Program Development Manager, Data Center Design and Construction

Meta

• $150K — $180K *
Real Estate & Construction
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years in commercial construction management, focusing on preconstruction, estimating, scheduling, and cost management.
  • Experience managing large-scale, complex programs, preferably in data centers or mission-critical facilities.
  • Strong financial acumen with the ability to build and defend multi-million dollar budgets.
  • Expert in scheduling tools (P6, MS Project) with skills in critical-path analysis and risk assessment.
  • Proven leadership in cross-functional, matrixed environments without direct authority.
  • Exceptional communication skills, capable of simplifying complex technical information for executive audiences.
  • History of identifying and implementing process improvements.

Responsibilities

  • Lead end-to-end planning for New Build and Lease projects, including cost estimating and site evaluations.
  • Develop and maintain budgets and schedules, identifying risks and presenting mitigation strategies.
  • Manage capital expenditures, improving baseline costs and cash flow projections in coordination with finance.
  • Coordinate across teams (Site Acquisition, Energy, Finance, etc.) to create an integrated project plan.
  • Conduct technical analysis for leasing portfolio, focusing on schedule, cost, and risk assessment.
  • Perform strategic analysis to optimize site sequencing and resource allocation against demand targets.
  • Present recommendations and trade-off analyses to align on scope, schedule, and budget.

Benefits

  • High-visibility role influencing multi-billion dollar investment decisions.
  • Direct exposure to VP/Director-level leadership and cross-company strategy.
  • Opportunity to shape a global data center portfolio.
  • Engagement in innovative processes and tools that enhance delivery and reduce costs.
Full Job Description
Join Meta's Data Center Planning & Development team at the forefront of one of the largest infrastructure buildouts in history. As a Program Development Manager, you'll play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Meta's global data center portfolio - driving the planning/preconstruction strategy for both New Build and Lease programs that power AI and billions of connected users. This is a high-visibility role where your work directly influences multi-billion-dollar investment decisions, GW-scale capacity delivery, and the speed at which Meta can bring new infrastructure online. - Impact at scale - Decisions to shape a global portfolio measured in gigawatts and billions of dollars. - Speed & complexity - Meta's infrastructure growth is unprecedented; - Seat at the table - Direct exposure to VP/Director-level leadership and cross-company strategy.

Responsibilities

Lead Planning Strategy - Own the end-to-end planning for New Build and/or Lease projects, including cost estimating, site evaluations and procurement/supply chain. Drive strategy to meet capacity demand
• Drive Cost & Schedule Excellence - Develop and maintain programmatic-level budgets and scheduling coordination; identify risks early and present mitigation strategies to leadership
• Capital Expenditure management: Continuous improvement on baseline costs and cash flow projection for all the planning projects. Coordination with the finance team for budget alignment
• Coordinate Cross-Functionally - Serve as the connective tissue between Site Acquisition, Energy, Finance, Capacity planning, Design and Construction (DEC) teams to build an integrated plan of record for each project
• Leasing: Technical analysis of the schedule, cost, and risk assessment for the leasing portfolio
• Shape the Portfolio - Perform strategic analysis of the pipeline to optimize site sequencing, resource allocation, and delivery timelines against GW demand targets
• Influence Decisions at Scale - Present recommendations and trade-off analyses to meet the capacity plan; Study multiple scenarios and drive alignment across pillars on scope, schedule, and budget
• Innovate & Improve - Continuously develop new processes, tools, and frameworks that accelerate delivery and reduce cost across the program

Minimum Qualifications
• 10+ years of experience in commercial construction management - preconstruction, estimating, scheduling, contracting, and cost management
• Demonstrated ability to manage large-scale, complex programs (data centers, mission-critical facilities, or equivalent infrastructure preferred)
• Strong financial acumen - comfortable building and defending budgets at the hundreds-of-millions-dollar scale
• Expert-level scheduling capability (P6, MS Project, or equivalent) with experience in critical-path analysis and schedule risk assessment
• Proven ability to lead without authority across matrixed, cross-functional organizations
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills - ability to distill complex technical information into clear, actionable narratives for executive audiences
• Track record of identifying process improvements and driving them to implementation

Preferred Qualifications
• Familiarity with power/energy procurement timelines and how they intersect with construction delivery
• Knowledge of site selection criteria and due diligence processes
• Experience managing supply chain and procurement at a programmatic (multi-project) level
• Demonstrated ability to integrate AI tools to optimize/redesign workflows and drive measurable impact (e.g., efficiency gains, quality improvements)
• Experience adhering to and implementing responsible, ethical AI practices (e.g., risk assessment, bias mitigation, quality and accuracy reviews)
• Background working with lease/colocation programs in addition to ground-up construction
• Demonstrated ongoing AI skill development (e.g., prompt/context engineering, agent orchestration) and staying current with emerging AI technologies
• Experience in hyperscale data center development or similar mission-critical infrastructure

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