Senior Design Manager

American Real Estate Partners LLC•McLean, VA

About The Position

The Senior Design Manager leads multidisciplinary design delivery across multiple data center developments, serving as the day-to-day design authority for assigned projects from early planning through construction and commissioning. The role produces coordinated, buildable designs that meet cost and schedule objectives while translating PowerHouse Data Centers’ standard design platform and tenant requirements into delivered projects. It owns early-stage design products—including conceptual designs, elevations, and tenant test fits—with clear capacity, density, and cost-impact summaries to support tenant decisions and deal timelines. The role directs external architecture and engineering consultants, balances standardization with tenant customization, and enforces standards compliance, cost, schedule, and change management. It provides leadership in architectural and facade standards, partners with preconstruction during RFP processes, and incorporates operations and sustainability input to support long-term performance. The position reports to the Design Director. The schedule may be based in McLean, Virginia, or remote, with approximately 25% travel to project sites, consultants, and tenant meetings.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent additional professional experience in lieu of a degree.
10+ years of experience in data center, mission-critical, or complex commercial design, including leadership in tenant-facing roles.
Demonstrated experience leading conceptual design, building elevations, and data center test fits or concept layouts, including rack and row planning, capacity checks, and rapid iteration against tenant requirements.
Experience managing multidisciplinary design teams and external A/E consultants across multiple concurrent projects.
Strong working knowledge of architectural/enclosure, structural, civil/site, MEP, fire protection, and security and IT/AV systems.
Ability to enforce standards compliance (BOD), change-control discipline, and cost and schedule alignment.
Ability to interpret and influence drawings, technical submittals, and equipment selections.
Familiarity with OFCI/CFCI procurement, BOM development for estimating, redundancy configurations (N, N+1, 2N), availability and blast-radius concepts, and commissioning processes.
Exceptional communication and leadership skills, with experience in technical negotiations and stakeholder management.
Willingness and ability to travel approximately 25% to project sites, consultants, and tenant meetings.

Nice To Haves

Professional licensure or certifications such as AIA, PE, LEED, GGP, or CxA.
Experience with hyperscale tenant requirements, including AI/ML workloads and high-density liquid-cooled racks, and colocation design integration.
Mechanical design or cooling systems experience, including air-cooled heat rejection, chilled-water plants, thermal energy storage, facility water distribution, CDUs, and liquid cooling; noted as a plus, not required.
Proficiency in BIM and design tools such as Revit and AutoCAD, and collaborative platforms such as Bluebeam, Procore, and CxAlloy.
Familiarity with modular or prefabricated design strategies, closed-loop and low-water cooling, controls/BMS integration, and FM Global requirements.

Responsibilities

Lead design delivery across multiple concurrent projects and all disciplines, including architectural, structural, civil/site, MEP, fire protection, and security/IT/AV, from early planning through construction and commissioning.
Develop tenant test fits for prospective and existing hyperscale tenants, including white-space and gray-space layouts, rack types, cooling splits, row and hall configurations, capacity, and support-space needs; manage consultant iteration on compressed timelines.
Develop conceptual designs and elevations for prospective and existing developments, establishing an early design baseline aligned with PowerHouse standards and facade Basis of Design.
Prepare capacity, density, sound, PUE, WUE, and cost-impact summaries to support tenant decisions and deal timelines; coordinate with the OFCI/CFCI procurement team on bills of materials for estimating.
Lead strategic adaptation and execution of the PowerHouse standard design, maintaining portfolio consistency and repeatability while aligning base-building, turnkey, and tenant-specific requirements.
Direct external A/E consultants in producing integrated, coordinated, constructible design packages, including construction documents, narratives, and sequences of operation; resolve cross-disciplinary coordination issues.
Serve as senior design liaison between internal teams and tenant engineering groups; review tenant requirements, submittals, and integration strategies, and manage deviations from tenant Basis of Design documents.
Enforce structured change management, assess and communicate the cost and schedule effects of tenant-driven changes, and lead value-engineering efforts.
Lead facade and architectural standards execution through acquisition, development, and construction; conduct internal facade design reviews with the Architectural Review Board at 30%, 60%, 90%, and IFC design phases, and oversee facade consultants.
Partner with preconstruction on RFP development, scope definition, Basis of Design alignment, and proposal evaluation; support site evaluation and master planning with acquisitions and development teams.
Support construction and commissioning by coordinating on design intent, RFIs, and long-lead procurement; conduct QA/QC reviews and site observations; coordinate FAT, SAT, and IST readiness; and incorporate operations and sustainability input to improve lifecycle performance.