Director, Design Management

CoreWeave•San Francisco, NY

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Data Center Design team is responsible for managing the delivery of architectural, engineering, and technology designs across CoreWeave’s global data center portfolio. The team coordinates the design lifecycle from early-stage project definition through construction, commissioning support and IT deployment, ensuring CoreWeave’s technical requirements are incorporated into each project and delivered in accordance with established scope, schedule, budget, and quality expectations. Working in partnership with the Data Center Engineering and Data Center Technology teams, Design Management integrates the work of internal subject matter experts, data center providers, architects, engineers, consultants, contractors, and equipment suppliers. Through disciplined project leadership, design coordination, and consistent execution, the team enables CoreWeave to rapidly and reliably expand its physical infrastructure to support next-generation, high-density compute workloads.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Architectural or a related engineering discipline.
15+ years of progressively responsible experience in data center design, engineering, design management, construction, or project delivery, including at least 5 years in a leadership or people-management role.
Demonstrated subject matter expertise in data center design project management, including management of scope, schedules, budgets, risks, consultants, design deliverables, technical reviews, and stakeholder decisions.
Proven experience leading and developing Design Managers, Project Managers, engineers, architects, or other multidisciplinary professionals.
Proven track record of successfully managing the design delivery of large-scale, high-density data center projects.
Experience overseeing multiple concurrent projects across different locations, project phases, delivery models, and levels of complexity.
Strong working knowledge of data center infrastructure, including power distribution, UPS systems, generators, cooling plants, liquid cooling, BMS and controls, life-safety systems, white space infrastructure, low-voltage systems, and structured cabling.
Experience working with data center providers, real estate developers, A/E consultants, contractors, commissioning agents, equipment manufacturers, and other external partners.
Strong understanding of design contracts, consultant scopes, design schedules, fee structures, change management, deliverables, and professional service provider performance.
Excellent people-leadership skills, including the ability to establish accountability, manage performance, develop talent, and create an effective and collaborative team environment.
Excellent written, verbal, and executive-level communication skills, with the ability to translate complex project and technical issues into clear business impacts, options, and recommendations.
Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment while managing multiple projects, competing priorities, and evolving business requirements.
Strong analytical, organizational, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency.

Nice To Haves

Professional Engineer (PE), Registered Architect (RA), or equivalent professional licensure is a plus.
Professional certifications such as PMP, Uptime Institute, LEED, BICSI, or similar credentials are a plus.

Responsibilities

Lead, manage, mentor, and develop a team of Design Managers.
Establish clear expectations, provide ongoing coaching, evaluate performance, and support the continued growth of a high-performing team.
Maintain oversight of design delivery across a portfolio of concurrent data center projects, ensuring each project is progressing in accordance with approved scope, schedule, budget, quality, and business requirements.
Serve as the organizational subject matter expert for data center design project management, establishing consistent methods for planning, coordinating, tracking, and delivering multidisciplinary design activities.
Assign Design Managers to projects based on complexity, geography, schedule, risk, and business priority.
Monitor team capacity and develop staffing or consultant strategies to address resource constraints.
Establish and administer design management processes, deliverable requirements, project controls, meeting structures, review milestones, decision logs, risk registers, change controls, and escalation pathways.
Oversee the performance of data center providers, architects, engineers, and other professional consultants.
Establish expectations for deliverable quality, responsiveness, schedule performance, coordination, and adherence to contractual requirements.
Serve as the senior escalation point for design delivery risks, unresolved coordination issues, scope gaps, consultant performance concerns, and decisions affecting project cost or schedule.
Ensure CoreWeave’s Design & Engineering Guidelines, Basis of Design, technology standards, and project-specific requirements are communicated to external partners and consistently incorporated into project deliverables.
Establish expectations for interdisciplinary coordination, constructability, document completeness, quality control, and resolution of review comments.
Participate in critical design reviews and page-turn meetings for high-risk or strategically important projects.
Partner with Construction Management, Finance, and other stakeholders to develop and monitor design schedules, consultant budgets, forecasts, and key milestones.
Ensure design activities support procurement, construction, commissioning, and customer deployment requirements.
Establish disciplined processes for evaluating and documenting design changes, including their effects on project scope, cost, schedule, constructability, operations, and technical performance.
Lead or support the development of RFPs, evaluation of proposals, selection of A/E consultants and other design partners, negotiation of scopes and fees, and ongoing management of consultant contracts and invoices.
Ensure the Design Management team coordinates Owner-Furnished, Contractor-Installed equipment requirements with Engineering, Technology, Construction, Procurement, and external design teams.
Ensure appropriate design support continues through construction and commissioning, including the timely resolution of RFIs, submittal reviews, field conditions, design clarifications, and changes affecting design intent.
Provide executive leadership with clear reporting on design progress, project risks, consultant performance, key decisions, budgets, schedules, and issues requiring leadership action.
Establish expectations for timely and effective communication across Design Management, Engineering, Technology, Construction, Operations, Capacity, Supply Chain, Network Engineering, and other project stakeholders.
Ensure effective transitions between project development, design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and operations, with clear documentation of outstanding risks, decisions, and responsibilities.
Identify opportunities to improve design workflows, project gating, document control, consultant management, risk tracking, lessons learned, and overall consistency of project delivery.
Collaborate with Engineering and Technology leadership to incorporate lessons learned, emerging technologies, and improved delivery practices into future projects.