Preconstruction Manager

CoreWeave•San Francisco, NY

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Data Center Planning & Construction team at CoreWeave is responsible for delivering a rapidly growing portfolio of data centers and critical infrastructure projects that power our AI cloud platform. We own the full project lifecycle—from site due diligence and design through construction, commissioning, and turnover—while partnering closely with Finance, Operations, and Executive Leadership to scale our footprint responsibly. The Preconstruction Manager will be the owner-side preconstruction lead supporting the lead Project Manager responsible for overall project delivery. This role focuses on planning, budgeting, procurement strategy, and technical coordination during the preconstruction phase of complex data center and infrastructure projects. You will partner closely with Development, Design, Construction, Finance, Procurement, and external consultants to advance scope definition, commercial readiness, and decision-making, while ensuring the Project Management team has the information needed to lead the project through execution. About the Role As a Preconstruction Manager, you will own and scale the preconstruction lifecycle from early concept through GMP, IFC, and commercial milestones. Operating with a high degree of autonomy, you will translate design and commercial ambiguity into structured, executable strategies. You will not just manage processes - you will build the frameworks, tools, and technical benchmarks that allow CoreWeave to build data center infrastructure at rapid speed while maintaining bulletproof fiscal and operational control.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
7–12+ years of experience in preconstruction, estimating, project management, design management, or related disciplines.
Strong understanding of commercial construction means, methods, sequencing, and owner-side project delivery.
Experience with budgeting, estimating, procurement, and contract strategy on complex capital projects.
Ability to interpret construction drawings, specifications, and technical documentation with a critical eye toward scope completeness and risk.
Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to align teams across design, construction, finance, and leadership.
A high level of ownership, judgment, and comfort operating in fast-moving environments with incomplete information and shifting priorities.

Nice To Haves

Experience with data centers, mission-critical facilities, or other large-scale infrastructure projects.
Experience managing multiple concurrent projects or portfolios in an owner-side, developer, or similarly complex delivery environment.
Familiarity with tools such as Procore, Bluebeam, CostX, Primavera P6, or similar platforms.
Professional certifications such as PMP, LEED, or equivalent credentials.

Responsibilities

Drive planning from concept through construction readiness, including budget development, master schedule alignment, packaging strategy, and milestone planning.
Establish decision logs, standardized workstreams, and executive reporting systems to ensure predictable execution across multiple parallel projects.
Serve as the primary owner-side anchor across internal engineering, procurement, and leadership teams, as well as external partners, ensuring complete alignment on scope and priorities.
Develop and maintain conceptual estimates, detailed cost plans, and scenario-based financial models as designs evolve from napkin math to IFC.
Identify cost drivers, escalation exposure, supply chain risks, and budget gaps early; engineer aggressive mitigation strategies before they impact field execution.
Author and present capital planning data, approval packages, and leadership reviews backed by clear, data-driven narratives on budget, scope, and risk.
Lead deep-dive reviews of drawings and specifications with architects, engineers, and contractors to ensure constructability, logical sequencing, and alignment with CoreWeave's technical standards.
Drive aggressive value engineering exercises and scope optimization that reduce cost and lead times without compromising performance, reliability, or safety.
Shape procurement and bid packaging strategies, leading complex bid leveling and the selection of critical contractors and vendors.
Formulate long-lead equipment procurement plans and material tracking mechanisms to lock in critical-path project milestones.
Partner with legal and procurement stakeholders on contract structures, commercial terms, and buyout approaches optimized for volatile market conditions.
Oversee master preconstruction schedules, phase plans, and logic-tied milestones to guarantee projects enter the field completely de-risked.
Actively manage and resolve macro constraints, including permitting, utility power allocations, and long-lead delivery conflicts before they impact start dates.
Manage external estimators, schedulers, and preconstruction consultants, ensuring their deliverables are rigorous, timely, and highly actionable.
Build high-trust, high-leverage relationships across external partners to unblock technical gridlocks and keep critical decisions moving forward.
Standardize preconstruction workflows, tools, templates, and benchmarking databases that elevate the entire function and scale across CoreWeave's hyper-growth portfolio.
Capture lessons learned and actual-vs-estimated cost/schedule data to constantly refine future planning accuracy and speed.