Development Manager (Data Center)

CloudHQ•Ashburn, VA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Data Center Development Manager leads and is accountable for CloudHQ data center development projects across the preconstruction lifecycle, from campus planning through entitlement, design, and transition to the Construction team. The role drives projects forward, maintains alignment among stakeholders, and supports delivery against schedule, budget, operational, and customer objectives. The manager works with customers, utility providers, architects, engineers, contractors, local jurisdictions, and CloudHQ Construction and Operations teams. The position requires ownership, urgency, proactive risk mitigation, timely decision-making, and momentum across multiple concurrent projects. The role is site-based in Ashburn, Virginia, and may require travel to data center sites, client meetings, trainings, or conferences. The employee must be willing to work extended hours when required to meet critical deadlines. Candidates selected for consideration must pass a background check, and employees must sign and adhere to CloudHQ’s Code of Conduct and Employee Confidentiality Agreement.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Real Estate Development, Construction Management, Engineering, Project Management, or a related discipline.
3–5+ years of experience in real estate development, project management, construction management, and/or design management.
Experience leading multidisciplinary project teams and managing external consultants, contractors, and stakeholders through complex development and delivery.
Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills, with the ability to drive high-stakes technical outcomes with urgency and sound commercial and technical judgment.
Ability to proactively identify, escalate, and mitigate technical, commercial, and schedule risks before they affect delivery.
Strong ownership and accountability, with a track record of driving complex initiatives to closure on aggressive timelines.
Strong communication and influencing skills, including the ability to align cross-functional stakeholders and drive issues to resolution.
Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects in a fast-paced, high-growth environment while maintaining momentum.
Strategic thinking and a continuous-improvement mindset, balancing rapid execution with long-term business objectives.
Flexibility and willingness to work extended hours when required to meet critical deadlines.
Must pass a background check if selected for consideration.
Must sign and adhere to CloudHQ’s Code of Conduct and Employee Confidentiality Agreement if hired.
Ability to travel to data center sites, client meetings, trainings, or conferences as requested and required.

Nice To Haves

Experience in data centers, mission-critical facilities, or other complex commercial or high-tech environments.

Responsibilities

Lead and maintain accountability for data center development projects from campus planning through entitlement, design, permitting, and handoff to Construction.
Drive campus planning, design, and permitting across multiple simultaneous projects while maintaining alignment with CloudHQ standards, customer requirements, and business objectives.
Develop and actively manage project budgets, schedules, and development milestones; drive internal and external teams to meet milestones and adjust to changing priorities, risks, or constraints.
Lead procurement of external consultants, including preparing RFPs, evaluating proposals, negotiating contracts, and selecting consultants.
Maintain project ownership and accountability, drive timely decisions, and coordinate cross-functional teams and external partners.
Lead the design process and development of coordinated, high-quality construction documents and specifications.
Drive utilities planning and coordination to support project timelines.
Coordinate architects, engineers, contractors, trade partners, equipment vendors, utility providers, municipalities, customers, and internal stakeholders.
Work with customers to translate technical and operational requirements into development and design solutions that balance scope, schedule, cost, and operational objectives.
Collaborate with Construction and Operations to ensure projects are executable, maintainable, scalable, and aligned with operational best practices and lifecycle cost considerations.
Communicate project constraints, risks, decisions, and impacts clearly and proactively to leadership and key stakeholders.
Represent CloudHQ in meetings with municipalities, utility providers, neighborhood groups, customers, and external project teams.
Lead issue resolution between CloudHQ and external partners, ensuring accountability and timely closure of critical action items.
Attend and lead project meetings, including OAC and coordination meetings, to support alignment, execution discipline, and follow-through.
Prepare and present development business plans, project updates, risk assessments, and strategic recommendations to leadership.
Identify opportunities to improve development, entitlement, permitting, and delivery processes for greater scalability, efficiency, and consistency.
Develop solutions and innovations to improve project execution, stakeholder coordination, and team performance.
Identify lessons learned and incorporate process improvements and best practices into future projects.
Contribute to CloudHQ’s development standards, delivery strategies, and long-term planning initiatives.