Senior Project Manager/Associate Director - Data Centres

Position: Senior Project Manager/Associate Director - Data Centres

Salary: Competitive

Location: London or Manchester, flexible hybrid available plus European travel

This is an excellent opportunity to join an independent specialist project management consultancy, with an established track record and a people-first, client-focused culture.
There is a strong emphasis on sustainability, innovation, and long-term relationships.

You will lead large-scale data centre projects, managing multi disciplinary teams, stakeholders, contractors, and clients. You'll play a critical role in delivering technically complex, high value, mission critical infrastructure across the UK and Europe.

About the role:

• Project Leadership
  • Lead full lifecycle data centre construction projects (planning, design, delivery, commissioning, handover).
  • Develop and maintain robust project plans, including cost, schedule, resource, risk, and quality management.
  • Coordinate internal teams (design, planners, technical specialists) and external contractors / suppliers.
• Stakeholder Management
  • Build and manage strong relationships with clients, end users, investors, landlords, and operations teams.
  • Serve as the primary point of contact for the client, ensuring alignment and transparency at every stage.
  • Navigate complex stakeholder structures (e.g., local authorities, regulatory bodies, utility providers).
• Technical Oversight
  • Oversee design and engineering activities, ensuring compliance with data centre standards (e.g., redundancy, cooling, power, PUE).
  • Monitor design reviews, validate deliverables, and ensure constructability and operability.
  • Ensure commissioning, testing, and handover meet technical, quality, and operational requirements.
• Financial Management
  • Manage project budgets, cost forecasting, and financial reporting.
  • Develop procurement strategies, lead tendering processes, and evaluate contractor bids.
  • Implement cost control measures and change management processes to mitigate financial risk.
• Risk & Quality Control
  • Identify, assess, and manage project risks proactively, putting mitigating actions in place.
  • Establish quality assurance and quality control processes.
  • Lead continuous improvement initiatives and lessons learned reviews.
• Sustainability & Innovation
  • Champion sustainable design and construction practices (e.g., energy efficiency, circular economy, carbon reduction).
  • Stay abreast of industry trends (e.g. latest in data centre cooling, renewable power, net zero).

About you:

• Education & Professional Qualification
  • Bachelor's degree (Construction Management, Engineering, Project Management, or related).
  • Professional accreditation ideal (PMP / APM / RICS).
• Experience
  • Data centre project management experience.
  • Proven track record of delivering data centres of significant scale / complexity (e.g., multi MW load, high resilience).
  • Experience of managing cross border projects, multi jurisdiction regulation, and international teams.
• Technical Competencies
  • Knowledge of data centre infrastructure: power systems, cooling, redundancy, commissioning & operations.
  • Strong financial acumen - budgeting, cost control, forecasting.
  • Excellent risk management and problem solving skills.
• Leadership & Interpersonal Skills
  • Excellent communication skills - able to lead stakeholder meetings, present to C suite, and navigate technical conversations.
  • Strong negotiation and influencing skills.
  • Proven ability to lead and inspire multidisciplinary teams.

• To find out more about this role please contact Oli Coote on (0)