Data Center Programs & Strategy leader

GTN Technical Staffing

New York, New York, TX

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JOB DETAILS

SKILLS

Alliance/Partner Management, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Budgeting, Business Administration, Business Case, Business Growth, Business Operations, Business Plan, Business Skills, Capacity Management, Capital Analysis, Capital Budgeting, Capital Project, Cloud Computing, Commission Controls, Commissioning, Commissioning - Engineering, Communication Skills, Computer Systems, Construction, Construction Design, Construction Engineering, Cost Control, Cost Modeling, Cross-Functional, Delivery Management, Demand Forecasting/Planning, Economics, Electricity, Energy & Utilities, Energy Engineering, Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC/EPCC/EPCM), Finance, Financial Management, Financial Operations, Gardening, Leadership, Legal, Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP), Network Operations Center, Network Security, Performance Analysis, Performance Metrics, Power Generation, Presentation/Verbal Skills, Procurement Strategy, Product Lifecycle, Program Evaluation, Program Planning, Purchasing/Procurement, Return on Investment (ROI), Risk, Risk Analysis, Risk Management, Safety Compliance, Safety/Work Safety, Scalable System Development, Switchgear, Team Lead/Manager, Technical Operations, Time Management, Trade-Off Analysis

LOCATION

New York, New York, TX

POSTED

30+ days ago

Data Center Programs & Strategy Leader
Location: Dallas, TX
Type: Direct Hire

•Competitive base salary + performance bonus
•100% company-paid benefits
•Relocation assistance available for non-local candidates
Overview
We are seeking a Data Center Programs & Strategy Leader to own the business execution, program leadership, and strategic delivery of large-scale data center development initiatives.

This role is responsible for driving complex data center programs from early-stage planning, permitting, design, construction, commissioning, and operational readiness through steady-state operations. The position sits at the intersection of strategy, infrastructure delivery, finance, engineering, construction, commissioning, operations, procurement, energy, and executive leadership.

This is an executive-level business leadership role, not the primary technical engineering authority. However, the ideal candidate must bring enough technical depth to partner effectively with engineering and operations teams across electrical, mechanical, controls, power, and mission-critical infrastructure systems.

We are especially interested in candidates who have supported end-to-end data center development, including permitting through commissioning, and who understand the complexity of MEP infrastructure, utility strategy, behind-the-meter power, on-site generation, and high-density compute environments.
Key ResponsibilitiesProgram Strategy & Business Execution

Own end-to-end program leadership for large-scale data center development initiatives from concept, site planning, permitting, design, construction, commissioning, and operational turnover through steady-state operations.
Define and execute the infrastructure development roadmap in alignment with business growth, platform expansion, capacity planning, and customer demand.
Translate strategic priorities into actionable program plans, delivery milestones, operating rhythms, decision frameworks, and measurable outcomes.
Drive aggressive development schedules while balancing cost, risk, quality, performance, resiliency, safety, and long-term operational readiness.
Serve as the executive program leader responsible for accountability across engineering, construction, commissioning, operations, finance, procurement, energy, and external delivery partners.

Full Lifecycle Data Center Delivery

Lead or support data center programs across the full development lifecycle, including site readiness, permitting, utility coordination, design development, construction execution, commissioning, and operational handoff.
Partner with engineering and construction teams to ensure delivery plans account for MEP systems, power distribution, cooling infrastructure, controls, commissioning requirements, and operational maintainability.
Drive schedule discipline across design, procurement, construction, equipment delivery, commissioning, and turnover milestones.
Identify gaps, risks, and dependencies across civil, electrical, mechanical, controls, network, security, and operations workstreams.
Ensure program execution supports long-term uptime, reliability, scalability, and mission-critical performance requirements.

MEP, Power & Infrastructure Coordination

Work closely with technical leaders across electrical, mechanical, controls, and operations teams to ensure infrastructure decisions align with business and operational objectives.
Support planning and execution for major MEP systems, including electrical distribution, switchgear, UPS systems, generators, substations, chilled water plants, cooling systems, controls, and monitoring platforms.
Understand the impact of power and cooling architecture on schedule, cost, commissioning, customer readiness, and long-term operating performance.
Partner with engineering teams to evaluate redundancy, resiliency, maintainability, capacity, safety, and operational risk.
Ensure technical decisions are clearly translated into executive-level program impacts, including cost, timing, reliability, and business tradeoffs.

