Area Cost Lead

Google; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 159,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Google is seeking an Area Cost Lead to drive cost controls and financial governance for large-scale data center programs across multiple U.S. sites and internationally.

The role requires leading cost estimation, vendor negotiations, and program-wide controls in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment. Ideal candidates will have 5+ years in data center construction, experience with multinational programs, and a track record of delivering cost-efficient results.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field and 5 years in data center construction.
• Experience with cost management, cost planning and estimation, negotiation, and project procurement.
• Experience with multinational technical construction programs/projects.

Responsibilities

• Drive financial alignment, optimize processes, and ensure strategic execution for our data center projects across the assigned sub region and in line with global project controls framework.
• Be the primary point of contact for cost controls related, funding matters, ensuring seamless financial oversight and stakeholder alignment.
• Support megascale development, multi-building campus projects, and leveraging strategic vendor relationships to reduce costs and accelerate delivery.
• Streamline program-level activities, empower project-level teams to focus on efficient project controls delivery.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Quantity Surveying, Industrial Engineering, a related field, or equivalent practical experience

Job description

Area Cost Lead

corporate\_fare

Google

place

Kansas City, MO, USA; Council Bluffs, IA, USA; +2 more

Note: By applying to this position you will have an opportunity to share your preferred working location from the following: Kansas City, MO, USA; Council Bluffs, IA, USA; Chicago, IL, USA; Cedar Rapids, IA, USA.

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Quantity Surveying, Industrial Engineering, a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5 years of experience in data center construction, leading cost management, project controls or cost estimation.
• 5 years of experience working with multinational technical construction programs/projects.
• Experience with cost management, cost planning and estimation, negotiation, and project procurement.

Preferred qualifications:

• 7 years of experience in data center construction.

About the job

A problem isn’t truly solved until it’s solved for all. That’s why Googlers build products that help create opportunities for everyone, whether down the street or across the globe. As a Program Manager at Google, you’ll lead complex, multi-disciplinary projects from start to finish — working with stakeholders to plan requirements, manage project schedules, identify risks, and communicate clearly with cross-functional partners across the company. Your projects will often span offices, time zones, and hemispheres. It's your job to coordinate the players and keep them up to date on progress and deadlines.

In this role, you are responsible for driving strategic, complex, cross-organizational programs, establishing influence, and optimizing processes to achieve significant business impact. You will implement an established program controls approach that is flexible, effective, efficient, and responsive to stakeholders as well as executive leadership reporting needs. You are a cost subject matter expert on data center construction in greenfield, brownfield, co-location and retrofit facilities (e.g., schedule, risk and change management). You will work closely with the cross-functional team members, overseeing and implementing planning/scheduling, progressing methods/tools to establish integrated project schedule planning as we analyze new technology to deploy and build new data centers. You will lead efforts to improve operational efficiency, cycle times, reliability, predictability, and on-time delivery.

The Data Center team designs and operates some of the most sophisticated electrical and HVAC systems in the world. We are an upbeat, creative, team-oriented group of engineers committed to building and operating powerful data centers.

Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

US: $159000 - $230000 (USD) + 15% bonus target + equity + benefits

Learn more about benefits at Google.

Responsibilities

• Drive financial alignment, optimize processes, and ensure strategic execution for our data center projects across the assigned sub region and in line with global project controls framework.
• Be the primary point of contact for cost controls related, funding matters, ensuring seamless financial oversight and stakeholder alignment.
• Support megascale development, multi-building campus projects, and leveraging strategic vendor relationships to reduce costs and accelerate delivery.
• Streamline program-level activities, empower project-level teams to focus on efficient project controls delivery.