Senior Associate, Data Center Design Management, North America

Responsibilities

• Design manage external consultant teams including architects, engineers, and specialty consultants to produce coordinated, high-quality data center designs.
• Define and manage scope, deliverables, and performance expectations for consultants, ensuring adherence to schedule, budget, and quality standards.
• Lead coordination across all design disciplines to ensure fully integrated building and infrastructure solutions that meet our project objectives and customer requirements.
• Drive delivery of design and engineering packages within aggressive timelines, maintaining a high level of quality and completeness.
• Partner with development teams to support planning, zoning, and entitlement efforts, ensuring design alignment with jurisdictional requirements and approval processes.
• Support responses to customer requests for proposals (RFPs) by contributing to technical narratives, design approaches, and solution development.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders across sales, development, EH&S, security, construction, and operations to ensure stakeholder requirements are coordinated with customer requirements.
• Monitor consultant performance and proactively manage risks related to coordination, schedule, and deliverable quality.
• Support budget tracking and management of consultant contracts and invoicing.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Engineering, or related field.
• 7+ years of progressive experience in design management of data center or similarly complex technical projects.
• Proven experience managing architect and engineering consultant teams and coordinating multi-disciplinary design efforts.
• Demonstrated ability to lead the delivery high-quality design packages under compressed schedules.
• Working knowledge of planning, zoning, and entitlement processes and their impact on design and development.
• Strong understanding of data center design principles and integrated building systems (MEP, structural, etc.).
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across diverse stakeholder groups.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented with a focus on execution and accountability.
• Proficiency in relevant design and project management tools.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Architecture or Engineering preferred.
• Experience working on hyperscale or high-density data center projects preferred.
• Exposure to modular or prefabricated construction approaches preferred.
• Experience supporting client-facing technical discussions and solution development preferred.

Skills

• Strong understanding of data center design principles and integrated building systems (MEP, structural, etc.).
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across diverse stakeholder groups.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented with a focus on execution and accountability.
• Proficiency in relevant design and project management tools.

Benefits

The firm also offers robust Benefits offerings. Ares U.S. Core Benefits include Comprehensive Medical/Rx, Dental and Vision plans; 401(k) program with company match; Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA); Healthcare Savings Accounts (HSA) with company contribution; Basic and Voluntary Life Insurance; Long-Term Disability (LTD) and Short-Term Disability (STD) insurance; Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and Commuter Benefits plan for parking and transit. Ares offers a number of additional benefits including access to a world-class medical advisory team, a mental health app that includes coaching, therapy and psychiatry, a mindfulness and wellbeing app, financial wellness benefit that includes access to a financial advisor, new parent leave, reproductive and adoption assistance, emergency backup care, matching gift program, education sponsorship program, and much more.