Senior Vice President of Development

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Planning & Execution
• Develop and lead Lightedge’s long-term development strategy across site acquisition, power procurement, design, engineering, and construction.
• Drive alignment between infrastructure investments, commercial strategy, and technological trends in the data center sector to enable rapid market entry and capacity scaling.
• Partner with Sales, Finance, and Operations to prioritize development initiatives based on ROI, customer demand, and power availability.
• Report regularly to the CEO and Board of Directors on development progress, key risks, and strategic initiatives.
Design, Engineering, and Construction
• Direct in-house and/or third-party design, engineering, and construction teams to deliver projects on time and within budget.
• Establish scalable design and construction standards to support consistent delivery across data centers of different sizes.
• Ensure all developments adhere to internal standards for quality, sustainability, compliance, and safety.
Power Procurement
• Develop and execute strategies for securing reliable and cost-effective grid-connected power to support growing data center portfolio, structuring creative energy solutions where necessary.
• Negotiate and manage contracts with utilities for services, infrastructure, and grid interconnection. Advocate for favorable regulations for large energy users.
Team Development & Leadership
• Build and lead a high-performing, cross-functional team of real estate, power, design, engineering, and construction professionals and external contractors.
• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Capital Planning & Vendor Management
• Partner with Finance to build and manage capital budgets.
• Lead strategic vendor partnerships and negotiation of commercial terms.
Risk Management & Governance
• Ensure appropriate risk management frameworks are in place for development activities, including regulatory, environmental, and financial risks.
• Partner with Legal to ensure governance across all jurisdictions and project types.
Site Acquisition & Real Estate Development
• Partner with strategic finance for end-to-end site acquisition process, including market analysis, feasibility studies, land procurement, entitlements, and incentives.
• Build and maintain relationships with brokers, municipalities, and developers.

Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience in data center development, construction, or infrastructure delivery.
• Proven track record of delivering data center development projects across the U.S.,with scale exceeding $100M per project.
• Deep understanding of electrical and mechanical systems, utility interconnects, permitting processes, and Tier III operational standards.
• Demonstrated experience in capital planning, vendor negotiations, and managing development budgets exceeding $100M annually.
• Strong knowledge of entitlements, incentive negotiations, environmental compliance, and land development lifecycle.

Technical Requirements:

Data Center Design
• Deep understanding of Tier III data center design principles, with fluency in Uptime Institute standards and redundancy configurations (N, N+1, 2N, etc.).
• Proficiency in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems including:
o    UPS systems, switch gear, PDUs, generators, BMS/EPMS o    HVAC systems including CRAC/CRAH units, chilled water systems, and direct-to-chip cooling for HPC/AI
• Experience implementing modular and prefabricated design solutions to enable speed-to-market and scalability.
Power and Cooling
• Advanced knowledge of utility infrastructure planning, including transmission and distribution design, substation integration, and dual-feed resiliency.
• Familiarity with energy service agreements (ESAs), power purchase agreements (PPAs), and utility interconnects.
• Understanding of thermal management strategies, such as free cooling, liquid cooling, and containment design for high-density deployments.
• Understanding of efficiency metrics like PUE, WUE, and their optimization through design and operations.
Real Estate and Site Acquisition
• Expertise with land due diligence, zoning, entitlements, environmental site assessments (Phase I/II), and local regulatory processes.
• Experience securing and managing development incentives (e.g., tax abatements, infrastructure grants, energy rebates) and managing public/private utility negotiations.
• Proficiency with GIS and power availability mapping tools to identify viable land in target markets.
Construction & Project Delivery
• Familiarity with construction delivery models including design-bid-build, design-build, and CM at-risk.
• Proficiency in project management tools, managing construction schedules, Gantt charts, milestone tracking, and earned value reporting.
• Deep experience with construction budgeting, cost estimating (ROM to GMP), and value engineering.
Engineering & Technical Standards
• Understanding of:
o    NFPA, NEC, ASHRAE, IEEE, ISO/IEC27001, and other relevant regulatory codes and industry best practices o    Fire suppression systems (pre-action, clean agent), leak detection, and other safety-related infrastructure
• Familiarity with commissioning standards (Level1–5) and integrated systems testing (IST).
Regulatory & Compliance
• In-depth knowledge of building codes, safety regulations, and permitting across U.S. jurisdictions.
• Experience working with environmental agencies, local utility commissions, and permitting authorities to meet development timelines.
Tools & Reporting Systems
• Comfort with dashboards and data visualization tools (PowerBI,Tableau) for executive and board reporting.