Lead Principal Data Center Cost Manager

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in cost control, contract administration, and risk management within the data center or critical infrastructure sector. Responsibilities include collaborating with cross-functional teams, monitoring project expenditures, and ensuring projects are delivered on time and within budget. The candidate will play a pivotal role in managing and controlling project costs for our data center construction and infrastructure initiatives. You will be responsible for developing and maintaining accurate project budgets, overseeing cost estimation processes, and implementing effective cost control and reporting strategies. The ideal candidate will bring extensive experience in cost management, contract administration, and risk mitigation within the data center or critical infrastructure sector. Key Responsibilities Cost Management Leadership and Ownership Review and maintain project budgets and cost forecasts throughout the project lifecycle Monitor and report on project expenditures, cash flow, and financial performance against approved budgets. Lead cost management and contract administration activities including procurement, change orders, and claims management. Identify, assess, and mitigate project risks, proactively addressing potential cost overruns and schedule delays. Collaborate closely with project managers, engineers, architects, contractors, and other stakeholders to align financial objectives with project delivery goals. Implement and maintain best practices for cost management, control, and reporting processes. Prepare and present regular cost and financial reports to senior management and relevant stakeholders. Support value engineering efforts to optimize costs while maintaining quality and project requirements. Ensure compliance with company policies, industry standards, and regulatory requirements throughout all project phases. Cost Strategy, Governance & Controls Implement and contribute to the cost management strategy across one or more gigascale projects/programs from early design through closeout. Build cost governance: WBS/CBS structures, cost codes, control accounts, reporting cadence, and executive dashboards. Establish standards for estimating, forecasting, contingency management, and cost risk practices across the program. Provide clear cost narratives to leadership: variances, drivers, corrective actions, and forward-looking risk. Estimating, Budgeting & Forecasting Lead concept-to-definitive estimating aligned to design maturity (e.g., ROM, schematic, DD, CD). Develop and maintain the overall project budget, cash flow, and long-range forecast; reconcile to funding and finance requirements. Benchmark costs using historical data, market intelligence, and parametric models; validate unit rates and productivity assumptions. Drive monthly cost report cycles with disciplined cost-to-complete and earned-value-informed forecasting where applicable. Change Management & Commercial Management Implement a robust change control process to manage scope, schedule, and cost impacts with strong documentation. Evaluate change orders and claims: pricing, entitlement, schedule linkage, and negotiation support. Partner with contracts/procurement to align cost controls with contract types (GMP, lump sum, target cost, T&M) and commercial terms. Manage contingencies and allowances using risk-based approaches; maintain traceability of drawdowns and releases. Develop and govern dashboards (e.g., Power BI/Tableau) that integrate schedule, procurement, and cost data for predictive insights. Ensure AI outputs are explainable, auditable, and compliant with data governance and privacy requirements. Procurement & Market Intelligence Support procurement strategy through cost modeling, bid analysis, supplier benchmarking, and should-cost frameworks. Track material and labor indices; assess escalation exposure and recommend mitigation actions (buyouts, alternates, hedging where applicable). Coordin…

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