Job Description
Position Title: Sr. Implementation Manager
Your role
The Senior Implementation Manager is responsible for the successful end-to-end delivery of complex customer implementations across data center facilities within their region. This role provides senior-level project leadership and oversight, coordinating internal teams, external vendors, procurement activities, project schedules, financial performance, quality assurance, risk management, customer acceptance, and final handover to Operations.
The Senior Implementation Manager manages multiple simultaneous projects across several data centers, including large-scale, highly complex, and business-critical customer deployments. Using established project management, construction management, and data center implementation best practices, the Senior Implementation Manager ensures deployments are completed safely, on time, within budget, to scope, and in accordance with customer, technical, and operational requirements.
In addition to individual project ownership, the Senior Implementation Manager serves as a subject-matter resource and escalation point, mentors Implementation Managers and other team members, supports regional initiatives, and identifies opportunities to improve the consistency, efficiency, and quality of implementation delivery.
What you'll do
• Lead the effective execution of assigned customer implementation projects in accordance with contractual requirements, approved scope, budget, quality standards, and implementation timelines.
• Manage complex, large-scale, high-value, and/or high-visibility implementations, providing leadership from initial planning through customer acceptance and operational handover.
• Serve as a primary customer interface throughout project delivery, maintaining effective customer communication and coordinating with Customer Success Managers and other stakeholders to align delivery with applicable service requirements.
• Own end-to-end project planning, including scope, milestones, schedules, resource requirements, dependencies, quality requirements, cost management, risk identification, and delivery timelines.
• Proactively identify project risks, schedule impacts, operational constraints, and implementation challenges; develop mitigation and recovery plans and escalate critical issues when necessary.
• Coordinate with Design Engineering, Operations, Sales, Solution Engineering, Customer Success, Property teams, Remote Hands, Security, Procurement, vendors, and other internal stakeholders to drive successful project delivery.
• Develop and/or coordinate Bills of Materials, Statements of Work, scopes, specifications, and other requirements necessary for the procurement and execution of installation work.
• Create and manage project Purchase Orders for outsourced work and ensure project expenditures are appropriately documented, tracked, and reconciled against approved budgets.
• Manage external contractors, material suppliers, installation vendors, Remote Hands technicians, and other delivery resources to ensure work meets contractual, quality, schedule, safety, and business requirements.
• Provide oversight of vendor performance throughout the project lifecycle, including scoping, quotation, procurement, execution, issue resolution, and final delivery.
• Support pre-sales and planning activities by providing implementation expertise, preliminary schedules, project budget estimates, feasibility input, and delivery considerations.
• Support RFP and vendor selection activities for large or complex customer installations, including scope review, bid evaluation, quote comparison, and technical or operational assessment.
• Manage project financial performance, including budget tracking, Purchase Orders, forecasted costs, actual costs, cost changes, and identification of potential cost risks or savings opportunities.
• Manage customer acceptance following project completion and ensure outstanding items are appropriately documented, communicated, and resolved.
• Lead internal handover of completed solutions to Operations and other applicable teams, ensuring required project documentation, commissioning/testing results, acceptance records, and other applicable closeout documentation are complete.
• Conduct project closeout and lessons-learned reviews, documenting what worked well, challenges encountered, root causes where applicable, and opportunities for continuous improvement, and communicate findings to Implementation Services leadership.
• Coordinate on-site deliveries and receipt of customer or project materials not supplied directly by the installing vendor, as required.
• Coordinate Change Management requirements with Operations and ensure required Methods of Procedure (MOPs) and related approvals are completed in sufficient time to maintain project schedules.
• Ensure vendor access requests and other site-access requirements are submitted, validated, and completed in alignment with implementation schedules.
• Manage internal infrastructure projects, including network capacity upgrades within data halls/MMRs and white-space fit-out projects supporting the creation or expansion of sellable capacity.
• Manage post-commencement customer orders and modifications that may not require a full-scale implementation project while maintaining appropriate controls around scope, cost, documentation, and customer expectations.
• Serve as a subject-matter expert in implementation delivery and support the development and adoption of project management and construction management best practices.
• Support regional and global Implementation Services initiatives, working effectively with cross-functional teams to improve consistency and scalability of customer delivery.
• Contribute to the development and improvement of templates, tools, procedures, reporting, training materials, and implementation standards.
• Participate in project reviews and provide guidance to Implementation Managers on complex project delivery challenges, risks, escalations, and stakeholder coordination.
• Willingness to travel locally within the Northern VA Market, based on project requirements.
What you'll need
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Telecommunications, Computer Science, Business, Project Management, or a related technical field preferred; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
• Extensive experience in data center implementation, construction, telecommunications, engineering, infrastructure deployment, or mission-critical facility environments, with demonstrated experience independently leading complex projects.
• Strong experience managing projects throughout the complete lifecycle, including planning, design coordination, procurement, construction/installation, commissioning, customer acceptance, financial closeout, and operational handover.
• Advanced knowledge of data center infrastructure, including racks, cages, electrical distribution, structured/data cabling, network infrastructure, and associated customer deployment requirements.
• Ability to read and interpret construction drawings, specifications, single-line/one-line diagrams, scopes of work, and other technical documentation.
• Demonstrated experience managing material suppliers, contractors, and installation vendors throughout project scoping, bidding, procurement, execution, commissioning, and closeout.
• Strong working knowledge of project financial management, including budgeting, Purchase Orders, forecasting, cost tracking, change management, and cost variance management.
• Experience working effectively within a global organization and coordinating stakeholders across multiple regions and time zones.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft productivity tools, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Project.
• Experience with enterprise systems such as Salesforce, ServiceNow, Oracle, or comparable platforms.
• Project management certification such as PMP or equivalent is preferred. The successful Senior
Implementation Manager will demonstrate:
• Senior-level project leadership with the ability to independently manage multiple concurrent, complex projects across multiple data center sites.
• Strong ownership and accountability for project scope, schedule, cost, quality, risk, documentation, and customer outcomes.
• Advanced ability to anticipate project risks, identify dependencies and constraints, and develop practical mitigation and recovery plans.
• Strong financial acumen and ability to manage project budgets, Purchase Orders, forecasts, cost changes, and financial reporting.
• Strong technical understanding of data center construction and implementation sufficient to challenge assumptions, identify risks, and coordinate effectively with engineering, construction, Operations, and vendors.
• Ability to lead effectively through influence across cross-functional teams without requiring direct reporting relationships.
• Demonstrated ability to manage difficult project situations and escalations while maintaining productive customer, vendor, and internal stakeholder relationships.
• Strong judgment and decision-making skills, particularly in situations involving competing priorities, incomplete information, operational risk, or schedule constraints.
• Advanced analytical, problem-solving, and quantitative skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate project status, risks, decisions, and recommendations clearly to customers, technical teams, and senior leadership.
• Strong customer focus with the ability to balance customer expectations against contractual scope, operational requirements, cost, risk, and schedule.
• Ability to provide guidance, mentoring, and knowledge transfer to less-experienced Implementation Services team members.
• Strong organizational and prioritization skills with demonstrated ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, mission-critical environment.
• A proactive, accountable, flexible, and solutions-oriented approach to project delivery.
• Commitment to continuous improvement, standardization, knowledge sharing, and the development of Implementation Services best practices.
