Director, Pre-Construction & Scheduling

QTS Data Centers•Richmond, VA

4d•$144,728 - $218,056

About The Position

The Director, Pre-Construction & Scheduling is responsible for establishing and governing the processes, standards, systems, and controls that enable predictable execution across the QTS Development portfolio. Serving as a strategic partner to regional development execution teams, this leader oversees portfolio-wide planning, pre-construction governance, schedule management, cost and schedule compliance, production reporting, risk management, contractor evaluation support, and project controls functions. Reporting to the VP, Development Pre-Construction & Scheduling, this role develops and drives the standards, metrics, and governance necessary to improve delivery predictability, increase organizational consistency, and provide leadership with visibility into cost, schedule, and execution risks across a rapidly growing development portfolio.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, Project Management, Business, or related field.
Nine or more years of experience in project controls, construction management, pre-construction, scheduling, development, or similar disciplines.
Three or more years of direct people leadership experience.
Experience managing complex capital projects or programs.
Demonstrated expertise in planning, cost management, scheduling, project controls, governance, and risk management.
Proven experience developing enterprise standards, reporting, and performance management processes.
Strong collaboration skills and ability to influence leaders across a matrixed organization.
Strong analytical, business, and executive communication capabilities.
Strong knowledge of project planning, pre-construction, scheduling, project controls, and portfolio governance.
Ability to analyze complex business and project data to identify risks, trends, and opportunities.
Knowledge of cost management, schedule management, contractor procurement, and risk mitigation practices.
Ability to develop KPIs, dashboards, reporting frameworks, and executive-level insights.
Strong leadership skills with the ability to build teams, develop talent, and drive accountability.
Ability to influence and collaborate effectively across a highly matrixed organization.
Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
Proven ability to lead process improvement, standardization, and organizational change initiatives.
Proficiency with project controls, scheduling, analytics, and reporting platforms.
Demonstrated strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.

Nice To Haves

Twelve or more years of construction, development, project controls, or related experience.
Data center, mission-critical, or large-scale infrastructure development experience.
MBA, master's degree, PMP, CCM, PSP, or other relevant professional certification.
Expertise with scheduling, project controls, analytics, and portfolio management tools including Primavera P6, Power BI, Tableau, Procore, Autodesk Construction Cloud, or similar platforms.
Experience establishing new organizational functions and operating models.
Advanced experience leading enterprise transformation or process improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities

Lead development and implementation of enterprise planning and controls processes across the Development organization.
Establish governance frameworks supporting project planning, cost management, schedule management, and execution readiness.
Partner with Development executives to improve portfolio predictability, performance measurement, and project outcomes.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives across pre-construction, project controls, and schedule management functions.
Develop organizational standards, templates, methodologies, and best practices.
Support project evaluation and early-stage planning activities.
Lead development and maintenance of cost, schedule, and execution planning standards.
Provide oversight of estimating methodologies, budgeting assumptions, and cost benchmarking programs.
Evaluate contractor proposals, schedules, commercial terms, and project delivery strategies.
Identify value engineering opportunities and risk mitigation strategies during project development.
Support procurement, contract administration, and work authorization processes.
Establish portfolio-wide scheduling standards and governance processes.
Define schedule compliance requirements and performance expectations.
Lead production tracking, forecasting, and schedule analytics initiatives.
Develop executive reporting tools and dashboards supporting project and portfolio management.
Identify emerging schedule risks and coordinate intervention strategies when required.
Maintain enterprise schedule risk management and escalation processes.
Develop and maintain performance metrics that provide insight into portfolio health, project execution, schedule performance, and cost management.
Ensure consistent and accurate reporting throughout the Development organization.
Partner with Data & Analytics teams to improve reporting capabilities and data quality.
Deliver executive-level insights and recommendations based on portfolio performance trends.
Establish KPIs and reporting frameworks supporting strategic decision-making.
Lead development and implementation of portfolio risk management processes.
Monitor compliance with approved development standards, planning requirements, schedules, budgets, and governance expectations.
Drive identification, escalation, and resolution of significant project risks.
Collaborate with Development, Procurement, Finance, Quality, and Design & Engineering leaders to mitigate delivery risks.
Establish project intervention processes for underperforming or high-risk initiatives.
Build, develop, and lead teams responsible for development planning, controls, analytics, scheduling, pre-construction, and project governance functions.
Establish performance expectations and technical standards.
Mentor and develop future functional leaders within the organization.
Drive organizational capability building related to project controls and portfolio management.