Design Project Lead, Data Center Design and Construction

Meta; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Meta is seeking a Design Project Lead for the Data Center Design Engineering organization to oversee Civil, Structural, Landscape and Architecture disciplines on new builds, leased facilities, and retrofit projects. You will act as Owner's Representative, coordinating with engineers, planners, and operations to deliver capacity safely, on time, and within budget.

This full‑time role requires leading planning, setting goals, tracking progress, and guiding risk mitigation across cross‑functional

Qualifications

• Lead multiple projects through schematic design to turnover as Project Lead and CSLA discipline expert.
• Serve as primary technical liaison between business stakeholders and design teams.
• Set goals and track progress; align decisions with organizational goals and technical vision.
• Facilitate regular meetings, retrospectives, and reviews to drive transparency.
• Coordinate risk mitigation with internal and external partners to meet schedule and budget.
• Prepare and manage RFPs and contracts; review change orders and submittals.

Responsibilities

• Oversee Civil, Structural, Landscape, Architecture disciplines on new builds, leased facilities, and retrofits.
• Lead end-to-end project planning, from requirements gathering to resource allocation and milestones.
• Act as Owner's Representative to ensure safety, quality, operability, and sustainability.
• Coordinate with EoR, contractors, and regulators to deliver capacity on time and budget.
• Monitor project health and provide actionable feedback to teams and stakeholders.

Skills

Project leadership

Stakeholder management

Progress tracking

RFP management

Cross-functional collaboration

Contract administration

Job description

Summary:

Meta is seeking a Design Project Lead experienced in the design and construction of Critical Facilities to become part of our Data Center Design Engineering organization. Our data centers are the foundation upon which our software operates. Building and operating reliable and efficient data centers is essential to support the growth of Meta. The Data Center Design Engineering organization collaborates with all key stakeholders to ensure design and engineering of our data centers incorporate considerations from micro-levels (servers and IT equipment design requirements) to macro-levels (mechanical cooling and power distribution options) to ensure maximum efficiency and reliability of our compute infrastructure. As an integral part of the Design Development and Delivery Team, this role will operate as the Design Project Lead overseeing the design and construction administration as an Owner's Representative, and lead the Civil, Structural, Landscape, Architecture (CSLA) disciplines as a subject matter expert. The Design Project Lead will collaborate with multiple stakeholders including cross-discipline partners across the Design Engineering organization, internal partners such as Planning and Development, Construction Management, Quality, Safety, and Operations as well as external partners including engineers of record (EoR), general contractors, and regulatory agencies to deliver data center capacity safely, on time, within budget, and of high quality. This position is full‑time providing directional guidance aligned with the pace of fast‑tracked design and construction.

Required Skills:

1. Lead multiple projects through schematic design, design development, construction documents, construction administration and turn‑over as Project Lead and technical domain lead for the Civil, Structural, Landscape, Architecture (CSLA) disciplines on new builds (greenfield), leased facilities, and retrofit projects

2. Lead end‑to‑end project planning, including requirements gathering, defining the scope, identifying key milestones, and allocating resources. Serve as the primary technical liaison between business stakeholders and design engineering teams

3. Set clear goals and expectations for teams, regularly tracking progress and communicating status updates to stakeholders. Ensure all project decisions support Meta's broader organizational goals and technical vision

4. Facilitate regular project meetings, retrospectives, and reviews to drive transparency and continuous improvement

5. Collaborate with internal cross‑functional stakeholders and external partners in resolving issues and leading risk mitigation strategies ensuring on‑time and budget delivery of capacity with a focus on safety, quality, operability, and sustainability

6. Prepare and issue Request for Proposals (RFP), analyze and make award recommendations, manage and administer project/program‑level contracts, review and approve change cost proposals, value engineering proposals, invoices, shop drawings, submittals, requests for information, reports/audits/studies, and other design‑related deliverables

7. Hold EoR teams accountable on deliverables and performance by providing actionable feedback, including from other stakeholders such as Construction Management and by participating in the project health reviews. Proactively identify risks and remove road