Director, Powered Land Development & Site Strategy

Aligned Data Centers; Plano (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Aligned Data Centers in Plano, TX seeks a Director, Powered Land Development to lead identification, qualification and acquisition of powered land for hyperscale data center pipelines. You will own the site from identification through transition to development, coordinating with Energy, Commercial/Sales, Platform Delivery, and Land Enablement teams.

The role requires a decade of land development or real estate experience, strong negotiation skills, and the ability to manage complex stakeholder

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in land development, site selection, or real estate acquisition within the energy or data center industry.
• Experience across early-to-late stage project development: market assessment, site control, permitting, and interconnection.
• Experience negotiating leases, easements, and land agreements with landowners and brokers.
• Economic development experience, including negotiating tax incentives and community investments.
• Demonstrated cross-functional leadership, with comfort acting as a liaison across commercial, technical, and executive stakeholders.
• Experience across multiple ISO/RTOs (ERCOT, SPP, PJM, MISO, Southwest, Southeast).
• Bachelor's degree; advanced degree a plus.
• Valid driver's license and ability to travel to prospective sites as needed (25-50%).

Responsibilities

• Lead early stage identification and development of powered land opportunities for hyperscale and AI-driven data center campuses across target markets
• Conduct market assessments, fatal-flaw analysis, and initial site reconnaissance to screen prospective sites for power availability, land characteristics, and development constraints
• Secure site control, including negotiating options, leases, easements, and other land agreements with landowners and brokers
• Lead site-level due diligence and support negotiation of power agreements, interconnection arrangements, and related utility engagements
• Oversee all activities from market assessment, to project conception, and through to development hand-off including competitor intelligence and project power strategies
• Serve 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 development
• Act as a connector across departments, aligning priorities, timelines, and site data between Commercial/Sales, Energy, Platform Delivery, Land Enablement, Government Affairs, Legal, and Finance
• Represent 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 agreements
• Support economic modeling and feasibility analysis for prospective sites to inform investment decisions
• Coordinate with engineering, environmental, and Platform Delivery colleagues to ensure a technically validated handoff of qualified sites into development and construction
• Manage 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 diligence
• Maintain disciplined pipeline tracking and reporting to keep leadership informed of site status, risk, and timeline
• Support government affairs and community relations efforts tied to prospective sites
• Support marketing and sales efforts for data center development opportunities in the pipeline

Skills

Land development

Site acquisition

Real estate negotiations

Cross-functional leadership

Power/energy experience

Budget management

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Aligned Data Centers in Plano, TX seeks a Director, Powered Land Development to lead identification, qualification and acquisition of powered land for hyperscale data center pipelines. You will own the site from identification through transition to development, coordinating with Energy, Commercial/Sales, Platform Delivery, and Land Enablement teams.

The role requires a decade of land development or real estate experience, strong negotiation skills, and the ability to manage complex stakeholder