a focus on data centers or telecom construction.
• Experience managing large data center or structured-cabling construction projects.
• Knowledge of data center infrastructure, emerging technologies, low-voltage systems, fiber, cable management, and cable audits.
• Strong knowledge of construction safety protocols, regulatory requirements, estimating and engineering principles, construction methods, change management, construction accounting, cost forecasting, and budgeting.
• Proficiency in using data and analytics to support decisions and solve problems.
• Strong leadership, communication, presentation, stakeholder-management, organizational, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to work independently, remain detail-oriented and self-directed, and adapt to changing project needs, tools, and processes.
• Experience supporting teams of 40–70+ resources, including technicians, project administrators, safety personnel, and construction managers.

Union and Project Delivery Experience

• Experience working in union environments, particularly with IBEW technicians.
• Experience supporting both direct-hire and subcontractor teams.
• Experience with multiple contract and delivery models, including guaranteed maximum price, design-build, fixed-price, lump-sum, cost-plus, and time-and-material arrangements.
• Exceptional leadership skills and the ability to guide diverse teams.

Technical Proficiency: Microsoft Office, Primavera P6, Scheduling Performance Index (SPI), Cost Performance Index (CPI), Bluebeam, Procore, Textura, and other construction technology platforms.

Preferred Certifications

• OSHA 30; candidates who do not already hold this certification must obtain it within 60 days of starting.
• BICSI RCDD
• BICSI RTPM
• PMI PMP