Director of Construction

Nscale is the GPU cloud engineered for AI, providing cost-effective, high-performance infrastructure for AI start-ups and large enterprise customers. We enable AI-focused companies to achieve superior results by reducing the complexity of AI development, bolstering technical capabilities, and supporting strategic business outcomes like cost management, rapid innovation, and environmental responsibility. Our culture thrives on relentless innovation, ownership, and accountability, where every team member drives excellence and urgency.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Director of Construction to lead on-site execution teams delivering data center infrastructure from preconstruction through room delivery and turnover. Reporting to the VP of Construction, this individual will own program management across Nscale's active construction portfolio, manage Senior Managers leading each program or region, and coordinate closely with Design & Engineering, Commissioning, Procurement, Legal, Security, and Environmental functions to ensure delivery on schedule, on budget, and to spec.

The ideal candidate has led mission-critical data center construction, development, or owner's-representation work at scale, and is comfortable standardizing build processes and design decisions across multiple regions while maintaining owner-side visibility into safety performance, quality, and compliance risk on every active site.

Responsibilities

• Lead on-site execution teams delivering data center construction programs from preconstruction through room delivery, commissioning, and turnover; report program status directly to the VP of Construction.
• Directly manage the Senior Manager(s) assigned to each active program or region; set consistent execution standards, reporting cadence, and quality expectations across all sites.
• Develop project scopes and objectives in coordination with Design & Engineering, Commissioning, Procurement, and Operations; ensure resource availability and allocation of materials, labor, and schedule across active programs.
• Coordinate across Health & Safety, Security, Environmental, Legal, Engineering, Procurement, Commissioning, Controls, and Operations to keep each program on schedule, on budget, and in compliance.
• Maintain owner-side visibility into safety performance, quality issues, and compliance risk across the construction lifecycle of every active site.
• Serve as the escalation point for issues that exceed program-level authority, including schedule slippage, cost overruns, contractual disputes, and significant safety incidents.
• Review and approve program budgets, major change orders, and contingency draws; report cost and schedule performance to the VP of Construction.
• Evaluate designs and analyze contracting scenarios across jurisdictions to improve safety, security, quality, availability, deployment speed, and cost; standardize build processes across regions.
• Support negotiation of GC and major subcontractor agreements and long-lead MEP equipment procurement in partnership with Procurement and Legal.
• Standardize preconstruction, construction, commissioning, and turnover playbooks across programs; drive continuous improvement based on lessons learned from each site.
• Partner with Development and Design leadership to align construction feasibility, constructability, and cost with site selection and early-stage program planning.
• Recruit, mentor, and develop the Senior Manager and program controls bench; own performance management and succession planning for program leadership roles.
• Protect the independence of the EHS and program controls (scheduling, cost) functions across every program.
• Identify and mitigate program and portfolio-level risks including supply chain disruption, labor market constraints, regulatory change, and jurisdictional/permitting complexity.

Requirements

• 10+ years of construction management, development, engineering, or owner's-representation experience, with 5+ years overseeing mission-critical data center or large-scale industrial programs.
• Proven experience with meaningful owner-side responsibility for major design and construction decision-making, ideally across multiple concurrent sites or regions.
• Direct experience managing Senior Managers or equivalent regional program leaders, including performance management, mentorship, and succession planning.
• Solid understanding of electrical and mechanical construction practices and applicable codes and standards (NFPA, NEC, and equivalent).
• Strong command of program-level scheduling (CPM), cost control, contract administration, and risk management.
• Experience coordinating cross-functionally with Health & Safety, Security, Environmental, Legal, Engineering, Procurement, Commissioning, and Operations teams.
• Strong leadership and executive communication skills; comfortable presenting program status to senior leadership.
• Proficiency in Procore, Bluebeam Revu, and Microsoft Office Suite.
• OSHA 30 certification required.
• Ability to travel across multiple active project sites and regions as required.

Nice to Have

• Experience standardizing build processes or design standards across multiple regions or a growing portfolio.
• Familiarity with hyperscale, colocation, or Tier III/IV data center construction standards.
• Experience with long-lead MEP equipment procurement and jurisdictional permitting strategy across multiple markets.
• PMP, CCM, DBIA, or PE license (or equivalent field experience).
• Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Civil Engineering, Architecture, or related field; advanced degree a plus.

Why this role matters

This is a senior accountability role for on-the-ground delivery across Nscale's entire data center construction portfolio, reporting into the VP of Construction. As Nscale's program pipeline grows, this role's scope will expand to encompass additional programs, regions, and Senior Manager direct reports — making it a foundational leadership position for the company's build-out.

Benefits

• Highly competitive package (base + equity) with reviews every 12 months.
• Flexible paid time off, parental leave, and retirement plan participation.
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits.
• Human-First Flexibility: Autonomy to shape your day around life's moments.
• Dynamic progression plan tailored to your ambitions.

Pay

Salary Range: $160,000—$200,000 USD. Actual compensation may vary based on job-related factors such as skill set, experience, education, and location. In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for bonus, equity, and/or commission programs.