Preconstruction Manager (Remote)

DataBank Holdings, Ltd.; Dallas (TX); Remote; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Short-Term and Long-Term Disability

Life Insurance

401k with company match

Paid Time Off and Paid Holidays

Job summary

DataBank Holdings Ltd. seeks a seasoned Preconstruction Manager to own front-end project planning, cost development, and schedule estimation in a data center context.

You will partner with Corporate Development, Engineering, and Procurement to shape baselines and support successful early-stage opportunities. You will drive RFP processes, develop conceptual pricing, and maintain critical knowledge bases while coordinating with project teams and executives on feasibility and risk considerations.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in preconstruction, estimating, or project controls within commercial construction; data center or mission-critical experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience building conceptual/budgetary pricing and schedule models for projects not yet designed.
• Experience running or supporting a formal RFP process, including bid leveling and GC/subcontractor evaluation.
• Comfort working with evolving scope and translating early design intent into defensible cost and schedule ranges.
• Working knowledge of Procore (or comparable platform) and strong Excel/financial modeling skills.
• Ability to communicate with Corporate Development and executive audiences on feasibility and risk.

Responsibilities

• Lead front-end planning and preconstruction activities including cost, schedule, constructability, and commercial inputs.
• Collaborate with Corporate Development on early-stage cost and schedule feasibility for acquisitions and site selection.
• Translate design standards into schedule and cost assumptions for future projects.
• Build and maintain schedule models that can be rapidly applied to new opportunities.
• Develop and maintain budgetary and conceptual pricing models, including per-MW cost benchmarks and cash flow modeling.
• Lead or support the RFP process: scope definition, bid package development, and GC/subcontractor evaluation.
• Coordinate with GC and design partners during RFP to validate pricing and scope.
• Hand off awarded projects with documented baselines for solid execution.
• Maintain a preconstruction knowledge base with benchmark costs and lessons learned.
• Lead alignment across multiple preconstruction projects and report KPIs to leadership.
• Support build strategy for new programs, including site diligence and procurement roadmaps.
• Develop new processes and tools to improve preconstruction workflows.
• Maintain relationships with GC, design, and engineering partners for future pursuits.
• Assess change requests from preconstruction and feed lessons learned back to design standards.

Skills

Preconstruction expertise

Budgeting & cost modeling

RFP process experience

Stakeholder communication

Excel proficiency

Procore experience

Forecasting

Growth mindset

Tools

Procore

Excel

Scheduling software

Job description

DataBank Holdings Ltd. is a leading provider of enterprise-class data center, cloud, and interconnection services, offering customers 100% uptime availability of data, applications, and infrastructure. DataBank's managed data center services are anchored in world-class facilities. Our customized technology solutions are designed to help customers effectively manage risk, improve technology performance, and allow focus on core business objectives. DataBank is headquartered in the historic former Federal Reserve Bank Building, in downtown Dallas, TX.

DataBank is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our work culture at DataBank does not discriminate based on actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability or handicap, sex, marital status, veterans' status, gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

The Preconstruction Manager is a new, dedicated role created to build out DataBank's front-end project development capability ahead of formal design and construction award. This role reports to the Senior Director, Construction Operations and works in close partnership with Project Managers, Central Engineering, Corporate Development, Project Controls, and Procurement. The Preconstruction Manager serves as the subject matter expert and primary owner of front-end project planning, cost development, schedule development, constructability, and commercial evaluation through preconstruction. As projects progress toward execution, the Preconstruction Manager partners closely with the assigned Project Manager to establish a well-defined project baseline and transition the project into active construction. The Project Manager remains accountable for overall project delivery, with Procurement retaining ownership of procurement strategy and execution and Project Controls supporting project financial controls and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the lead for front-end planning and preconstruction owning development of project cost, schedule, constructability, assumptions, and commercial inputs while coordinating closely with the Project Manager and functional pillars responsible for procurement, project controls, engineering, and commissioning.
• Partner with Corporate Development to provide early-stage cost and schedule feasibility input that supports capitalization decisions, acquisitions, and site selection.
• Work with Central Engineering to translate design standards and Design Change Log decisions into schedule and cost assumptions for future projects, before those decisions are finalized.
• Build and maintain parametric and scenario-based schedule models (e.g., toggled duration curves by MW size, site condition, and delivery strategy) that can be applied quickly to new opportunities without starting from scratch.
• Develop and maintain budgetary and conceptual pricing models, including per-MW cost benchmarks, cash flow curve modeling, and escalation assumptions, informed by DataBank's historical actuals.
• Lead or support the RFP process for future projects: scope definition, bid package development, GC and subcontractor solicitation, bid leveling, and award recommendation.
• Coordinate directly with GC and design partners during the RFP window to validate pricing assumptions, schedule durations, and scope completeness before contract award.
• Hand off awarded projects with a documented set of assumptions, budgets, and schedule baselines so execution starts from a solid foundation.
• Maintain a preconstruction knowledge base (benchmark costs, schedule durations, lessons learned from past RFPs) that improves the speed and accuracy of future estimates.
• Lead alignment across multiple concurrent preconstruction projects, comparing cost, schedule, and risk between them and aligning implementation and constructability approaches across internal stakeholder teams.
• Own recurring status, risk, budget, and schedule reporting for projects in preconstruction and planning, including key performance indicators presented to leadership.
• Support build strategy for new programs, including site diligence review, supply chain analysis, vendor selection, and development of procurement and contracting roadmap with appropriate teams.
• Lead the development of new processes and tools to support business initiatives, and operationalize improvements to existing preconstruction workflows.
• Maintain industry relationships and build a qualified bench of GC, design, and engineering partners for future project pursuits.
• Assess the cost and schedule implications of change requests from a preconstruction and commercial standpoint, and feed lessons learned back into future design standards and agreements.
• Partner with the Contracts team to confirm GC and design partners are delivering under the correct agreements and commercial terms.
• Lead and influence stakeholders on high-impact initiatives across delivery, design/engineering, and construction teams to de-risk project delivery, including labor availability, productivity, and competition for talent.
• Manage a high volume of daily cross-functional interaction with both internal teams and external partners.
• Provide technical expertise to cross-functional teams on cost, schedule, and commercial accountability topics.
• Represent preconstruction status and pipeline readiness in recurring leadership and Corporate Development updates.
• Perform other miscellaneous related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in preconstruction, estimating, or project controls within commercial construction; data center or mission-critical experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience building conceptual/budgetary pricing and schedule models for projects that have not yet reached design completion.
• Experience running or substantially supporting a formal RFP process, including bid leveling and GC/subcontractor evaluation.
• Comfort working with incomplete or evolving scope and translating early design intent into defensible cost and schedule ranges.
• Working knowledge of Procore (or comparable project management platform) and strong Excel/financial modeling skills.
• Ability to communicate directly with Corporate Development and executive audiences on feasibility and risk, not just with construction teams.
• Growth mindset

Benefits

• Health, Vision and Dental Insurance Packages
• Short-Term and Long-Term Disability?Insurance
• Life Insurance
• 401k with company match
• Paid Time Off and Paid Holidays