Behind-the-Meter Power & Energy Strategy

Support infrastructure programs involving utility interconnection, power procurement, behind-the-meter power, on-site generation, or energy infrastructure.
Partner with energy, engineering, legal, finance, and operations teams to align power strategy with data center delivery timelines and capacity objectives.
Evaluate program risks related to utility availability, grid constraints, power generation, fuel supply, interconnection timelines, and energization milestones.
Help coordinate across data center development and power infrastructure workstreams to ensure capacity is available when needed.
Translate power and energy constraints into practical program plans, risk mitigation strategies, and executive-level decisions.

Capital Planning & Financial Performance

Lead business case development for major infrastructure programs, including cost modeling, scenario planning, capital efficiency analysis, and delivery tradeoffs.
Identify opportunities to improve financial performance, delivery efficiency, asset utilization, and long-term return on infrastructure investment.
Partner with finance and executive leadership to track capital deployment, budget performance, risk exposure, and commercial impacts.
Support investment decisions by clearly communicating schedule, cost, risk, power, operational readiness, and infrastructure performance considerations.
Build repeatable frameworks for evaluating program performance, delivery economics, and capital-intensive infrastructure investments.

Governance, Operating Model & Delivery Leadership

Implement and maintain program governance structures, KPI frameworks, executive reporting cadences, risk registers, and decision-making processes.
Establish scalable operating models, policies, workflows, and process discipline to support repeatable data center delivery.
Lead cross-functional alignment across internal teams and external delivery partners.
Ensure program risks, dependencies, decisions, and escalations are clearly documented, communicated, and resolved.
Drive accountability across multiple workstreams while maintaining visibility into schedule, quality, budget, compliance, safety, commissioning, and operational readiness.

Cross-Functional & Partner Leadership

Partner closely with engineering, operations, construction, commissioning, procurement, finance, legal, compliance, energy, and senior leadership teams.
Work alongside technical leaders to ensure infrastructure solutions align with program goals, business priorities, capacity needs, and delivery timelines.
Interface with EPCM firms, design partners, contractors, vendors, consultants, utilities, energy providers, and third-party service providers.
Serve as the connective tissue between technical execution and business leadership.
Communicate complex program status, risks, decisions, and tradeoffs clearly to executive stakeholders.

Required Qualifications

10+ years of experience leading large, complex infrastructure, data center, industrial, energy, technology, or mission-critical programs.
Proven experience supporting full lifecycle infrastructure delivery from planning, permitting, design, construction, commissioning, and operational handoff.
Strong program leadership experience in capital-intensive, schedule-driven environments.
Demonstrated experience working with engineering, construction, commissioning, operations, procurement, finance, and executive stakeholders.
Strong understanding of MEP infrastructure and how electrical, mechanical, controls, cooling, and power systems impact data center delivery and operations.
Experience managing multidisciplinary teams through influence rather than direct authority.
Experience building governance models, KPI frameworks, executive reporting cadences, and structured decision-making processes.
Strong financial and business acumen, including exposure to capital planning, business cases, budgeting, cost management, and performance tracking.
Executive-level communication skills with the ability to present to and influence senior leadership.
Strong judgment in balancing speed, cost, risk, quality, resiliency, safety, and operational outcomes.
Bachelor’s degree required;advanced degree such as an MBA or equivalent preferred.

Preferred Background

Experience delivering data center projects from permits through commissioning and operational turnover.
Experience with behind-the-meter power, on-site generation, utility strategy, power procurement, substations, interconnection, or energy infrastructure.
Prior experience in hyperscale data centers, cloud infrastructure, high-density compute, AI infrastructure, HPC environments, utilities, industrial facilities, or other mission-critical environments.
Familiarity with power generation, fuel infrastructure, grid constraints, energization planning, and large-load power requirements.
Experience working alongside MEP engineering teams, commissioning agents, EPCM firms, general contractors, utilities, and technical operations teams.
Prior leadership role in infrastructure development, strategic programs, capital projects, technical operations, or business execution.
Experience managing external delivery partners such as EPCMs, vendors, consultants, utilities, contractors, and service providers.
Track record of building scalable processes for fast-growing infrastructure organizations.

About the Company

GTN Technical Staffing

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