Director, Powered Land Development

Aligned Data Centers, LLC; Plano (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Travel opportunities (25-50%)} {

Healthcare benefits

Job summary

Aligned Data Centers, LLC seeks an experienced Director of Powered Land Development to drive identification, qualification, and acquisition of powered land for hyperscale data center campuses. You will own prospective sites and coordinate with Energy, Commercial/Sales, and Platform Delivery & Land Enablement teams from initial identification through development handoff.

The role requires negotiating options, leases, and land agreements, conducting market assessments, and managing due diligence.

Qualifications

• Experience in land development and site acquisition within energy or data center sectors.
• Proven ability to negotiate leases, easements, and land agreements.
• Demonstrated cross-functional leadership across commercial, technical, and executive stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Identify powered land opportunities for hyperscale data centers.
• Lead market assessments, fatal-flaw analyses, and site reconnaissance.
• Secure site control through options, leases, and land agreements.
• Coordinate power interconnection and utility engagements for sites.
• Serve as primary liaison across Commercial/Sales, Energy, Platform Delivery and Enablement teams.

Skills

Land development

Site selection

Real estate acquisition

Negotiation

Cross-functional leadership

Market assessments

Power/utility coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree in a related field

Advanced degree a plus

Job description

It's fun to work in a company where people truly BELIEVE in what they're doing!We're committed to bringing passion and customer focus to the business.As the fastest growing digital infrastructure developer in the world, Aligned requires an exceptional Director, Powered Land Development to help keep our growing powered land development pipeline full, and flowing. This will require high-throughput transactional execution with a meticulous attention to detail, at a deal scale ranging from nine-figure project acquisitions to five-figure easement acquisitions.You have an exceptional drive and a tactical instinct to create “win / win” outcomes, the ability to communicate and present credibly and clearly across a very wide range of project stakeholders, and a deep appreciation of the value of reputation.You can thrive in a highly dynamic and frequently ambiguous high stakes environment.You will join a seasoned team with decades and GWs of experience, so data center-specific experience is not necessary. We hope you bring adjacent-sector energy-related real estate acquisition experience to the team.Summary: The Director, Powered Land Development will lead the identification, qualification, and acquisition of powered land for Aligned's hyperscale and AI-driven data center pipeline. Acting as the accountable owner for each prospective site, this role secures land and power positions ahead of demand and serves as the connecting point between Aligned's Energy, Commercial/Sales, and Platform Delivery & Land Enablement teams, ensuring a disciplined, well-coordinated handoff from site identification through to development.Duties and Responsibilities:Lead early stage identification and development of powered land opportunities for hyperscale and AI-driven data center campuses across target marketsConduct market assessments, fatal-flaw analysis, and initial site reconnaissance to screen prospective sites for power availability, land characteristics, and development constraintsSecure site control, including negotiating options, leases, easements, and other land agreements with landowners and brokersLead site-level due diligence and support negotiation of power agreements, interconnection arrangements, and related utility engagementsOversee all activities from market assessment, to project conception, and through to development hand-off including competitor intelligence and project power strategiesServe as Aligned’s primary point of contact for each prospective site, coordinating with the Commercial/Sales, Energy, and Platform Delivery & Land Enablement teams from initial identification through transition to developmentAct as a connector across departments, aligning priorities, timelines, and site data between Commercial/Sales, Energy, Platform Delivery, Land Enablement, Government Affairs, Legal, and FinanceRepresent Aligned with landowners, brokers, customers, and state and local officials throughout the site-selection process, including leading and negotiating agreements for local economic development, tax, and community agreementsSupport economic modeling and feasibility analysis for prospective sites to inform investment decisionsCoordinate with engineering, environmental, and Platform Delivery colleagues to ensure a technically validated handoff of qualified sites into development and constructionManage site-identification tasks against budgets and schedules, including coordinating internal and external technical support (environmental consultants, engineers, legal counsel)Prepare and review work scopes and proposals from third-party consultants supporting site identification and diligenceMaintain disciplined pipeline tracking and reporting to keep leadership informed of site status, risk, and timelineSupport government affairs and community relations efforts tied to prospective sitesSupport marketing and sales efforts for data center development opportunities in the pipelineThis role will partner with the following functions within Aligned:Executive LeadershipCommercial/SalesEnergyPlatform Delivery & Land EnablementGovernment AffairsESGLegalFinance/AccountingPreferred Qualifications:10+ years of experience in land development, site selection, or real estate acquisition within the energy or data center industry (large load and/or generation preferred)Demonstrated experience across early-to-late stage project development: market assessment, site control, permitting, and interconnectionExperience negotiating leases, easements, and land agreements with landowners and brokersEconomic development experience, including negotiating tax incentives and community investmentsDemonstrated cross-functional leadership, with comfort acting as a liaison across commercial, technical, and executive stakeholdersExperience across multiple ISO/RTOs (ERCOT, SPP, PJM, MISO, Southwest, Southeast)Experience and knowledge of design and technical standards that impact data center development and deliveryExperience taking projects through FID or NTP preferredExperience with private equity infrastructure investors and lenders a plusBachelor's degree in a related field; advanced degree a plusValid driver's license and ability to travel to prospective sites as needed (25-50%)