Senior Manager Site Readiness – AI Data Centers

About the role

This role focuses on preparing new AI data center sites for construction by managing all pre-development activities. This includes developing permitting strategies, engaging with government agencies, and representing the company at public hearings to secure necessary approvals. The Senior Manager will also interpret local codes, identify compliance challenges, and proactively engage with building officials to ensure alignment with project plans.

A key part of the work involves managing land rights and easements, coordinating with legal and land teams to resolve any encumbrances or boundary issues. The role also oversees external professional services, defining scopes of work, managing budgets for site readiness, and ensuring technical reports meet the specific requirements for AI-optimized data centers. Success in this position means efficiently moving sites from development to a 'ready to build' status, minimizing risks and delays.

The Senior Manager will coordinate closely with utility providers for power and water, and telecommunications companies for fiber connectivity, aligning service delivery with construction schedules. This position involves analyzing site constraints, developing mitigation plans, and maintaining a Site Readiness Dashboard for executive leadership. The goal is to standardize site readiness processes and ensure clear accountability across all internal teams.

The salary for this role ranges from $100,000 to $250,000 annually.

Skills that matter here

• Technical Literacy: This role requires interpreting civil engineering drawings, ALTA surveys, and complex legal descriptions to assess site viability and compliance.
• Negotiation Skills: The Senior Manager will negotiate with utility providers and municipal leaders to secure necessary agreements and expedite approvals.
• Project Management: Proficiency in project management software is needed to track multi-threaded permitting timelines and manage various pre-construction activities.
• land development: The role requires experience in land development to navigate the complexities of site preparation, permitting, and regulatory compliance for large-scale industrial projects.
• site readiness: This position is specifically focused on ensuring sites are fully prepared for construction, encompassing all aspects from legal rights to utility coordination.

Who this role suits

• A person with a strong background in managing complex land development or project management within industrial or data center environments.
• Someone who is adept at navigating intricate regulatory landscapes and engaging effectively with government officials and external stakeholders.
• An individual with proven negotiation skills, capable of securing favorable terms with utility providers and municipal leaders.
• A detail-oriented professional who can interpret technical documents and manage multiple concurrent timelines efficiently.

From the employer

Key Responsibilities

• Entitlements and Jurisdictional Management
• Permitting Strategy: Develop and execute a comprehensive permitting roadmap for each project, including land use, environmental, grading, and building permits.
• Government Relations: Support the Chief Development Officer and VP of Policy and Government Relations as directed and where appropriate serve as the point of contact for local planning departments, building officials, and regulatory agencies to expedite approvals.
• Public Hearings: Represent the company as needed at planning commission meetings, zoning boards, and city council hearings to secure necessary variances or Special Use Permits (SUPs).

• Local Codes and Regulatory Strategies
• Code Interpretation & Technical Compliance: Conduct reviews of local building codes and design guidelines to ensure AI specific infrastructure meets local requirements. Identify any challenges or gray areas and propose solutions. Partner with Design and Construction teams to ensure plans align with local code requirements.
• Local Standards & Ordinance Navigation: Conduct reviews of local ordinances including zoning, architectural standards, setbacks, energy efficiency, noise, environmental or other relevant ordinances. Collaborate with all Corporate Services teams to develop strategies and solutions.
• Proactive Jurisdictional Engagement: Lead technical “Pre-app” meetings with local building officials to socialize new construction and secure buy-in before formal submission. Serve as the primary technical advocate when local inspectors or code officials raise questions regarding the development and construction as needed.

• Easements and Land Rights
• Easement Resolution: Coordinate and partner with Legal team and Land & Power team to identify, negotiate, and secure necessary easements (utility, access, drainage) and rights-of-way required to support development / construction requirements.
• Title and Survey Review: Analyze ALTA surveys and title reports to identify encumbrances or gotchas that could impact the construction footprint or site ingress/egress.
• Boundary & Encroachment Management: Coordinate and partner with Legal team and Land & Power team to resolve any existing site encroachments or boundary disputes prior to mobilization.

• External Professional Services Oversight
• Consultant Management: Coordinate as needed or directed the work of third-party firms, including civil engineers, environmental consultants (Phase I/II ESA), traffic consultants, or other firms supporting development and construction.
• Scope & Budgeting: Support the VP Construction with defining Scopes of Work (SOWs) for site readiness services, review proposals, and manage the associated budgets to prevent cost overruns in the pre-construction phase.
• Deliverable Quality Control: Ensure all technical reports (geotechnical, hydrological, etc.) meet the specific load and cooling requirements of AI-optimized data center shells.

• Utility and Infrastructure Coordination
• Utility Liaison: Work closely with power and water authorities to ensure that service delivery timelines align with the construction schedule.
• Temporary Services: Secure permits and infrastructure for temporary construction power, water, and site trailers to enable immediate mobilization.
• Fiber Connectivity: Support Corporate Services teams as needed to coordinate with telecommunications providers to ensure diverse fiber paths are secured and permitted to the property line.

• Risk Mitigation and Site Assessment
• Site Constraints Analysis: Identify physical or legal constraints (e.g., wetlands, endangered species, archaeological sensitivity) and assist VP Construction with development of mitigation plans.
• Due Diligence Reporting: Maintain a Site Readiness Dashboard for executive leadership, highlighting critical path items, risks to the Start Construction date, and mitigation strategies.
• Handover Coordination: Formalize a Ready to Build package for the internal construction execution team, ensuring all conditions of approval are documented and understood.

• Strategic Support
• Standardization: Assist in developing a Site Readiness Playbook to standardize the approach for deployments and industrialized models.
• RACI & Workflow: Contribute to the development of project-specific RACI matrices to ensure clear accountability between all Enterprise teams.

• Additional duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• 8–12 years in land development, project management, or site readiness, specifically within heavy industrial, energy, or data center sectors.
• Technical Literacy: Ability to interpret civil engineering drawings, ALTA surveys, and complex legal descriptions.
• Negotiation Skills: Proven track record of negotiating with utility providers and municipal leaders.
• Project Management: Proficiency in project management software (e.g., Procore, Primavera P6, or MS Project) to track multi-threaded permitting timelines.
• This position may involve duties that require operation of a company vehicle or travel between job sites. As such, candidates must be insurable under CleanSpark's vehicle insurance policy.

CleanSpark Offers

• Equal Opportunity Employer: CleanSpark provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.
• This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.