VP of Land Development - NAM
Serverfarm is a leading developer and operator of data centers with over 750+ locations and key customer relationships in 45 countries. We're revolutionizing how data centers operate across North America, Western Europe, and Israel, serving the world's leading technology and hyperscale companies. With Manulife Investment Management's acquisition in 2023 and our award-winning InCommand platform we're positioned for explosive growth as AI adoption and cloud migration drive unprecedented demand for data center capacity.
A career at Serverfarm means being at the forefront of digital infrastructure innovation, where your work directly impacts how the world's data is managed and secured. As we target 4x growth over the next four years, you'll have unprecedented opportunities to take on new challenges, develop cutting-edge skills, and grow your career across our expanding global operations.
Join our team of innovators and help shape the future of sustainable data centers while building a career without boundaries.
Serverfarm VP, Product Development leads land and utility development efforts along with driving investment decision coordination through the full project life-cycle (acquisition, development, design and construction) to ensure successful deployment of critical capacity across the globe. The role will also support specific functional responsibilities within the acquisition and development phases of the project along with providing surge capacity for Real Estate and Sales functions.
Key Accountabilities
- Land Development
- Leads land development efforts for greenfield and brownfield sites
- Engages and maintains strategic relationships with regional stakeholders including but not limited to land use attorneys, environmental consultants, local permitting resources, and economic development/political teams to understand and navigate the entitlement, incentives and permitting process
- Coordinates all entitlement activities across Real Estate and Development teams to ensure proper coordination with all project consultants
- Coordinates necessary air permit analysis to ensure expected energization plans are achievable
- Assembles all development costs (land, utility, construction) for inclusion with target asset proforma and ensures alignment with business and operational objectives
- Utility Development
- Develops and implements a energization strategy for new site acquisitions and existing site expansions
- Executes utility load studies to evaluate utility capacity, including coordinating flow analysis directly with the utility provider or through a consultant, for potential new sites and expansions
- Defines power delivery timelines to inform leasing commitments
- Manages partners and consultants related to electrical substation design and construction
- Ensures utility substation designs standardization, including distribution feeds to multiple buildings
- Manages budgets and cost forecasting of utility projects, including construction and equipment
- Manages substation equipment specifications and coordinates procurement activities to align with power delivery leasing commitments
- Coordinates utility service entrances and configuration details for wet and dry utilities at potential properties
- Negotiates interconnection agreements with local network and utility providers (namely power)
- Tracks and reports out to internal stakeholders on the status and schedule of power delivery timelines
- Develops mitigation or remediation strategies to avoid delivery related risks
- Establishes global best practices for land and utility development efforts to ensure consistency in investment decision making through the stage-gate approval process
- Customer & Partner Engagement
- Develops and maintains an intimate working relationship with the Real Estate, Development and Sales teams on site selection, pre-construction activities, technical due diligence, zoning, entitlements, utility requirements and customer requirements
- Travels to development locations to meet with customers, consultants, and local economic development groups to expedite the entitlement process or technical coordination for utility delivery
- Works with finance team to identify and obtain desired tax incentives for each development project
- Coordinates seamless handoff from pre-construction/site development activities to the design and construction teams
- Defines build-to-suit product requirements for key customer accounts and partners with the Sales team to cohesively package large campus opportunities for the target customer base
- Works with key customer accounts to tailor the build-to-suit program to evolving requirements
- Tailor utility solutions based on customer feedback and emerging industry best practices
- Monitor data center and technology trends and best practices to ensure design and construction processes are in alignment with customer and industry expectations
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Urban Planning, Real Estate Development, or a related field.
- Minimum of 10 years of experience in land development, utility development, or a related field.
- Proven experience in managing large-scale development projects from inception to completion.
- Strong understanding of entitlement processes, utility development, and project management.
- Excellent leadership, communication, and relationship-building skills.
- Ability to navigate complex regulatory environments and work with diverse stakeholders.
- Proficiency in budget management and cost forecasting.
- Experience with negotiating interconnection agreements and managing utility projects.
- Ability to translate technical details into business realities around cost, quality, timing, scalability and sustainability as they impact product development decisions
- Ability to maintain focus in a fast-paced work environment
- Detail-oriented mindset with a commitment to accuracy and delivering high-quality work
- Strong written and verbal communication skills to effectively collaborate with team members and stakeholders
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team, managing multiple tasks and meeting multiple deadlines
- Regular travel (30%) to data center locations to meet with local authorities/utility leaders
Serverfarm is committed to providing an equal opportunity workplace and offers paid time off, paid holidays, 401k, medical and dental. Our compensation philosophy rewards employees for achieving the values and objectives aligned with the company’s goals and strategic initiatives.
The listed salary range for this position is an estimate based on the competitive job market. Final compensation will be based on your own individual skills, experience, and location.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed in this role. They are not intended to serve as an exhaustive list of all possible responsibilities and duties. We encourage you to apply even if your experience isn't an exact match to the job description.
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