Commissioning Lead Project Manager

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Client / Engagement: San Francisco Airport (SFO)
Location: San Francisco, CA (On-site)
Estimated Salary Range: $160,000-$260,000 (commensurate with experience)
Employment Type: Full-time

Position Summary

Jaquith Consulting Group is seeking an experienced Commissioning Lead Project Manager to oversee the end-to-end validation of mission-critical facilities, ensuring they are delivered safely, efficiently, and to the highest standards of quality and readiness at the San Francisco Airport (SFO) .

This role drives the commissioning process, from developing project-specific plans and acceptance tests through Integrated Systems Testing, while coordinating closely with Development, Construction, Critical Operations, and other cross-functional teams to bring facilities to Ready for Service.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end commissioning and validation of STACK data center facilities, driving each project from pre-functional checks through Integrated Systems Testing (IST) to fully Ready for Service (RFS).
• Develop, maintain, and control project-specific commissioning plans, levels-of-commissioning matrices, acceptance criteria, test scripts, and schedules across electrical, mechanical, controls, and life-safety systems.
• Enforce and reinforce a strong safety culture across all commissioning phases, ensuring compliance with EH&S requirements, lockout/tagout, arc-flash, and site-specific safety protocols in energized and active-construction environments.
• Coordinate commissioning activities across cross-functional teams, including Development, Construction, Critical Operations, Technical Operations, IT, Physical Security, EH&S, and Finance, to align scope, schedule, and readiness.
• Oversee the full commissioning sequence, including design reviews, factory acceptance testing (FAT), site acceptance testing (SAT), pre-functional checklists, functional performance testing, and IST.
• Validate the performance and integration of critical power, cooling, and control infrastructure appropriate to the facility type, under design-load and simulated-failure scenarios. On data center engagements this includes utility feeds, generators, UPS systems, switchgear, automatic transfer and paralleling controls, chillers, CRAH/CRAC units, pumps, and BMS/EPMS controls; on other critical infrastructure it may include analogous power, distribution, environmental, and control systems.
• Continuously improve, standardize, and where feasible automate commissioning procedures, scripts, and documentation to increase consistency, quality, and efficiency across projects.
• Lead project closeout with general contractors, commissioning agents, architects, and design engineers, ensuring punch-list resolution, as-built accuracy, and complete turnover packages.
• Capture and integrate lessons learned into future design standards, basis-of-design documents, and commissioning specifications to drive continuous improvement.
• Validate infrastructure asset data, including nameplate data, asset tags, equipment hierarchies, and maintenance attributes, for accuracy and completeness within asset-management, CMMS, and BMS systems.
• Develop and refine standard operating procedures (SOPs), methods of procedure (MOPs), and emergency operating procedures (EOPs) to ensure operational consistency and reliability at turnover.
• Support Critical Operations during emergencies and abnormal events, providing subject-matter expertise on system behavior, recovery, and root-cause analysis.
• Travel domestically as needed to lead site assessments, testing, commissioning, and turnover activities as needed.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, Construction Management, or a related technical field, or an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience.
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience in critical-facility construction, commissioning, and/or operations, preferably in data center, aviation, rail/transit, or other mission-critical environments.
• Demonstrated experience leading commissioning programs through Integrated Systems Testing (IST) and Ready for Service (RFS) turnover.
• Working knowledge of the levels of commissioning (Level 1 component verification through Level 5 integrated and operational-readiness testing) and their associated documentation.
• Solid understanding of critical electrical and mechanical systems, including medium- and low-voltage distribution, generators, UPS, switchgear, automatic transfer switches, chillers, CRAH/CRAC, and building-management and power-monitoring (BMS/EPMS) controls or comparable critical power, distribution, and control systems.
• Ability to develop and manage commissioning plans, scripts, schedules, and budgets while handling multiple concurrent priorities in fast-paced, high-stakes environments.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey technical status and risk to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Eligibility to work in the United States and ability to pass a background screening, meet site-access requirements, and travel domestically as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional credential such as a Commissioning (Cx) certification (e.g., ACG CxA, ASHRAE BCxP, or NEBB) and/or Project Management Professional (PMP).
• Direct commissioning experience on hyperscale or colocation data center projects.
• Commissioning experience on transportation, rail/transit, or other large-scale critical-infrastructure programs.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license in a relevant discipline.
• Familiarity with applicable industry standards and guidelines, such as ASHRAE, NFPA 70E, NETA acceptance testing specifications, and Uptime Institute Tier criteria or comparable reliability and availability frameworks.
• Experience with commissioning, asset-management, BMS/EPMS, and CMMS software platforms.
• Experience integrating lessons learned into design standards and basis-of-design documentation across a facility portfolio.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Sound understanding of data center construction means, methods, and sequencing, including testing and commissioning, sufficient to interpret system interdependencies and commissioning risk.
• Ability to manage multiple commissioning workstreams, scripts, and schedules concurrently under aggressive delivery deadlines.
• Clear technical writing and the ability to produce well-documented, auditable commissioning plans, scripts, reports, and turnover packages.
• Effective collaboration and influence across development, construction, operations, EH&S, IT, security, and vendor and contractor disciplines.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a continuous-improvement mindset and close attention to detail under pressure.
• Demonstrated safety leadership and the ability to enforce a strong safety culture in active-construction and energized environments.

Working Conditions

• On-site presence at the San Francisco Airport (SFO) engagement in San Francisco, CA, with periodic domestic travel to other facilities for assessments, testing, commissioning, and turnover activities. Assignment may shift to other engagements based on project and client needs.
• Work in and around active construction sites and energized critical infrastructure; ability to wear required personal protective equipment (PPE) and meet all site safety requirements.
• Availability to support Critical Operations during emergencies, which may include off-hours, weekend, or on-call response.

Jaquith Consulting Group is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.