QTS Realty Trust

Pre-Development Project Manager

QTS Realty Trust$90K — $120K *
Real Estate & Construction
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5+ years of experience in real estate development, focusing on pre-development and entitlements
  • Bachelor's degree in Real Estate, Urban Planning, Engineering, or a related field (Master's preferred)
  • Strong understanding of zoning, land use, permitting, and environmental review processes
  • Strong financial modeling and project budgeting skills
  • Excellent communication, negotiation, and leadership abilities
  • Proficiency in Bluebeam, Smartsheets, and Microsoft Office Suite
  • Ability to travel up to 50% of the time

Responsibilities

  • Manage due diligence, entitlements, and permitting processes for multiple projects
  • Develop and communicate monthly predevelopment program and project status updates for executives
  • Collaborate with stakeholders to create comprehensive campus development plans
  • Identify and communicate risks with mitigation strategies to maintain timelines and budgets
  • Manage the creation and refinement of multi-phased campus development plans
  • Maintain and update campus master plans for accurate forecasting
  • Develop scopes of work and participate in vendor evaluations and contract negotiations

Benefits

  • Q-Rest Sabbatical
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan
  • QTS scholarship for dependents
  • Paid Volunteer and Floating days
  • Tuition Assistance, Parental Leave, and Military Leave Assistance
  • Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance
  • 401(k) retirement plan with flexible spending and HSA accounts
  • Paid time off and paid holidays
  • Wellness program and employee assistance program
Full Job Description
The Impact You Will Have:

As the Predevelopment Project Manager you will be responsible for leading and managing predevelopment activities for assigned projects. This role requires close collaboration with Civil & Environmental Engineers, Designers, Development Consultants, municipal and utility staff, and internal teams, including Corporate Real Estate, Development, Engineering, and Data Center Operations. The Project Manager must have strong written and verbal communication skills to effectively engage with key stakeholders and support decision-making processes.

What You Will Do:
  • Manage due diligence, entitlements, and permitting processes for multiple projects within a campus to support new data center development.
  • Develop and communicate monthly predevelopment program and project status updates tailored for executive-level review and decision-making.
  • Collaborate with QTS stakeholders, design consultants, and construction teams to create a comprehensive master campus development plan, including site-wide design solutions and capital budgeting.
  • Identify and communicate due diligence, entitlement, and permitting risks, along with risk mitigation strategies, to maintain project timelines and budget predictability.
  • Manage the creation and continuous refinement of multi-phased campus development plans to ensure adherence to time, budget, and quality standards.
  • Maintain and update campus master plans to provide accurate project forecasting in a dynamic development environment.
  • Develop scopes of work for due diligence, master planning, and permitting; participate in vendor screening, evaluations, cost leveling, selection, and contract negotiations.
  • Ensure key stakeholders are well-versed in entitlement and permitting strategies for assigned projects.
  • Monitor and manage project budgets to maintain cost predictability and effective cash flow management.
  • Establish and track due diligence, entitlement, and permit schedules, ensuring timely completion through effective internal and external team coordination.
  • Support Sales Engineers and Product teams in custom deal structuring for prospective clients within assigned sites' budget and scheduling parameters.
  • Represent QTS's interests in critical meetings with regulatory agencies, AHJs (Authorities Having Jurisdiction), economic development corporations (EDCs), and the public.
  • Build and foster strategic relationships to strengthen QTS's leadership position in the data center real estate sector.
  • Enhance project management processes and protocols within the development team to improve operational efficiency.


What You Need to Be Successful:

  • 5+ years of experience in real estate development, with a strong focus on pre-development and entitlements
  • Bachelor's degree in Real Estate, Urban Planning, Engineering, or related field (Master's preferred)
  • Strong understanding of zoning, land use, permitting, and environmental review processes
  • Strong financial modeling and project budgeting skills
  • Excellent communication, negotiation, and leadership abilities
  • Proficiency in Bluebeam, Smartsheets, and Microsoft Office Suite (Excel for budgeting, PowerPoint for executive reporting)
  • Ability to travel up to 50% of the time


Nice to have:
  • MBA, Masters in Engineering, Management, or related field desirable
  • Experience in data center, industrial, or large-scale infrastructure development preferred
  • Experience with delivery of mission critical data center facilities
  • Extensive experience in large scale/complex land development


The Perks (and these are just a few!):
  • Q-Rest Sabbatical
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan
  • QTS scholarship for dependents
  • Eagle Club Award Trip Eligibility
  • Paid Volunteer and Floating days
  • Tuition Assistance, Parental Leave and Military Leave Assistance


TOTAL REWARDS
This role is also eligible for a competitive benefits package that includes: medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance; 401(k) retirement plan; flexible spending and HSA accounts; paid holidays; paid time off; paid volunteer days; employee assistance program; tuition assistance; parental leave; military leave assistance; QTS scholarship for dependents; wellness program, and other company benefits.

This position is Bonus eligible.

About QTS Realty Trust

QTS is the digital infrastructure leader – Powered by People, driven by purpose and fueled by a spirit of innovation. We have a 20-year track record of designing, building and operating world-class data centers, delivering the critical infrastructure for the world’s largest and fastest-growing companies. We have more than 75 data centers in operation or under development across the United States and Europe.
Learn more about QTS Realty Trust
Size
82,000 employees
Market Cap
$5.3 billion
Industry
Net Income
$15.9 million
Founded
2005
5 Year Trend
+11.6%
Revenue
$539.3 million
NASDAQ

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