Director, Development Preconstruction & Cost Management

QTS Data Centers•Atlanta, GA

11d

About The Position

The Development Preconstruction & Cost Management Leader is a strategic member of QTS’s Development organization, responsible for driving cost certainty, constructability, schedule optimization, and delivery readiness across its data center portfolio. The role connects Development, Design, Procurement, Construction, Operations, and Finance so projects are scoped, estimated, planned, and positioned for successful execution. The position spans the development lifecycle, from site due diligence and master planning through 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 advancing QTS growth objectives. The leader also supports informed investment decisions, risk reduction, schedule performance, and long-term operational excellence.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, Cost Engineering, Real Estate Development, or a related field.
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 executive leadership and cross-functional teams.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to independently manage deadlines and support staff.
Ability to influence cross-discipline teams.
Ability to be flexible and adapt to changing situations at 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 to support investment decisions.
Develop campus-level development budgets, infrastructure forecasts, and long-range capital plans.
Collaborate with utility providers, consultants, and jurisdictional agencies to evaluate power, water, fiber, and infrastructure requirements.
Support phased campus strategies aligned with customer demand, infrastructure availability, and capital deployment.
Develop, maintain, and improve cost estimates from conceptual through construction levels; establish project budgets and monitor expenditures, commitments, forecasts, cash flow, and contingencies.
Lead budget reconciliation across Development, Design, Procurement, Construction, and Finance, and provide executive cost reporting, variance analysis, forecasts, cost narratives, and risk assessments.
Maintain regional and national benchmarks for labor, materials, equipment, and subcontract trades.
Lead estimates and cost models for hyperscale and wholesale data center projects using historical data, market intelligence, contractor feedback, and industry benchmarks.
Create infrastructure and campus cost forecasts and evaluate cost impacts of design alternatives, customer requirements, delivery strategies, phasing, and sequencing.
Support capital planning, investment approvals, customer pricing decisions, and executive business cases.
Manage preconstruction from project initiation through construction commencement; establish execution strategies, procurement plans, milestone 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 project-readiness reviews and facilitate preconstruction workshops on schedule optimization, logistics, market engagement, and risk mitigation.
Support contractor selection, bid packaging, tendering, bid leveling, and award recommendations; support negotiation and administration of contractor, supplier, and consultant agreements.
Review change orders, claims, allowances, contingencies, escalation, and commercial impacts; partner with Supply Chain and Procurement on cost savings, long-lead risks, sourcing, and strategic equipment procurement.
Develop site logistics plans and evaluate construction sequencing, crane operations, laydown areas, temporary facilities and utilities, access, and workforce requirements.
Drive constructability reviews across civil, structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, controls, and technology systems; identify acceleration, modularization, prefabrication, and offsite manufacturing opportunities.
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 and ensure alignment with 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 investment stakeholders.
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 portfolio-wide standardization, lessons learned, benchmarking, digital integration, and continuous improvement.

Benefits

Medical, dental, vision, life, and 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, and floating holidays.
Employee assistance program.
Tuition assistance and tuition reimbursement.
Parental leave and military leave assistance and benefits.
QTS scholarship for employee dependents.
Wellness program.
Bonus eligibility; role may also be eligible for equity.
Stock Purchase Plan.
Pet and legal insurance.
Q-Rest Sabbatical Program.
Q-Anniversary Service Award Program.
QTS Charitable Matching Gift Program.
QTS Crisis Fund.