Director of Data Center Construction - Site Development

Do you want to work with high-caliber professionals in a dynamic and growing company? Are you entrepreneurial, hard-working, and collegial? Join us at SB Energy, a leading infrastructure company backed by SoftBank Group and Ares Infrastructure, pairing cutting-edge innovation with best-in-class execution. Our mission is to deliver reliable and secure data center and power infrastructure to strengthen America's future. Founded in 2019, SB Energy is a SoftBank Group company headquartered in Redwood City, California. In 2026, SoftBank Group and OpenAI announced a $1 billion investment to support SB Energy as their leading development and execution partner for data center campuses, while Ares Infrastructure continues its long-standing support of the company's growth. SB Energy develops, builds, owns, and operates some of the largest and most technically advanced energy and data center infrastructure projects in the United States. Since its founding, the company has rapidly grown into a top-tier integrated platform with more than 3 gigawatts (GW) in operation and a multi-GW pipeline of energy and data center infrastructure nationwide. SB Energy also leverages a strong culture of innovation to identify and integrate new technologies into its projects, including its AI-based digital platform, delivering energy infrastructure that is local, reliable, and matched to load. We are building the energy and infrastructure future—today. Come join us in accelerating the energy and infrastructure transition! Basic Function The Project Director is responsible for leading the successful delivery of hyperscale data center campuses (1GW–8GW+) through a highly collaborative, integrated approach. This leader is not only accountable for outcomes—schedule, cost, safety, and quality—but also serves as the central facilitator across development, design, construction, and operations, ensuring alignment among diverse stakeholders including internal teams, general contractors, trade partners, utilities, and customers. Success in this role is defined by the ability to provide leadership, create clarity, foster trust, and orchestrate execution across a complex ecosystem. In addition to driving project execution, the Director champions SB Energy’s culture—leading with ownership, accountability, collaboration, and a commitment to continuous improvement while building and mentoring high performing teams. The Director will also lead site development planning and execution, partnering with development, real estate, engineering, and utility teams to advance sites from due diligence through construction readiness. This includes evaluating site constraints, coordinating entitlement and permitting activities, and overseeing site preparation and enabling infrastructure to support phased data center campus delivery and future expansion. Responsibilities Program Leadership Lead multi-GW campus delivery by aligning cross-functional teams around shared goals, milestones, and constraints. Establish a culture of transparency, accountability, and proactive communication. Facilitate decision-making across stakeholders, ensuring issues are surfaced early and resolved collaboratively. Translate executive strategy into clear, executable plans that can be effectively presented to leadership and communicated across all teams. Ensure program provides incentive structure that ensures exceptional project outcomes with respect to cost, schedule, quality and overall execution. Collaborative Execution & Team Integration Act as the integration point across development, engineering, procurement, construction and operations. Foster strong partnerships with general contractors and key trade partners, treating them as extensions of the core team. Lead structured coordination forums (e.g., multi-GC alignment meetings, pull-planning sessions, interface workshops) and present measurable progress against agreed milestones using current schedules, dashboards, and documented action tracking. Break down silos and ensure seamless information flow across disciplines. Integrate the customer to the greatest extent without. Execution Strategy & Phasing Co-develop phased deployment strategies with internal and external partners (e.g., 100MW–300MW increments). Align construction sequencing with utility delivery, procurement timelines, and customer commitments. Facilitate collaborative schedule development (Last Planner System, pull planning, etc.) Drive shared ownership of critical path milestones, track planned versus actual progress, and present schedule performance, risks, and recovery plans to leadership and project stakeholders. Site Development & Infrastructure Delivery Lead site development execution for large-scale data center campuses, including clearing, demolition where required, mass grading, earthwork, ground improvement, drainage, access roads, and underground utilities. Partners with development and real estate teams on site feasibility and due diligence, evaluating geotechnical conditions, topography, environmental constraints, floodplain exposure, access, easements, and utility availability to identify cost, schedule, and constructability risks. Oversee civil engineering and campus infrastructure planning, ensuring building pads, finished grades, stormwater systems, road networks, and utility corridors support phased construction and long-term campus expansion. Coordinate with development, environmental, and permitting teams to align zoning, entitlements, site development approvals, and permit conditions with early works and construction milestones. Coordinate with utility providers and internal infrastructure teams to confirm capacity, routing, connection points, and delivery schedules for power, water, wastewater, and telecommunications. Direct civil contractors and early works packages, establishing clear scopes, budgets, schedules, and handoff requirements between site development and vertical construction teams. Integrate off-site infrastructure improvements, including road access and utility extensions, into the overall campus delivery plan. Establish and verify site readiness milestones for each construction phase, including approved permits, prepared building pads, construction access, temporary utilities, drainage, and laydown areas. Construction & Field Leadership Lead large, distributed teams by empowering field leaders while maintaining alignment to program objectives. Promote a culture where field insights inform decision-making at all levels. Ensure site logistics, productivity, and sequencing are collectively owned and continuously optimized. Encourage cross-contractor collaboration rather than competition. Commercial & Contract Strategy (Partnership-Focused) Structure contracts that incentivize collaboration, performance, and shared success. Lead commercial discussions with a solutions-oriented mindset, balancing risk and partnership. Facilitate resolution of changes, claims, and disputes through alignment and transparency. Ensure financial decisions support long-term program success—not just short-term outcomes. Design & Preconstruction Integration Lead integrated design and preconstruction efforts with a focus on constructability, scalability, and repeatability. Facilitate value engineering sessions that leverage input from all stakeholders. Ensure design decisions are informed by real-world execution constraints. Promote standardization while allowing flexibility where needed. Supply Chain & Procurement Coordination Align procurement strategies with construction sequencing and program priorities. Engage contractors and vendors early to ensure feasibility and buy-in. Facilitate coordination across global supply chain stakeholders. Proactively identify and mitigate procurement risks through collaboration. Commissioning & Turnover Lead commissioning strategy with strong coordination between construction and operations teams. Ensure all parties are aligned on readiness criteria and turnover expectations. Facilitate integrated system testing and issue resolution. Deliver facilities that are operationally ready and meet customer expectations. Safety & Risk Culture Champion a shared safety culture across all contractors and teams. Facilitate open dialogue around risks, near misses, and lessons learned. Lead program-level risk workshops and mitigation planning. Ensure safety and risk management are collective responsibilities. Stakeholder Engagement Serve as a trusted partner to executives, customers, utilities, and regulatory agencies. Communicate program status, risks, and opportunities with clarity and transparency. Build long-term relationships that support future growth and collaboration. Represent the program as a unified effort—not a collection of silos. Qualifications/Requirements Bachelor's degree in construction management, engineering, or related field.