Data Center Real Estate & Development Specialist

Sciforium; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

401k plan

Daily lunch and snacks

Flexible time off

Equity

Job summary

Sciforium is building a high‑density AI/GPU data center and seeking a Data Center Operations Project Manager to own end‑to‑end facility conversion. You will coordinate across external partners and internal stakeholders to keep design, permitting, procurement, and construction on schedule and on budget.

The role demands urgency, decisive judgment under time pressure, and the ability to hold multiple vendors accountable to an aggressive timeline.

Qualifications

• 5+ years managing large‑scale construction, infrastructure, or data center projects (ideally electrical/mechanical build‑outs).
• Experience coordinating with electrical contractors, engineering firms, and major infrastructure equipment vendors.
• Knowledge of data center power and cooling systems (switchgear, UPS, PDUs, CDUs, liquid cooling) for informed vendor discussions.
• Experience with permitting and AHJ processes for industrial or commercial construction projects.
• Strong scheduling skills using CPM tools (MS Project, Smartsheet) and the ability to manage multiple workstreams.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate with electrical infrastructure partner on power distribution and cooling build‑out, ensuring alignment with schedule and budget.
• Manage relationships with server/GPU hardware vendors for rack infrastructure and integration with facility infra.
• Own permitting and AHJ coordination with engineering firms and local authorities to avoid delays.
• Drive design reviews and track open questions, decisions, and dependencies across electrical, mechanical, and structural workstreams.
• Maintain the master project schedule across parallel deployment tracks and escalate risks early.
• Oversee procurement of long‑lead equipment and track lead times and CapEx against budget.
• Serve as primary point of contact for external partners and internal leadership on project status and decisions.
• Track and report project status, risks, and decisions to leadership on a regular cadence.
• Coordinate site logistics, including visits, inspections, and access for partners and contractors.

Skills

Project management

Vendor coordination

Scheduling

Technical communication

Budget management

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or related field

Tools

MS Project

Smartsheet

Job description

Sciforium is an AI infrastructure company developing next-generation multimodal AI models and a proprietary, high-efficiency serving platform. Backed by multi-million-dollar funding and direct sponsorship from AMD with hands‑on support from AMD engineers the team is scaling rapidly to build the full stack powering frontier AI models and real‑time applications.

About the role

We are seeking a highly skilled Data Center Operations Project Manager to own execution of our facility conversion end to end. In this role, you will be the central point of coordination across all external partners and internal stakeholders, responsible for keeping design, permitting, procurement, and construction on schedule and on budget. We are converting a power‑ready industrial facility into a high‑density AI/GPU data center, with our first tranche of capacity targeted for October 2026. Backed by multi‑million‑dollar funding, the team is scaling rapidly to build the physical infrastructure powering AI frontier compute.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives operating with urgency, can make sound judgment calls under time pressure, and can hold multiple vendors accountable to a shared, aggressive timeline.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate directly with our electrical infrastructure partner on power distribution and cooling build‑out scope, including UPS, PDUs, switchgear, ATS, CDUs, chilled water systems, and in‑row cooling, ensuring designs align with project timeline and budget.

• Manage relationships with server/GPU hardware vendors on rack infrastructure, delivery schedules, and integration with facility infrastructure and GPU deployment plans.

• Own permitting and AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction) coordination, working with engineering firms and local authorities to secure necessary approvals without delaying the critical path.

• Drive design and engineering review cycles, tracking open technical questions, decisions, and dependencies across electrical, mechanical, and structural workstreams.

• Manage the master project schedule across parallel deployment tracks, identifying critical path items and escalating risks early.

• Coordinate procurement of long‑lead equipment, including tracking order timing, lead times, and budget against project CapEx.

• Serve as the primary point of contact for all external partners (electrical infrastructure partner, engineering firms, contractors, hardware vendors, landlord/facility contacts) and internal stakeholders (leadership, finance).

• Track and report project status, risks, and decisions needed to leadership on a regular cadence.

• Manage site logistics, including coordinating site visits, inspections, and access for partners and contractors.

Must-Haves

• 5+ years managing large‑scale construction, infrastructure, or data center projects, ideally including electrical/mechanical build‑outs.

• Experience coordinating with electrical contractors, engineering firms, and major electrical infrastructure equipment vendors.

• Working knowledge of data center power and cooling systems (switchgear, UPS, PDUs, CDUs, liquid cooling) sufficient to have informed technical conversations with vendors and engineers.

• Experience with permitting and AHJ processes for industrial or commercial construction projects.

• Strong project scheduling skills (critical path method, MS Project, Smartsheet, or similar tools).

• Ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams and vendors under aggressive timelines.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; comfortable driving alignment across technical and non‑technical stakeholders.

Nice‑to‑Haves

• Prior experience with AI/HPC data center builds or GPU cluster deployments.

• Familiarity with liquid cooling infrastructure (direct‑to‑chip, CDUs) and high‑density power distribution (480V, 415V step‑down systems).

• Experience managing facility conversions (brownfield) rather than greenfield builds.

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, or related field; PMP certification.

Benefits include

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance

• 401k plan

• Daily lunch, snacks, and beverages

• Flexible time off

• Competitive salary and equity

Equal opportunity

Sciforium is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.