Facilities and Construction Manager

Empire AI; Buffalo (NY); On-site; USD 100,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Empire AI in Buffalo, NY seeks a Manager, Facilities and Construction to lead the buildout, commissioning, and ongoing operation of its computing facilities. You will manage power, cooling, controls, and life safety, serving as the owner's representative during retrofit and new data center design.

Reporting to the Director of Research Computing, you will coordinate with design teams, general contractors, and vendors to develop maintenance programs and drive safe, reliable operations for a

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in data center or mission-critical facilities.
• Mechanical and electrical experience across design to operation.
• Experience with critical power, cooling, and building controls.
• Ability to read drawings and one-line diagrams.
• Strong safety and incident response practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead retrofit of existing facility and oversee new data center design.
• Coordinate electrical, mechanical, and controls work in active facility.
• Plan shutdowns safely and review contractor procedures.
• Manage site coordination, submittals, costs, and schedules.
• Own maintenance programs, manuals, and training records.
• Lead incident response and conduct root cause analysis.

Skills

Data center operations

Project lifecycle

Safety discipline

Written and verbal communication

On-site work

Education

Engineering degree or facilities certification

Tools

Building management systems

Power monitoring

CMMS

Job description

Manager, Facilities and Construction, Data Center Operations (Onsite, Buffalo NY)

Empire AI is establishing New York as the national leader in responsible artificial intelligence. Backed by a consortium of top academic and research institutions including Columbia, Cornell, NYU, CUNY, RPI, SUNY, Rochester Schools, Mount Sinai, Simons Foundation, and the Flatiron Institute.

By leveraging the state's rich academic resources and research institutions, Empire AI is driving innovation in fields like medicine, education, energy, and climate change, all while giving New York's researchers access to computing resources that are often prohibitively expensive and only available to big tech companies, fueling statewide innovation, driving economic growth, and preparing a future-ready AI workforce to tackle society's most complex challenges.

The initiative is funded by $500+ million in public and private investments, State Capital Grant, Academic Institutions, Simons Foundation, Flatiron Institute, and Tom Secunda (Co-Founder of Bloomberg).

Position Summary

The Manager, Facilities and Construction will lead the buildout, commissioning, and ongoing operation of Empire AI's computing facilities in Buffalo, New York. This position is responsible for the physical infrastructure that Empire AI's research computing depends on — power, cooling, controls, and life safety.

Reporting to the Director of Research Computing, the Manager, Facilities and Construction will manage the active retrofit of an existing operating building while simultaneously representing owner operations during the design and construction of a new data center facility. Once that facility is commissioned, this position assumes responsibility for its daily operation and maintenance.

This role suits someone who has followed building systems through the full lifecycle — from drawings and design review through construction, startup, commissioning, and years of daily operation. Decisions made during construction determine how a facility runs for the next decade, and this position is structured so that the person who builds it is the person who runs it.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as owner's representative for the retrofit of the existing facility, coordinating electrical, mechanical, and controls work inside an occupied, operating building
• Plan and sequence shutdowns, work windows, and temporary power and cooling so that critical operations are not interrupted
• Review and approve contractor procedures for any work affecting critical systems, including risk assessment and backout planning
• Manage day-to-day site coordination: contractor access, material staging, deliveries, equipment rigging, and trade conflicts
• Track submittals, change orders, schedule impacts, and cost implications; elevate issues with clear recommendations
• Represent operations throughout the design and construction of the new facility, reviewing designs and equipment selections for serviceability, isolation, redundancy, and long-term maintainability
• Identify operational risk before turnover, including incomplete documentation, unresolved commissioning items, missing spare parts, and insufficient training
• Coordinate with design teams, general contractors, commissioning agents, equipment vendors, and utility representatives
• Participate in commissioning and integrated systems testing, including failure and failover scenarios
• Own the turnover process: operating manuals, staff training, spare parts inventory, warranty documentation, and maintenance system setup
• Lead daily operation of critical power, cooling, controls, and life safety systems once the facility is live
• Serve as the primary escalation point for infrastructure events, alarms, outages, and abnormal operating conditions
• Own the preventive and corrective maintenance program, including work orders, schedules, rounds, and critical spares
• Develop and maintain standard and emergency operating procedures, lockout/tagout procedures, safety plans, and training records
• Lead incident response, conduct root cause analysis, and drive corrective actions
• Run drills and operator training for failure, transfer, alarm, and recovery scenarios
• Manage mechanical, electrical, controls, and low-voltage contractors and service providers; scope work, review proposals and invoices, and hold vendors accountable for quality and safety
• Coordinate site access and security protocols for staff, contractors, vendors, and visitors
• Maintain accurate facility documentation, including drawings, one-line diagrams, control sequences, equipment records, and as-builts
• Partner with research computing and IT teams to translate technology requirements into building infrastructure requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in data center operations, mission-critical facilities, central plant or utility operations, industrial facilities, or comparable environments where downtime is not acceptable
• Demonstrated mechanical and electrical experience across the full project lifecycle — design review, installation, startup, commissioning, and ongoing operation
• Working knowledge of critical power systems, including switchgear, generators, uninterruptible power supplies, transfer switches, and power distribution
• Working knowledge of cooling systems, including chilled water, air handling, pumps, heat rejection, and building automation controls
• Ability to read and work from construction drawings, one-line diagrams, control sequences, and equipment submittals
• Experience managing contractors and construction activity inside an operating facility Experience developing or executing maintenance plans, operating procedures, incident reports, and root cause analysis
• Strong safety discipline, including lockout/tagout, energized work planning, and contractor safety
• Strong written and verbal communication skills across executive, engineering, trade, and research audiences
• Ability to work on-site in Buffalo, New York, and respond to after-hours emergencies as required

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in data center, high-performance computing, hyperscale, semiconductor, or other mission-critical technical facilities
• Familiarity with liquid cooling infrastructure and high-density rack power
• Owner's representative or project management experience on new construction or major retrofit projects
• Experience with building management, power monitoring, or computerized maintenance management systems
• Experience with commissioning, integrated systems testing, and operational readiness OSHA 30, NFPA 70E, an electrical or mechanical trade license, an engineering degree, or a facilities certification such as Certified Data Center Professional or Uptime Institute credentials
• Experience in university, research, public-sector, or high-security facility environments
• Familiarity with fire and life safety systems, access control, and surveillance systems

Compensation

Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several US geographic markets. The base pay and target total cash for this position range from $100,000 to $200,000. Pay is based on a number of factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.