Principal, Design Lead

aresmgmt

Bellevue (WA)

On-site

USD 250,000 - 275,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Rx

Dental and Vision

401(k) with company match

HSA with company contribution

Life Insurance

Job summary

Ada is seeking a Design Lead, North America to oversee design execution across its NA development portfolio. You will align global standards with local codes, drive constructable and cost-effective solutions, and lead a high-performing multidisciplinary design organization across sites.

Collaborate with Global Design & Innovation to advance digital engineering, BIM, and design innovations, while reporting on performance, risks, and opportunities to executive stakeholders.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Design or Engineering or related discipline.
12+ years of experience in engineering, design, design management, or technical leadership within data centers or mission-critical infrastructure.
Proven success building high-performing teams and scaling teams through growth.
Strong understanding of data center systems including mechanical, electrical, controls, commissioning, and operational considerations.
Experience leading design execution across multiple projects balancing quality, schedule, budget, constructability, and customer requirements.
Experience implementing standardized design approaches while adapting to local codes and site conditions.
Strong commercial and operational acumen, including understanding of cost drivers and project delivery risks.
Excellent communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills; ability to influence executive audiences.
Willingness to travel to support project sites and regional teams.

Responsibilities

Lead design execution across North American development portfolio while ensuring safety, quality, schedule, budget, constructability, and customer requirements.
Build, lead, and develop a high-performing multidisciplinary design organization.
Direct adaptation and implementation of global standards to meet codes, permitting requirements, and site-specific conditions.
Partner with Development and Delivery teams to ensure designs are constructable, cost-effective, scalable, and aligned with project objectives.
Serve as the regional design authority through planning, design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and turnover.
Establish and monitor KPIs to measure regional design performance, quality, schedule, and budget alignment.
Collaborate with the Global Design & Innovation team to improve design standards and delivery processes.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Stakeholder management

Travel

Education

Bachelor's degree in Design or Engineering

Tools

BIM

CAD

Job description

Over the last 20 years, Ares’ success has been driven by our people and our culture. Today, our team is guided by our core values – Collaborative, Responsible, Entrepreneurial, Self-Aware, Trustworthy – and our purpose to be a catalyst for shared prosperity and a better future. Through our recruitment, career development and employee-focused programming, we are committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive work environment where high-performance talent of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives can build careers within this exciting and growing industry.

Job Description

Why Join Us:

This role is an excellent opportunity to join a deeply experienced and high-performing team with the ability to directly impact and contribute to Ada’s development program. Our team combines industry-wide experience and in-country expertise across all our regions.

We are committed to collaborating cross-functionally and partnering to drive efficient and effective solutions that meet the needs of our internal and external stakeholders.

The Team you are joining:

The Design & Innovation function is part of the Global Design, Development and Delivery organization and is responsible for enabling the delivery of scalable, reliable, and sustainable data center infrastructure across Ada's global portfolio.

The organization operates through a collaborative global and regional model:

Global Design & Innovation: Accountable for design standards, tools, productization, and innovation across all regions; operates as a center of excellence (CoE) and provides consultative support to regional teams
Regional Design: Executes and adapts global standards to local codes, customer requirements, and site-specific conditions while piloting innovations for broader global adoption

Summary:

The Design Lead, North America is responsible for leading the design execution function across Ada's North American development portfolio. This role ensures global design standards are effectively adapted into buildable, code-compliant, customer-aligned, and site-specific solutions that support delivery excellence across the region.

Working closely with the Global Design & Innovation team, this leader serves as the primary bridge between global standards and regional execution, ensuring designs are scalable, constructable, cost-effective, and aligned with business objectives.

The role is also responsible for building, leading, and developing a high-performing multidisciplinary design organization that supports Ada's continued growth throughout North America.

Responsibilities:

Lead design execution across Ada's North American development portfolio, ensuring alignment with safety, quality, schedule, cost, constructability, and customer requirements
Build, lead, and develop a high-performing multidisciplinary design organization foster ing accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement
Direct the regional and site level adaptation and implementation of global standards, specifications, and requirements to meet codes, permitting requirements, customer needs, and site-specific conditions
Partner closely with Development and Delivery teams to ensure designs are constructable, cost-effective, scalable, and aligned with project objectives
Serve as the regional design authority throughout project planning, design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and turnover
Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure regional design performance, quality, schedule performance of AOR/EORs, budget alignment, change management, and risk mitigation
Collaborate with the Global Design & Innovation team to support continuous improvement of design standards, engineering specifications, and delivery processes through regional feedback and lessons learned
Support the evaluation and implementation of new technologies, engineering approaches, and design innovations that improve performance, efficiency, reliability, and scalability
Partner with Supply Chain to align designs with procurement strategies, equipment standardization initiatives, and vendor capabilities
Collaborate with Operations and Commissioning teams to ensure designs support long-term operational reliability, maintainability, and lifecycle performance
Champion digital engineering, BIM, automation, and data-driven design practices to improve design efficiency and project outcomes
Foster relationships with design consultants, engineering partners, equipment manufacturers, and industry stakeholders to maintain awareness of emerging trends and best practices
Partner with Development & Delivery teams to provide regular executive-level reporting on project performance, resource planning, design risks, and project level opportunities
Support customer engagements and strategic initiatives as required, communicating Ada's design capabilities and technical solutions

Minimum Requirements:

Bachelor's degree in Design or Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Architectural, or related discipline)
12+ years of experience in engineering, design, design management, or technical leadership within data centers, mission-critical infrastructure
Demonstrated success building high-performing team, developing technical talent, and scaling teams through periods of growth
Strong understanding of data center systems, including mechanical, electrical, controls, commissioning, and operational considerations
Experience leading design execution across multiple projects while balancing quality, schedule, budget, constructability, and customer requirements
Experience implementing standardized design approaches while adapting solutions to local codes, permitting requirements, and site-specific conditions
Strong commercial and operational acumen, including understanding of cost drivers, procurement considerations, project delivery risks, and decision-making tradeoffs
Excellent communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence technical and executive audiences across a matrixed organization
Willingness to travel as required to support project sites, regional teams, customers, and business objectives

Reporting Relationships

Compensation

The anticipated base salary range for this position is listed below. Total compensation may also include a discretionary performance-based bonus. Note, the range takes into account a broad spectrum of qualifications, including, but not limited to, years of relevant work experience, education, and other relevant qualifications specific to the role.

$250,000.00 - $275,000.00

Benefits

The firm also offers robust Benefits offerings.