Data Center Development Project Manager – International

BlueKobalt Infrastructure; Île-de-France; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

BlueKobalt Infrastructure seeks a Senior Project Manager to open new countries and lead data center projects from site identification to ready‑to‑build. Based in Paris, you will travel regularly to Greece and other European countries, coordinating with local partners and internal teams.

You will manage regulatory, grid, land, permitting, and environmental studies, while ensuring on‑time project delivery and investor readiness.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in relevant engineering field with business experience.
• 8–15 years total experience, including international assignments.
• Ability to engage local stakeholders and sustain relationships over time, including remotely.
• Master grid connection procedures and land securing within foreign regulatory frameworks.
• Experience opening new markets or managing local partners abroad is a plus.
• Understanding of data center design, energy management, and cooling for AI.
• Fluent English and professional French; another European language is a plus.
• Comfort with digital tools and AI.

Responsibilities

• Map target countries' regulatory frameworks (permits, zoning, environment), grid operators, energy sources, taxation and risks.
• Recommend priority areas and sites; adapt the approach per country.
• Build and manage a network of local partners (advisors, land experts, suppliers) with compliance and ethics in mind.
• Lead land and grid connection negotiations through to signature within local laws.
• Oversee design studies (environmental, electrical, hydraulic, geotechnical, cooling) and trade‑offs with design team.
• Lead zoning and permitting; manage schedules, budgets and resources; maintain risk register.
• Coordinate engineers, architects, land experts, legal advisors, suppliers and EPC contractors.
• Prepare internal approval files and contribute with CFO to investment and financing files.
• Rally stakeholders, run steering committees, and participate in pre‑sales discussions.

Skills

International experience

Fluent English

Professional French

Multicultural collaboration

Willingness to travel

Education

Master's degree in electrical/energy/civil/mechanical engineering or related field with business experience

Job description

Behind every AI, there's a data center. And behind our data centers across Europe, there could be you.

At BlueKobalt, we develop and manage the digital infrastructure that will host tomorrow's AI and high-performance computing (HPC). After France, we are expanding into Greece and the rest of Europe. We're looking for a senior project manager to open new countries and lead our data center projects there, from site identification all the way to ready-to-build.

• Location: Paris, with frequent travel to target countries (Greece first, then other European countries)
• Reports to: Chief Development Officer
• Experience: 8 to 15 years, including international experience
• Languages: fluent English, professional French; another European language is a plus
• Start date: as soon as possible

Who we are

BlueKobalt Infrastructure was founded in 2026 by an experienced team. We develop, build and operate digital infrastructure for AI (inference and training) and high-performance computing, with sites from 50 to 300 MW.

Our founders have developed major energy infrastructure projects across Europe and internationally. Today, they are moving into a fast-growing sector: data centers built for AI.

Our mindset: here, we are entrepreneurial, creative, enthusiastic, solution-oriented, supportive, ambitious and future-focused. We use AI every day, and we will soon be a leading AI data center operator.

Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, you will grow our data center portfolio outside France. Based in Paris, you will travel regularly to our target countries, starting with Greece: you confirm their potential, launch our activity there with local partners, and prepare the handover to a local team once the country is ready. You will orchestrate all the internal and external players working on your projects and lead them from start to finish.

• Map each target country: regulatory framework (permits, zoning, environment), grid operators, renewable energy, taxation and risks.
• Recommend priority areas and sites, and adapt the BlueKobalt approach to each country.
• Build and manage a network of local partners (advisors, prospectors, land experts, suppliers), in line with our compliance and ethics standards.

Prospect and qualify

• Prospect target areas: grid connection capacity, available land, local political support.
• Set search areas, criteria and objectives for local prospectors, and track their performance.
• Qualify opportunities using our multi-criteria analysis grid (energy, grid, land, water, zoning, connectivity...).

Secure grid connection and land

• Work with our Grid Specialist on grid connection requests with local grid operators and, where possible, on renewable energy supply.
• Lead land and grid connection negotiations through to signature, within the local legal framework.

Steer technical design and permitting

• Oversee environmental, electrical, hydraulic, geotechnical and cooling studies.
• Make design trade-offs (density, cooling, redundancy...) with our Design Specialist and the sales team.
• Lead each country's zoning and permitting procedures: building permit, environmental authorization.
• Structure and track schedules, study budgets and resources.
• Maintain the risk register, identify roadblocks and roll out action plans.
• Coordinate engineering firms, architects, land experts, legal advisors, suppliers and future EPC contractors.
• Prepare and present internal approval files, and contribute with the CFO to investment and financing files.

Rally stakeholders and hand over

• Build and maintain relationships with elected officials, local and national authorities, economic development agencies and developers.
• Run steering committees and report to management and investors.
• Take part in pre-sales discussions with clients, bringing the project's technical and timeline perspective.
• When the time comes, help recruit the local team that will take over the projects, organize the handover and support its ramp-up.

Education

• Master's degree (Bac+5): engineer (electrical / energy, civil, mechanical / HVAC) with business experience, or business school graduate with technical experience.

Experience

• 5 to 10 years in developing digital infrastructure, industrial real estate or renewable energy projects, including experience in Europe, with sites actually permitted and secured to your credit, ideally in several countries.
• You know how to open the door of local stakeholders and keep the relationship going over time, including remotely.
• You master grid connection procedures and land securing within a foreign legal framework, and you quickly get to grips with a new country's zoning and permitting procedures.
• Have you already opened a new market or managed local partners abroad? That's a real plus.
• Infrastructure project development, from site qualification to building permit.
• Understanding of data center design, energy management and cooling, including high density and liquid cooling for AI.
• Grid connection (HV / MV) and how grid operators work.
• Ability to quickly decode a foreign regulatory framework (zoning, environment, taxation) and knowledge of the European framework for data centers (Energy Efficiency Directive, waste heat recovery).
• Project management (planning, budget tracking, dashboards) and preparation of investment files.
• Managing external service providers based on objectives and KPIs, in a multicultural setting.
• Data center construction methods, technical standards and safety requirements.
• Fluent English and professional French. Another European language is a plus.
• Comfortable with digital tools and AI.

Your personality

• You bring cross-functional teams together without formal authority: you lead by influence.
• You communicate clearly and know how to run a steering committee.
• Rigor, organization, results orientation, autonomy and an entrepreneurial spirit.
• You enjoy fieldwork and travel: frequent trips to our target countries, with on-site periods when needed.
• You are at ease in multicultural settings and know how to build trust with people from different cultures.
• Team spirit, openness, creativity and determination to see things through.
• You know the grid operators in our target countries (Greece and other European countries).
• You speak a European language other than English and French.
• You understand what hyperscalers expect.
• You thrive in a growing company.
• You want to automate, test AI tools, and work faster and smarter.

Why join us?

• A key role: you open new countries and contribute directly to critical infrastructure for AI and data.
• An entrepreneurial adventure: you work every day with an experienced founding team.
• Autonomy: responsibility, efficiency, short decision-making channels. Your choices have an immediate impact.
• A competitive compensation package.

Our hiring process, step by step

• An HR interview, by video or in person
• A technical interview with the team
• A possible case study and an interview with the founders