Design Project Lead, Data Center Design and Construction

Meta•Reston, VA

1d•$170,000 - $234,000

About The Position

Meta is seeking a Design Project Lead for its Data Center Design Engineering organization. The role oversees design and construction administration as an Owner’s Representative and serves as the technical domain lead for Civil, Structural, Landscape, and Architecture (CSLA) disciplines. The position supports new-build greenfield projects, leased facilities, and retrofits, delivering data center capacity safely, on time, within budget, and to a high standard of quality. The Design Project Lead works with internal partners across Design Engineering, Planning and Development, Construction Management, Quality, Safety, and Operations, as well as external engineers of record, general contractors, and regulatory agencies. The role provides directional guidance in a fast-tracked design and construction environment and ensures that design and construction meet owner requirements and industry standards for critical facilities.

Requirements

At least 8 years of professional experience in mission-critical building design, construction, and/or operations.
Project management experience.
Bachelor’s degree in Architecture or a similar engineering qualification.
Registered or licensed professional with a degree in Architecture or Engineering.
Subject-matter expertise in building systems design and architectural details for steel, concrete, and mass-timber structures.
Knowledge of mission-critical building systems, including mechanical, electrical, control, and fire-protection systems.
Knowledge of geotechnical and soil design; concrete and steel structural design; landscape architecture; sustainable design; interior and exterior finish systems; and culinary and physical-security systems.
Experience leading and managing multidisciplinary teams.
Experience on large-scale design and construction projects.
Knowledge of environmental, health, and safety programs.
Experience with industry standards, building codes, and safety standards, including IBC, ASCE, and European equivalents.
Ability to communicate technical information in writing and verbally to cross-functional teams and external partners; professional working proficiency in English is required for coordination with English-speaking teams, partners, and regulatory agencies.
Experience analyzing complex technical issues, identifying root causes, and implementing effective solutions in building design or construction projects.
Experience presenting project updates, technical proposals, and design decisions to peers, stakeholders, and leadership.
Experience providing solutions for complex projects with competing priorities and tight deadlines.
Experience with Google Suite, Revit/BIM, Bluebeam, Autodesk, ACC, or similar design software applications.

Nice To Haves

Ongoing AI skill development, such as prompt/context engineering or agent orchestration, and keeping current with emerging AI technologies.
Experience implementing responsible and ethical AI practices, such as risk assessment, bias mitigation, and quality and accuracy reviews.
LEED accreditation.
Owner’s Representative experience or experience in program or project management; PMP certification.
Experience on large-scale data center design and construction projects.
Ability to integrate AI tools to optimize or redesign workflows and achieve measurable impact, such as efficiency gains or quality improvements.
Experience supporting construction and cost-estimating processes.
Experience with Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC), Unifier, Visio, and Oracle P6.

Responsibilities

Lead multiple projects through schematic design, design development, construction documents, construction administration, and turnover as project lead and CSLA technical domain lead.
Lead end-to-end project planning, including gathering requirements, defining scope, identifying milestones, allocating resources, and serving as the primary technical liaison between business stakeholders and design engineering teams.
Set team goals and expectations, track progress, communicate status, and ensure project decisions support organizational goals and technical vision.
Facilitate project meetings, retrospectives, and reviews to promote transparency and continuous improvement.
Collaborate with internal stakeholders and external partners to resolve issues and mitigate risks, supporting on-time, on-budget delivery with a focus on safety, quality, operability, and sustainability.
Prepare and issue RFPs; analyze proposals and recommend awards; administer project- and program-level contracts; and review and approve change-cost proposals, value-engineering proposals, invoices, shop drawings, submittals, RFIs, reports, audits, studies, and other design deliverables.
Hold engineers of record accountable for deliverables and performance through actionable feedback and participation in project health reviews; identify risks and remove roadblocks to timely delivery.
Analyze forward-looking ideas with cross-functional stakeholders, mitigate risks, incorporate lessons learned into current and future products, and pursue schedule compression opportunities.
Participate in mock-ups, onsite testing, commissioning, and other quality checks throughout the project lifecycle to verify proper installation and commissioning of systems.
Coordinate internal teams, consultants, and contractors across projects and campuses to maintain transparency, situational awareness, clear next steps, and timely issue resolution.
Maintain project knowledge repositories, status information, decisions, planning documents, records, and documentation; provide regular project updates and share priorities and feedback with internal stakeholders and external partners.
Provide technical expertise and oversight to ensure design and construction meet owner requirements and industry standards for critical-facility systems, including Manufactured/Owner Furnished Equipment (M/OFE).
Collaborate with other technical disciplines to ensure systems function and integrate properly, and guide cross-discipline technical coordination between Meta’s Design team and the engineer of record.
Develop and support onboarding for new teammates and build cross-discipline knowledge to strengthen continuity and the breadth and depth of the field design team.
Lead onsite CSLA discipline design, delivery, and quality meetings to resolve critical design issues.
Support innovation in design-construction technology and processes.
Work closely with the Quality Team on area walk-downs, critical benchmarks, systems integration and operation, issue resolution, commissioning-script review and implementation, and design-related technical guidance.
Support the Facilities Engineering and Operations Team with knowledge sharing, technical guidance, and understanding of system operation throughout the project schedule.