The
National Construction Project Executive - Data Center (Mechanical) is a senior executive leader responsible for the strategic oversight, operational excellence, and profitable execution of mechanical construction programs serving hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, and mission-critical data center customers nationwide. This leader provides leadership for all aspects of mechanical project delivery, including preconstruction, procurement, construction, commissioning, customer engagement, and operational performance. The role serves as the primary executive interface with key data center customers and internal stakeholders, ensuring projects are delivered safely, on schedule, within budget, and in accordance with the stringent reliability and quality requirements of mission-critical facilities. The ideal candidate possesses deep expertise in data center cooling infrastructure, mission-critical mechanical systems, large-scale construction operations, and customer relationship management, with a proven record of leading complex project portfolios and driving growth within the rapidly expanding data center market.
Key ResponsibilitiesStrategic Leadership & Market Growth- Develop and execute a national strategy for mechanical construction services supporting hyperscale, colocation, AI, cloud, semiconductor, and mission-critical data center customers.
- Collaborate with executive leadership to identify market opportunities, expand customer relationships, and drive profitable growth.
- Establish national standards, best practices, and operational procedures for mechanical construction execution across all regions.
- Serve as an internal subject matter expert on data center mechanical infrastructure, emerging cooling technologies, and mission-critical construction trends.
- Support strategic planning initiatives focused on long-term customer partnerships and operational scalability.
Executive Customer Leadership- Serve as Executive Sponsor for key hyperscale and colocation customer accounts.
- Develop and maintain executive-level relationships with customer construction, engineering, design, operations, and procurement leaders.
- Lead executive business reviews, project performance meetings, and strategic account planning sessions.
- Ensure customer expectations are aligned with project execution and operational performance.
- Drive customer satisfaction, repeat business opportunities, and long-term strategic partnerships.
Project & Program Oversight- Provide executive oversight of large-scale mechanical construction projects and national data center programs.
- Ensure successful execution of projects involving mission-critical cooling and mechanical infrastructure.
- Review project schedules, financial performance, manpower plans, procurement status, commissioning readiness, and risk assessments.
- Support project teams in resolving complex technical, operational, contractual, and staffing challenges.
- Ensure consistency in project delivery, reporting, forecasting, and governance processes across all regions.
Financial Performance & Business Management- Maintain accountability for portfolio revenue, profitability, cash flow, and overall operational performance.
- Review project forecasts, labor productivity metrics, procurement costs, and margin performance.
- Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency and increase profitability.
- Participate in contract negotiations, change order strategy development, claims resolution, and risk mitigation efforts.
- Support annual budgeting, forecasting, and strategic business planning activities.
Operational Excellence- Standardize best practices for mechanical construction execution across all data center projects.
- Promote innovative construction methods, prefabrication, modularization, digital construction tools, and lean project delivery practices.
- Improve project execution through continuous process improvement initiatives.
- Ensure coordination between engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction, commissioning, and customer teams.
- Drive consistency in startup, commissioning, and owner turnover processes.
Safety, Quality & Risk Management- Champion a world-class safety culture focused on incident prevention and operational excellence.
- Ensure compliance with company, customer, and regulatory safety standards.
- Lead executive-level safety reviews and risk assessments.
- Promote rigorous quality assurance and quality control processes to support mission-critical reliability requirements.
- Ensure project teams achieve commissioning readiness and successful mechanical system turnover milestones.
Talent Development & Organizational Leadership- Build and develop a high-performing national team of Project Executives, Operations Directors, Program Managers, Project Managers, and Construction Managers.
- Lead succession planning and leadership development initiatives.
- Recruit and retain top-tier mission-critical mechanical construction talent.
- Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and customer-focused execution.
Specific Qualifications
Education- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Construction Management, Engineering Technology, Business Administration, or related field preferred.
- Advanced leadership training or graduate education is a plus.
Experience- 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in mechanical construction.
- 10+ years managing mission-critical, data center, industrial, healthcare, semiconductor, or advanced technology projects.
- Proven experience overseeing large-scale mechanical construction portfolios across multiple regions.
- Demonstrated success supporting hyperscale and colocation data center customers.
- Experience managing projects exceeding $100M individually and portfolios exceeding $1B annually preferred.
Technical Expertise - Strong understanding of:
Mission-Critical Cooling Systems- Chilled water systems
- Air-cooled and water-cooled cooling plants
- Cooling towers
- Chillers
- Pumps and hydronic systems
- Heat rejection systems
- Direct-to-chip liquid cooling
- Rear-door heat exchangers
- Immersion cooling technologies
- Thermal energy storage systems
Mechanical Infrastructure- HVAC systems
- CRAH and CRAC units
- Dedicated outdoor air systems (DOAS)
- Computer room environmental controls
- Industrial ventilation systems
- Refrigeration systems
- Fuel oil systems
- Natural gas systems
- Mechanical piping systems
- Process piping systems
Data Center Construction- Prefabricated mechanical skids
- Modular mechanical plants
- Building Information Modeling (BIM)
- Virtual Design and Construction (VDC)
- Integrated Project Delivery (IPD)
- Startup and commissioning processes
- Integrated Systems Testing (IST)
- Operational readiness and turnover
