Planning Lead

Meta•Menlo Park, CA

7d•$170,000 - $238,000

About The Position

Meta is seeking an experienced Construction Planning Lead to join our design, engineering, and construction organization supporting data center and large-scale infrastructure development. In this role, you will drive early-phase planning activities from site due diligence through handoff to preconstruction teams, shaping the cost, schedule, and constructability strategy for hyperscale capital programs. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams spanning site selection, energy, product design, and delivery to establish project targets and critical path frameworks that enable confident, on-time break ground decisions.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a directly related field, or equivalent practical experience
10+ years of direct professional experience in construction management, preconstruction, commercial management, engineering, or construction scheduling for large-scale capital projects
Experience with hyperscale or mission-critical data center construction, including ground-up greenfield development and retrofit projects
Experience developing and managing construction schedules using P6 or equivalent scheduling tools, with applied knowledge of critical path analysis and construction interdependencies
Experience across all aspects of preconstruction including site development, budget development, change management, risk management, and contract delivery methods
Experience leading cross-functional coordination across internal and external teams to drive alignment on project scope, schedule, and cost targets

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated ability to integrate AI tools to optimize/redesign workflows and drive measurable impact (e.g., efficiency gains, quality improvements)
Professional Engineer license in mechanical, electrical, or civil engineering, or certification in Project Management or construction scheduling
Demonstrated ongoing AI skill development (e.g., prompt/context engineering, agent orchestration) and staying current with emerging AI technologies
Experience adhering to and implementing responsible, ethical AI practices (e.g., risk assessment, bias mitigation, quality and accuracy reviews)
Familiarity with new product introduction processes for data center infrastructure, including coordination between engineering product development and construction delivery teams
Experience integrating AI or automation tools into planning workflows to improve schedule accuracy, scenario modeling, or reporting efficiency
Experience with financial modeling including total cost of ownership, net present value analysis, and return on investment frameworks applied to large capital programs

Responsibilities

Develop high-level path-to-break-ground schedules that incorporate site conditions, labor market availability, design type, permitting timelines, and seasonal factors, flagging critical decision milestones and last-responsible-moment commitments for leadership
Build programmatic scheduling frameworks and critical path analyses to support scenario planning and establish high-confidence delivery projections at the time of site-specific design kickoff
Contribute to master plan analysis for future sites, including logistics planning, off-site improvements, geotechnical review, local regulatory requirements, neighbor risk mitigation, and labor market assessments
Lead constructability reviews at multiple design stages to influence engineering decisions that improve safety, schedule predictability, cost efficiency, and overall build quality
Leverage cost, schedule, and constructability expertise to provide real-time feedback that informs target pricing, value engineering, trade-off evaluations, and financial models used in leadership decision-making
Set project cost and schedule targets, communicate them to stakeholders, and hold cross-functional teams accountable to the established roadmap through structured milestone tracking and risk escalation
Manage the transition of new region and new product development from planning to preconstruction and delivery teams, ensuring continuity of project context, commitments, and risk posture
Collaborate with engineering and product development teams to differentiate between essential design requirements and discretionary features, providing informed pushback to protect schedule and budget integrity
Identify opportunities to improve planning processes and tooling as business needs evolve, supporting initiatives that drive efficiency across the broader construction planning organization
Build and maintain consistent communication and strong working relationships with leads across cross-functional teams including site development, energy, procurement, general contractors, and technology integrators