Director, Data Center Design & Construction

Job Description

Headquartered in the Greater Washington area, American Real Estate Partners (AREP) is a US-based leading institutional fund manager and real estate partner with over $13 billion deployed across key U.S. markets. Specializing in data center, residential, industrial, and office assets, AREP has acquired more than 34 million square feet of Class A real estate and currently manages over 25 million square feet.

PowerHouse Data Centers, a wholly owned division of AREP, is a developer and owner of next-generation data centers and provides technical real estate solutions for hyperscalers across the country. Backed by strategic joint venture partnerships, PowerHouse leverages its proven leadership and best-in-class technical expertise to deliver innovative real estate solutions.

Job Description:

The Director, Data Center Design is responsible for leading strategic implementation of our standard data center design platform across new developments. This role will drive design excellence, innovation, and alignment with tenant-specific requirements, ensuring our infrastructure meets the highest standards of performance, scalability, and operational integrity.

As a technology leader within the development and construction organization, the Design Director will serve as the principal technical authority and design strategist, interfacing with internal stakeholders, external consultants, and hyperscale tenants. This role will oversee design execution from early planning through construction and commissioning, ensuring seamless integration of tenant needs into the PowerHouse platform while maintaining lifecycle performance goals.

This role is based out of our HQ office in McLean, VA with Remote opportunities and minimum 25% required travel.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Lead the strategic adaptation and execution of PowerHouse's standard data center design across multiple developments, ensuring consistency, scalability, and alignment with program requirements.

Serve as the senior technical liaison between internal teams and tenant engineering groups, guiding infrastructure design to meet complex mission-critical and evolving tenant requirements.

Oversee multi-disciplinary design coordination across development, construction, operations, acquisitions, and external architecture and engineering consultants.

Interpret, integrate, and implement tenant design standards and submittals, ensuring seamless alignment with PowerHouse base building and turnkey design standards.

Drive Value Engineering initiatives to evaluate alternative systems, materials, and configurations that reduce cost while maintaining reliability, performance, and long-term scalability.

Champion design quality, innovation, and sustainability, ensuring tenant customizations comply with PowerHouse standards, SLA requirements, and industry best practices.

Guide internal design reviews, equipment selection, and system configurations to optimize constructability, efficiency, redundancy, and lifecycle performance.

Direct external consultant teams in producing coordinated construction documents that integrate base building, turnkey, and tenant scope requirements.

Support site evaluation and master planning efforts, including assessments of utility capacity, cooling strategies, structural loading, and data center redundancy models.

Lead commissioning strategy and oversight, ensuring FAT, SAT, and IST testing validate design intent, system performance, and tenant expectations.

Key Qualifications & Competencies:

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Architectural Engineering, related field, or additional relevant experience in lieu of degree

10+ years of experience in data center design, mission-critical infrastructure, or solutions engineering, with leadership in tenant-facing roles.

Proficient in Bluebeam and/or AutoCAD

Proven track record in developing and managing standardized design platforms for hyperscale or enterprise tenants.

Strong ability to interpret and influence engineering drawings, technical submittals, and architectural layouts.

Exceptional communication and leadership skills, with experience in technical negotiations and stakeholder management.

Familiarity with redundancy configurations (N, N+1, 2N), commissioning processes, and sustainability frameworks.

Candidates with any or all of the following background are strongly encouraged to apply:

Advanced degree(s)

Professional certifications such as LEED, GGP, or CxA. PE and AIA

Experienced in hyperscale tenant requirements and colocation design integration

Exposure to commissioning authorities, field-level testing, and issue tracking platforms (e.g., CxAlloy, Bluebeam, Procore)

Knowledge of modular/prefabricated infrastructure and repeatable design strategies

Proficient in BIM tools (Revit), AutoCAD, and collaborative design platforms Familiar with global electrical standards, advanced cooling technologies, and modular construction methodologies

AREP offers a competitive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your eligible family members, a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), life and supplemental life insurance and short and long-term disability insurance. Our package includes Paid Time Off, Parental Leave, 401(k) plan with employer match, Employee Assistance Program and Employee Discount Program.

AREP is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, as well as any other category protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws.

If you require special accommodation, please email .

AREP does not accept unsolicited resumes or identifiable candidate information from third-party recruiters. Any unsolicited information will not be considered for engagement purposes.

Full-time