Project Manager - Data Centers

Orise; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Orise is seeking a Project Manager to lead data center projects in the United States, coordinating customers, engineering teams, subcontractors and trades from planning through commissioning and handover.

You will focus on automation and controls integration, maintain budgets, schedules and safety, and ensure successful handover with clear reporting. This role requires US work authorization and willingness to travel to sites.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, construction management or a related technical discipline or equivalent experience.
• Substantial project management experience in data centers or high-availability environments.
• Experience coordinating multiple building trades and managing technical interfaces across design, construction and commissioning.
• Working knowledge of building automation and controls environments (BMS/EPMS/PLC/SCADA).
• Strong project controls: scheduling, forecasting, change orders and customer reporting.

Responsibilities

• Own project scope, schedule, budget, quality, safety, risks and customer communication from handover through close-out.
• Lead delivery plan across engineering, procurement, installation, testing, commissioning and handover.
• Coordinate interfaces among electrical, mechanical, controls, BMS/EPMS, OT networks and other trades.
• Maintain project budgets, forecasts and cash-flow visibility; manage change control and invoicing.
• Act as primary customer contact and lead cross-functional, multicultural project teams.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional coordination

BMS/EPMS/SCADA familiarity

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering/construction management

Job description

Orise helps globally operating data center owners scale faster, safer and more consistently through consulting, engineering and design, project implementation, digital transformation and managed services. We combine global expertise with local delivery and bring vendor-agnostic automation, systems integration and commissioning capabilities to mission-critical facilities.

Role Purpose:

The Project Manager is accountable for the safe, predictable and commercially successful delivery of data center projects in the United States. The role coordinates customers, Orise engineering teams, subcontractors and multiple building trades from planning through commissioning and handover, with particular focus on automation and controls integration within mission-critical facilities.

Key Responsabilities:

End-to-end project delivery

• Own project scope, schedule, budget, quality, safety, risks and customer communication from handover through close-out.
• Build and maintain an integrated delivery plan covering engineering, procurement, installation, testing, commissioning and handover.
• Lead regular project reviews and provide clear, forward-looking reporting on milestones, forecast, risks, decisions and recovery actions.
• Manage several workstreams or projects simultaneously while maintaining clear priorities and accountability.

Trade and site coordination

• Coordinate interfaces among electrical, mechanical, controls, BMS/EPMS, network/OT, fire protection, security and other building trades.
• Align Orise activities with general contractors, construction managers, equipment vendors, commissioning agents and customer teams.
• Identify interface gaps, access constraints, sequencing conflicts and readiness issues before they affect installation or commissioning.
• Maintain strong site presence during critical execution phases and ensure disciplined issue escalation and closure.

Commercial and financial management

• Maintain project budgets, cost-to-complete forecasts, resource plans, invoicing and cash-flow visibility.
• Protect scope and margin through disciplined change control, timely notices, substantiated change orders and documented customer decisions.
• Monitor planned versus actual effort, subcontractor commitments and schedule impacts, and initiate corrective actions early.

Risk, quality and commissioning

• Maintain an active risk and opportunity register with owners, due dates and mitigation actions.
• Ensure compliance with Orise and customer quality and safety requirements.
• Oversee design reviews, submittals, FAT, SAT, integrated systems testing, commissioning support, punch-list closure and turnover documentation.
• Confirm that systems, documentation and training are ready for reliable operations at handover.

Customer and team leadership

• Act as the primary customer contact and escalation point for assigned projects.
• Lead cross-functional, multicultural project teams and create clarity on deliverables, interfaces, decision rights and priorities.
• Build trusted working relationships and communicate issues transparently, with solutions and clear recommendations.
• Capture lessons learned and improve Orise project delivery standards and repeatability.

Experience:

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, construction management or a related technical discipline, or equivalent relevant trade and project delivery experience.
• Substantial project management experience in data centers, mission-critical facilities, complex commercial buildings or comparable high-availability environments.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating multiple building trades and managing technical interfaces across design, construction and commissioning.
• Working knowledge of building automation and controls environments, such as BMS, EPMS, PLC/SCADA, instrumentation, OT networks and associated electrical or mechanical systems.
• Strong project controls and commercial skills, including schedule management, forecasting, change orders, subcontractor management and customer reporting.
• Experience managing site execution, testing, commissioning and handover in an active construction environment.
• Clear written and verbal communication, sound judgment and the ability to lead without relying solely on formal authority.
• Authorization to work in the United States and ability to travel regularly to customer and project sites.

Preferred

• Experience delivering hyperscale or colocation data center projects.
• PMP, PMI, PRINCE2 or comparable project management certification.
• OSHA 30 or comparable construction safety training.
• Experience with critical-path scheduling tools and structured project controls.
• Experience with vendor-agnostic systems integration and global delivery teams.

Success in This Role:

• Projects are delivered safely, with predictable milestones, transparent forecasts and disciplined escalation.
• Interfaces between Orise scope and other building trades are actively managed and issues are resolved before they affect commissioning.
• Changes are identified early, documented clearly and converted into approved change orders where applicable.
• Customers receive consistent communication and a reliable path from project start through operational handover.
• Lessons learned are converted into repeatable standards for future U.S. data center projects.