Vice President Pre-Construction

5C Data Centers USA, Inc. • Springfield, OH

22h • Remote

About The Position

The Vice President, Pre-Construction leads the function that converts authorized data center projects into executable construction plans and documented ready-to-build (R2B) handoffs. The role integrates constructability, construction phasing, design and permit readiness, utilities, estimates, schedules, procurement, and contractor scope before mobilization. It directs pre-construction across the portfolio, supports active projects with unresolved pre-construction obligations, and establishes repeatable standards, governance, and team capability.

The leader builds the pre-construction operating model, prioritizes projects and specialist resources, defines construction scope and package requirements, coordinates utility and permitting readiness, and collaborates with Engineering, Construction, Procurement, and other stakeholders. The role develops construction-release recommendations, oversees phasing, logistics, estimates, scheduling, tender and award readiness, and leads documented handoffs to Construction. It also recruits and develops pre-construction leaders, communicates tradeoffs and readiness limitations, and uses project outcomes to improve standards and practices.

Requirements

• 15+ years of progressive pre-construction, construction management, or complex capital-project leadership, including senior functional or portfolio responsibility.
• Demonstrated leadership of constructability, design and tender readiness, estimate and schedule integration, and construction-readiness reviews for large, multi-phase projects.
• Experience delivering data center or comparable mission-critical infrastructure, with the ability to challenge technical, cost, schedule, procurement, and commissioning assumptions.
• Track record building teams and practical processes while supporting active projects in a lean, fast-moving environment.
• Strong executive communication, commercial judgment, and cross-functional influence; ability to convert incomplete evidence into clear, qualified recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Build the pre-construction operating model, including scope, readiness standards, work-release gates, staffing, and escalation paths.
• Prioritize projects and specialist resources according to construction-start dates, customer requirements, readiness risk, and authorized pre-construction spend.
• Confirm project scope, assumptions, and open conditions with responsible upstream functions based on approved requirements and documented site, utility, and approval constraints.
• Define construction scope boundaries, owner-direct interfaces, and package requirements with Engineering, Construction, and Procurement; return unresolved upstream items to accountable owners.
• Integrate documented power, water, wastewater, and fiber requirements into construction sequencing, including phased service dates, interconnection work, and off-site infrastructure dependencies.
• Coordinate utility scope, access, installation, and energization prerequisites with responsible specialists, and escalate delivery gaps.
• Coordinate construction permit packages, submissions, approval conditions, release dates, and prerequisites for authorized work packages.
• Translate existing entitlement conditions and off-site obligations into construction requirements and escalate unresolved approvals before recommending mobilization.
• Collaborate in constructability reviews with Engineering, Construction, and Technical Program Management while preserving Engineering's design authority.
• Incorporate cost and schedule implications of buildability and interface gaps involving infrastructure, equipment access, installation sequencing, and operational separation.
• Produce construction-release recommendations that state readiness evidence, alternatives, cost and schedule impacts, residual risks, and required approvals.
• Maintain assumptions, risks, decisions, and owner/date actions; revalidate material dependencies before tender, procurement release, and construction authorization.
• Develop construction phasing, early-works, site-logistics, and labor strategies with Construction, aligning executable work packages to documented site constraints and milestones.
• Integrate equipment access, temporary services, installation sequencing, commissioning needs, and modular or prefabricated delivery opportunities into execution plans.
• Coordinate scope-complete estimate and milestone inputs with Estimating, Cost Control, and Project Controls, including assumptions, allowances, contingency, and owner-direct scope.
• Partner with Procurement on packaging, market engagement, and long-lead releases; surface cancellation exposure and prerequisites before commitments.
• Align design-release plans, permit packages, and tender scope with Engineering, Construction, and Procurement; close gaps, exclusions, and interface ambiguity.
• Ensure proposed contractor requirements include integrated scheduling and coordination of utilities, owner-furnished equipment, vendors, commissioning, and other affected stakeholders.
• Lead documented handoff of approved scope, budgets, schedules, permits, utility obligations, procurement status, and remaining risks to Construction.
• Define package-specific release conditions for phased starts and retain ownership of unresolved pre-construction actions without duplicating daily construction management.
• Recruit and develop pre-construction leaders; establish clear ownership, specialist coverage, review standards, and succession capability.
• Resolve cross-functional tradeoffs with concise recommendations and communicate readiness limitations and delivery implications to executives and customer-facing teams.
• Compare pre-construction assumptions with actual construction, cost, utility, and commissioning outcomes and apply findings to future standards.
• Standardize practical checklists, decision records, and reporting while removing low-value administration and preserving project-specific judgment.

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Career growth in a fast-growing industry
• Opportunity to help power infrastructure behind AI and high-performance computing
• Entrepreneurial culture where employees can help shape the company's future

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed