POSITION SUMMARYThe
Senior Design Manager is primarily responsible for leading multidisciplinary design delivery across multiple data center developments, serving as the day-to-day design authority for assigned projects from early planning through construction and commissioning. This position is critical to providing coordinated, buildable, cost- and schedule-certain designs that translate the PowerHouse Data Centers standard design platform and tenant requirements into delivered projects. A defining part of the role is ownership of early-stage design products, including conceptual designs, elevations, and tenant test fits, with clear capacity, density, and cost-impact summaries that support early tenant decisions and deal timelines.
This role directs external A/E consultants, balances standardization against tenant customization, and enforces discipline around standards compliance, cost, schedule, and change management. The role also provides targeted leadership in architectural and facade standards, partners with preconstruction during RFP processes, and integrates operations and sustainability input to support long-term performance.
The Senior Design Manager reports to the Design Director and has a McLean, VA-based or remote schedule, with approximately 25% travel to project sites, consultants, and tenant meetings.
Primary Responsibilities- Lead design delivery across multiple concurrent projects and all disciplines (architectural, structural, civil/site, MEP, FP, and security/IT/AV), serving as the day-to-day design authority from early planning through construction and commissioning.
- Own and design tenant test fits for prospective and existing hyperscale tenants, developing white space and gray space layouts that test rack types, air/liquid cooling splits, row and hall configurations, power and cooling capacity, and support-space needs against site constraints, and manage consultant iteration on compressed timelines.
- Own conceptual designs and elevations for prospective and existing developments, establishing a clear design baseline early in the project lifecycle and ensuring alignment with PowerHouse standards and facade BOD.
- Produce capacity, density, sound, PUE, WUE, and cost-impact summaries that support early tenant decisions and deal timelines, and coordinate with the OFCI/CFCI procurement team to develop BOMs for estimating.
- Lead the strategic adaptation and execution of the PowerHouse standard design, maintaining consistency and repeatability across the portfolio and aligning base building, turnkey, and tenant-specific requirements.
- Direct external A/E consultants to produce fully integrated, coordinated, and constructible design packages (construction documents, narratives, and sequences of operation), and drive resolution of cross-disciplinary coordination issues across structural, electrical, mechanical, and architectural systems.
- Serve as senior design liaison between internal teams and tenant engineering groups, reviewing tenant requirements, submittals, and integration strategies and managing deviation requests against tenant basis-of-design documents.
- Enforce a structured change management process to maintain cost and schedule certainty, evaluate and communicate the impacts of tenant-driven changes, and lead Value Engineering efforts.
- Lead facade and architectural standards execution across acquisition, development, and construction phases, including internal facade design reviews with the Architectural Review Board at each design phase (30% / 60% / 90% / IFC) and oversight of facade consultants.
- Partner with preconstruction on RFP development, scope definition, Basis of Design alignment, and proposal evaluation, and support site evaluation and master planning with acquisitions and development teams.
- Support construction and commissioning by collaborating with construction leadership on design intent, RFIs, and long-lead procurement; conducting QA/QC reviews and site observations; coordinating FAT, SAT, and IST readiness; and integrating operations and sustainability input to improve lifecycle performance.
Key Qualifications & Competencies- Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent additional professional experience in lieu of degree.
- 10+ years of experience in data center, mission-critical, or complex commercial design, including leadership in tenant-facing roles.
- Professional licensure or certifications such as AIA, PE, LEED, GGP, or CxA.
- Demonstrated experience leading conceptual design, building elevations, and data center test fits or concept layouts, including rack and row planning, capacity checks, and rapid iteration against tenant requirements.
- Experience managing multidiscipline design teams and external A/E consultants across multiple concurrent projects.
- Strong working knowledge of architectural/enclosure, structural, civil/site, MEP, FP, and security and IT/AV systems.
- Ability to enforce standards compliance (BOD), change control discipline, and cost and schedule alignment.
- Ability to interpret and influence drawings, technical submittals, and equipment selections.
- Familiarity with OFCI/CFCI procurement, BOM development for estimating, redundancy configurations (N, N+1, 2N), availability and blast-radius concepts, and commissioning processes.
- Exceptional communication and leadership skills, with experience in technical negotiations and stakeholder management.
- Willingness and ability to travel approximately 25% to project sites, consultants, and tenant meetings.
Candidates with any or all of the following background are strongly encouraged to apply:- Experience with hyperscale tenant requirements, including AI/ML workloads and high-density liquid-cooled racks, and colocation design integration.
- Mechanical design or cooling systems experience, including air-cooled heat rejection, chilled water plants, thermal energy storage, facility water distribution, CDUs, and liquid cooling (a plus, not required).
- Proficiency in BIM and design tools (Revit, AutoCAD) and collaborative platforms (Bluebeam, Procore, CxAlloy); familiarity with modular or prefabricated design strategies, closed-loop and low-water cooling, controls/BMS integration, and FM Global requirements.
