Design Project Lead, Data Center Design and Construction

Meta•Reston, VA

3d•$170,000 - $234,000

About The Position

Meta is seeking a Design Project Lead for its Data Center Design Engineering organization. The role oversees data center design and construction administration as an Owner’s Representative and serves as the technical domain lead and subject matter expert for the Civil, Structural, Landscape, and Architecture (CSLA) disciplines. Projects may include new builds, leased facilities, and retrofits. The role supports fast-tracked design and construction and provides directional guidance to deliver data center capacity safely, on time, within budget, and to a high standard of quality. The Design Project Lead works with cross-discipline design engineering teams, Planning and Development, Construction Management, Quality, Safety, Operations, engineers of record, general contractors, and regulatory agencies. The role leads projects from schematic design through design development, construction documents, construction administration, and turnover, while coordinating requirements and ensuring designs and construction meet owner requirements and industry standards for critical facilities. The position is full-time. The listed salary range is $170,000 to $234,000 per year, plus bonus, equity, and benefits.

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.
Registration or licensure as a 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/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.
Fluent English and experience communicating technical information verbally and in writing to cross-functional teams and external partners.
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 staying current with emerging AI technologies.
Experience supporting construction and cost estimating processes.
Ability to integrate AI tools to optimize or redesign workflows and drive measurable impact, such as efficiency gains or quality improvements.
Experience with Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC), Unifier, Visio, and Oracle P6.
Experience on large-scale data center design and construction projects.
LEED Accreditation.
Experience adhering to and implementing responsible, ethical AI practices, such as risk assessment, bias mitigation, and quality and accuracy reviews.
Owner’s representative experience or experience performing program or project management.
PMP Certification.

Responsibilities

Lead multiple projects through schematic design, design development, construction documents, construction administration, and turnover, serving as project lead and CSLA technical domain lead for new builds, leased facilities, and retrofit projects.
Lead end-to-end project planning, including gathering requirements, defining scope, identifying milestones, and allocating resources; act 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 align with Meta’s organizational goals and technical vision.
Facilitate project meetings, retrospectives, and reviews to promote transparency and continuous improvement.
Work with internal and external partners to resolve issues and lead risk mitigation, supporting safe, high-quality, operable, sustainable, on-time, and on-budget delivery.
Prepare and issue RFPs; analyze proposals and recommend awards; administer project- and program-level contracts; and review or 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, provide actionable feedback, participate in project health reviews, identify risks, and remove roadblocks.
Analyze forward-thinking ideas with cross-functional stakeholders, mitigate risks, incorporate lessons learned into current and future products, and identify opportunities to compress schedules.
Participate in mock-ups, onsite testing, commissioning, and other project life-cycle quality checks to help ensure proper installation and commissioning of systems.
Coordinate internal teams, consultants, and contractors across projects and campuses to maintain transparency and situational awareness and resolve issues in a timely manner.
Maintain project knowledge repositories, status information, decisions, planning documents, records, and documentation; provide regular updates to internal stakeholders and share information, priorities, and feedback with 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).
Coordinate with other technical disciplines to ensure systems are fully functioning and integrated, and guide cross-discipline technical interactions between Meta’s design team and the engineer of record.
Support onboarding of new teammates and develop cross-discipline knowledge to maintain design support and build the field design team’s breadth and depth.
Lead onsite CSLA design, delivery, and quality meetings to resolve critical design issues.
Collaborate on 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 technical support on design-related matters.
Support Facilities Engineering and Operations through knowledge sharing, technical guidance, and design-system operation support throughout the project schedule.