Senior Project Manager, Data Center Expansion – France

Hub; Paris; Remote; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Verda is expanding its physical infrastructure footprint in France and is hiring a Data Centre Expansion Manager (France) to own end-to-end identification and delivery of new colocation capacity.

You will review site proposals, assess power and cooling, negotiate commercial terms, manage budgets, and coordinate with Construction, DC Operations, Procurement and Legal to deliver on time.

Frequent travel across France is expected; remote work is supported within France as needed.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in data centre capacity acquisition or colocation procurement with hands-on French market experience.
• Strong technical foundation to assess power and cooling infrastructure and ask the right questions.
• Proven track record running RFI/RFP processes, supplier evaluation, and negotiations.
• Willingness to travel frequently to sites across France.

Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee identification, evaluation, and development of data centre and infrastructure expansion opportunities in France.
• Review incoming site proposals and assess power infrastructure, cooling, fibre, redundancy, rack density, security.
• Negotiate, structure, manage commercial agreements, colocation leases, partnerships, and vendor contracts.
• Represent the Company in dealings with local authorities, regulatory bodies, utilities, and third-party stakeholders as required.
• Own the tendering and procurement process for new France capacity: RFI/RFP preparation, vendor shortlisting, commercial negotiation, and contract execution.
• Manage project budgets, financial models, and investment cases related to French expansion activities.
• Ensure all expansion activities comply with applicable French laws, regulations, and Company policies.
• Coordinate internal and external workstreams (Construction, DC Operations, Hardware, Procurement, Legal) to deliver expansion projects on time and within budget.
• Provide regular reporting to senior management on project status, risks, and material developments.
• Build and maintain a live pipeline of evaluated and pre-qualified French sites so Verda is never reacting to capacity needs reactively.
• Support the establishment and ongoing governance of the Company’s operational presence in France.

Skills

Data centre procurement

Colocation

Infrastructure real estate

RFI/RFP processes

Vendor negotiation

Budget management

France market

Tools

Power infrastructure assessment

Regulatory coordination

Job description

Imagine a future where everyone has instant, low-cost access to intelligence. We’re building a fully featured European AI cloud - with everything one needs to train, experiment with, and deploy AI models. In addition, our GPUs run on 100% renewable energy.

We’re ambitious, curious, and gutsy doers. We practice a low hierarchy across the company and high morale in our teams. We’ve already achieved a lot, yet we’re only getting started. Now it’s your chance to join the ride. We offer more than just the job - we offer a career-defining opportunity to be part of building something big! Join Verda while it’s still being built - not once it’s finished.

Why Verda

• Cash + equity compensation along with various fringe benefits (e.g., healthcare, lunch, wellbeing, etc.).

• Profitable operations with rapid, sustained growth.

• 31 nationalities, with 6 different ones on the management team.

• An opportunity with make a clear impact and work alongside world-class engineers, researchers, and partners across the global AI ecosystem.

Practicalities

• Work mode: Remote (France)

• Travel: Frequent travel on sites

• Employment type: Full-time and permanent.

About the role

Verda is expanding its physical infrastructure footprint and we are bringing new data centre capacity online through colocation facilities, third-party partnerships, and strategic agreements across France. Every new site we open starts with someone finding it, qualifying it, contracting it, and getting it ready to receive hardware.

That person is you.

We are looking for a Data Centre Expansion Manager (France) to own the end-to-end process of identifying and delivering new colocation and data centre capacity within the French market. This is a focused, commercially and technically intensive role. You will spend significant time reviewing inbound site proposals and opportunities, conducting due diligence on colocation providers, and driving procurement processes to close.

What You Will Do

• Lead and oversee the identification, evaluation, and development of data centre and infrastructure expansion opportunities in France.

• Review incoming site proposals and colocation opportunities assessing power infrastructure, cooling systems, fibre connectivity, redundancy architecture, rack density, and physical security.

• Negotiate, structure, and manage commercial agreements, colocation leases, partnerships, and vendor contracts on behalf of the Company.

• Represent the Company in dealings with local authorities, regulatory bodies, utilities, and third-party stakeholders as required.

• Own the tendering and procurement process for new France capacity: RFI/RFP preparation, vendor shortlisting, commercial negotiation, and contract execution.

• Manage project budgets, financial models, and investment cases related to French expansion activities.

• Ensure all expansion activities comply with applicable French laws, regulations, and Company policies.

• Coordinate internal and external workstreams (Construction, DC Operations, Hardware, Procurement, Legal) to deliver expansion projects on time and within budget.

• Provide regular reporting to senior management on project status, risks, and material developments.

• Build and maintain a live pipeline of evaluated and pre-qualified French sites so Verda is never reacting to capacity needs reactively.

• Support the establishment and ongoing governance of the Company’s operational presence in France.

What We Are Looking For

• 5+ years in data centre capacity acquisition, colocation procurement, or infrastructure real estate with hands-on French market experience.

• Strong technical foundation: ability to assess a facility’s power and cooling infrastructure, identify gaps, and know what questions to ask when something does not add up.

• Direct experience reviewing and evaluating inbound colocation proposals and shortlisting processes.

• Proven track record running RFI/RFP processes, commercial evaluation, and supplier negotiation.

• Comfortable reviewing and negotiating colocation and power contracts without needing Legal to explain every clause.

• Willingness and ability to travel frequently to sites across France.

Strong Plus

• Experience evaluating high-density GPU or HPC facilities — understanding of 140kW+ per rack power requirements, liquid cooling readiness, and InfiniBand-compatible infrastructure.

• Existing relationships with major French colocation operators and capacity brokers.

• Familiarity with French power markets — grid connection processes, substation capacity timelines, and renewable energy sourcing.

• Experience closing multiple simultaneous deals from technical evaluation through to contract execution.

What’s Next

We’re building fast and this role needs the right person behind it. There’s no artificial deadline, but when we find who we’re looking for, we move.