Director, Development Preconstruction & Cost Management

Quality Technology Services•Irving, TX

10d

About The Position

The Development Preconstruction & Cost Management Leader is a strategic member of the QTS Development organization, responsible for cost certainty, constructability, schedule optimization, and delivery readiness across the company’s data center portfolio. The role connects Development, Design, Procurement, Construction, Operations, and Finance to ensure projects are appropriately scoped, estimated, planned, and ready for execution. The position spans the full development lifecycle—from site due diligence and master planning through conceptual estimating, design development, procurement strategy, construction mobilization, and project closeout. It supports hyperscale campuses, build-to-suit developments, and multi-phase expansion programs while maintaining financial discipline and supporting QTS growth objectives. The leader develops and manages estimates, budgets, forecasts, cost controls, procurement and execution strategies, and risk mitigation plans. The role also leads preconstruction and constructability reviews, supports investment and customer pricing decisions, communicates cost and schedule information to senior leadership, mentors staff, and advances portfolio-wide standards and continuous improvement. This position is bonus eligible and may be eligible for equity.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, Cost Engineering, Real Estate Development, or a related field.
At least 10 years of experience in data center development, preconstruction, cost management, estimating, construction management, or mission-critical infrastructure.
Demonstrated experience supporting hyperscale, colocation, mission-critical, industrial, advanced manufacturing, or large-scale infrastructure projects.
Strong understanding of data center development and construction, including sitework, utility infrastructure, core and shell, electrical systems, cooling systems, controls, and commissioning interfaces.
Expertise in budgeting, forecasting, estimating, cost control, cash flow, commercial analysis, and executive financial reporting.
Experience with site due diligence, master planning, infrastructure planning, campus phasing, and project delivery strategy.
Experience with contractor procurement, bid evaluation, contract administration, change management, and commercial negotiations.
Ability to translate complex technical and financial information into clear recommendations for executives and cross-functional teams.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to independently manage deadlines and support staff.
Ability to influence cross-discipline teams.
Flexibility and adaptability in a high-growth company.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting large-scale hyperscale campus developments, including multi-building and multi-phase programs.
Professional certifications such as AACE, CCP, CEP, PMP, CCM, RICS, or Professional Engineer.
Experience with modularization, prefabrication, offsite manufacturing, and alternative delivery strategies.
Proficiency with Autodesk Construction Cloud, Procore, Primavera P6, Power BI, advanced Excel cost models, and estimating platforms.
Experience building enterprise cost databases, benchmarking programs, portfolio reporting standards, and governance processes.

Responsibilities

Partner with Pre-Development teams during site acquisition, due diligence, entitlement, and master planning.
Evaluate development opportunities and provide conceptual cost and schedule analysis for investment decisions.
Develop campus development budgets, infrastructure forecasts, and long-range capital plans.
Work with utilities, consultants, and agencies to evaluate power, water, fiber, and infrastructure requirements.
Support phased campus strategies that align customer demand, infrastructure availability, and capital deployment.
Develop and improve cost estimates from conceptual design through construction, and establish baseline budgets for buildings, infrastructure, utilities, and site development.
Monitor project expenditures, commitments, forecasts, cash flow, and contingencies; lead budget reconciliation across relevant teams.
Prepare executive cost reports, variance analyses, forecast updates, cost narratives, and risk assessments; maintain cost benchmarking data.
Lead estimates and cost models for hyperscale and wholesale data center projects using historical data, market intelligence, contractor input, and benchmarks.
Evaluate cost impacts of design alternatives, customer requirements, delivery strategies, phasing, and construction sequencing.
Support capital planning, investment approvals, customer pricing, and executive business cases.
Manage preconstruction from project initiation through construction commencement, including execution strategies, procurement plans, schedules, and delivery roadmaps.
Coordinate with design partners, consultants, contractors, and internal stakeholders to ensure design completeness and budget alignment.
Lead constructability, scope-gap, design-to-budget, and readiness reviews; facilitate preconstruction workshops on schedule, logistics, market engagement, and risk.
Support contractor selection, bid packaging, tendering, bid leveling, and award recommendations with Construction Services Procurement.
Support negotiation and administration of contractor, supplier, subcontractor, and consultant agreements; evaluate change orders, claims, allowances, contingencies, and commercial impacts.
Partner with Supply Chain and Procurement on cost savings, long-lead risks, sourcing strategies, and strategic equipment procurement.
Develop site logistics plans and evaluate construction sequencing, crane operations, laydown areas, temporary facilities and utilities, access, and workforce needs.
Drive constructability reviews across civil, structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, controls, and technology systems.
Identify opportunities for schedule acceleration, modularization, prefabrication, and offsite manufacturing.
Identify, quantify, communicate, and mitigate cost, schedule, procurement, constructability, and execution risks; maintain contingency strategies, risk registers, and corrective-action plans.
Lead value engineering and value management while protecting safety, reliability, scalability, quality, and operational requirements.
Monitor labor, material, equipment, escalation, and supply-chain conditions that may affect delivery.
Ensure compliance with QTS governance, documentation, audit-readiness, and investment approval requirements.
Partner with Development, Design, Construction, Operations, Finance, Legal, Procurement, and executive stakeholders; present cost, schedule, risk, and decision narratives to senior leaders and investors.
Mentor and develop preconstruction, estimating, and development personnel.
Build and maintain cost governance frameworks, including work and cost breakdown structures, cost codes, control accounts, reporting cadence, and executive dashboards.
Drive standardization, lessons learned, benchmarking, digital integration, and continuous improvement across the portfolio.

Benefits

Medical insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
Life insurance
Disability insurance
401(k) retirement plan with Roth and Traditional matching contributions and immediate vesting
Flexible spending and HSA accounts
Paid holidays
Paid time off
Paid volunteer days
Employee assistance program
Tuition assistance and tuition reimbursement
Parental leave
Military leave assistance and military benefits package
QTS scholarship for employee dependents
Wellness program
Bonus eligibility
Potential equity eligibility
Stock Purchase Plan
Holiday compensation when worked
Pet insurance
Legal insurance
Q-Rest Sabbatical Program
Q-Anniversary Service Award Program
QTS Charitable Matching Gift Program
QTS Crisis Fund
QTS provides reasonable accommodations during the employment process