Director of preconstruction

Position Overview

The Preconstruction Director is the senior owner-side leader accountable for the preconstruction outcome of a Fleet data center campus — carrying it from concept and design development through estimating, procurement strategy, buyout, and Notice to Proceed (NTP), then handing a bought-out, de-risked project to the Director of Construction. Reporting to the VP, Construction as a peer to the Director of Construction, this role owns budget confidence, contracting strategy, and procurement readiness for the campus, and leads the two site-assigned Preconstruction Managers. This is a partnership-oriented leadership role that sets Fleet's preconstruction standards and serves as the bridge between development intent and construction execution, ensuring what the construction team receives at NTP is realistic, bought-out, and aligned to Fleet's cost, schedule, and reliability goals.

Key Responsibilities

Preconstruction Leadership & Governance

• Own Campus Preconstruction: Hold owner-side accountability for the full preconstruction effort — design management, estimating, procurement strategy, and buyout — through NTP.
• Lead the Preconstruction Team: Lead and develop the site-assigned Preconstruction Managers; set priorities, balance workload across campuses, resolve conflicts, and ensure consistent, high-quality preconstruction output.
• Set Standards & Governance: Establish preconstruction standards — estimate formats, milestone gates, benchmarking, decision logs, and risk registers — so preconstruction is predictable and repeatable across campuses.
• Design-to-Budget Alignment: Partner with in-house design/engineering and development to keep design aligned to budget and Fleet's high-availability, mission-critical resiliency requirements.

Budget, Commercial & Procurement Strategy

• Campus Budget Confidence: Own the development, accuracy, and progression of the campus preconstruction budget across design milestones, with clear basis, assumptions, and contingency strategy.
• Contracting Strategy: Set delivery-method and contract-structure strategy (e.g., GMP, lump sum, design-build, EPC) across scopes, in partnership with legal, Supply Chain, and the Director of Construction.
• Procurement & Long-Lead Roadmap: Own the campus procurement roadmap, prioritizing long-lead OFCI equipment (transformers, switchgear, generators, chillers, UPS, BESS) with Supply Chain to protect the energization critical path.
• Buyout Leadership: Drive competitive procurement, bid leveling, and award recommendations, delivering a bought-out scope at NTP.

Stakeholder, Risk & Handoff

• Executive Interface: Serve as the preconstruction point of contact to corporate leadership, development, finance, Supply Chain, and joint-venture partners; provide budget, procurement, and risk reporting.
• Utility & Entitlements Alignment: Ensure interconnection, entitlements, and permitting strategies are integrated into the preconstruction schedule.
• Risk Ownership: Maintain the campus preconstruction risk register; identify cost, schedule, supply-chain, and scope risks early and drive mitigation.
• Construction Handoff: Own a disciplined transition to the Director of Construction at NTP — bought-out scope, budget basis, procurement status, and open risks — so construction begins with clarity and confidence.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, or a related technical field, OR equivalent practical preconstruction leadership experience.
• 15+ years of preconstruction, estimating, and/or delivery experience on large-scale, mission-critical, or hyperscale projects, including significant time leading campus-level preconstruction; 7+ years owner-side preferred, though a strong general contractor preconstruction leadership background is also considered.
• Demonstrated ownership of campus-level budgets, contracting strategy, and long-lead procurement across CSA and MEP/Power scopes.
• Proven ability to lead and develop a preconstruction team and to partner effectively with design, development, Supply Chain, and construction leadership.
• Advanced proficiency with estimating systems, Procore (or equivalent), Microsoft Office Suite, and scheduling software.

Preferred Qualifications

• Executive-level leader with strong commercial acumen, contractual fluency, and cost discipline.
• Experience across data center, utility-scale power, or mission-critical facilities.
• Strong leadership and communication skills, with a partnership-oriented, problem-solving approach.

About Fleet

Fleet Data Centers designs, builds, and operates mega-scale data center campuses. Fleet provides its customers flexibility and predictability to meet their upside demand forecasts, addressing a key need in the market as traditional leased models struggle to keep pace with demand for new Cloud and AI infrastructure. Fleet is led by a team of industry veterans who have already made a lasting imprint on the evolution of global digital infrastructure and are uniquely capable of upleveling data center development scale and operations in the face of rising demand. Fleet brings in-house design, engineering, and operational capabilities to collaborate with customers on tailored solutions for campuses of 500MW+, enabling the world's largest and most sophisticated customers a seamless extension of their own data center fleets with constant access to design innovation.

Benefits

• 100% employer-covered medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401K program
• Standard paid holidays
• Unlimited PTO

These positions are located in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center north of Sparks, NV and require the candidate to be on-site (senior field roles on-site five days per week), located within a commutable distance to the project site. As these are on-site positions, there is limited travel associated with the roles.