Senior Cost Manager

CrimsonXT; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Retirement plan

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Generous PTO

Job summary

CrimsonXT is seeking a Senior Cost Manager to lead cost control for a growing data center portfolio. You will partner with project managers, design teams, GCs, and delivery leads to ground every decision in credible numbers.

You will develop estimates, monitor forecasts, review change orders, and deliver executive cost reports. The role requires hands-on data center experience and strong proficiency with Procore and Sage.

Qualifications

• Experience in cost management, quantity surveying, or construction estimating.
• Hands-on data center or mission-critical construction experience.
• Owner-side experience preferred; GC or QS consulting backgrounds considered if DC domain knowledge is strong.
• Understanding of the DC cost stack: civil, structural, MEP, HV/LV power, cooling, emergency power, and IT fit-out.
• Comfortable benchmarking at $/MW, $/SF, and $/kW; knowledge of cost drivers across projects.
• Familiar with GMP, lump sum, and cost-plus contract structures.
• Proficient with cost management tooling (Procore, Sage, or equivalent).

Responsibilities

• Support cost planning across project phases—from concept through GMP negotiation.
• Develop detailed estimates for civil, structural, MEP, HV/LV power, cooling, fuel systems, and shell construction.
• Maintain real-time cost forecasts across active projects; track actuals vs. budget and surface variances early.
• Review change orders: assess scope validity, commercial accuracy, and contract entitlement ahead of approval.
• Prepare executive-level cost reports with clear, scannable, exception-based findings.
• Manage contingency tracking and cost risk registers across project phases.
• Support value engineering exercises with design and construction teams to optimize cost without compromising scope or schedule.
• Support GC and subcontractor procurement: bid leveling, scope gap analysis, and contract input.
• Contribute to contract structure and commercial risk discussions across delivery models.
• Help maintain a unit cost benchmark database covering key DC cost categories.

Skills

Cost management

Quantity surveying

Construction estimating

DC domain knowledge

Change order discipline

Education

Degree in construction management, quantity surveying, engineering, or related field

Tools

Procore

Sage

Job description

As Senior Cost Manager, you'll play a key role in cost management across a growing data center portfolio - supporting budgeting and estimating through construction and final account. You'll work closely with project managers, A/E design teams, GCs, and other delivery leads to keep projects on-budget and every decision grounded in credible numbers.

• Support cost planning across project phases - from concept and pre-design through construction documents and GMP negotiation
• Develop detailed estimates for civil, structural, MEP, HV/LV power, cooling, fuel systems, and shell construction
• Maintain real-time cost forecasts across active projects; track actuals vs. budget and surface variances early
• Review change orders: assess scope validity, commercial accuracy, and contract entitlement ahead of approval recommendations
• Prepare executive-level cost reports - clear, scannable, exception-based
• Manage contingency tracking and cost risk registers across project phases
• Support value engineering exercises with design and construction teams to optimize cost without compromising scope or schedule
• Support GC and subcontractor procurement: bid leveling, scope gap analysis, and contract negotiation input
• Contribute to contract structure and commercial risk discussions across delivery models
• Help maintain a unit cost benchmark database covering key DC cost categories - from $/MW to equipment and trade breakdowns
• Contribute to precon planning on new sites, including order-of-magnitude estimates to support site selection and investment decisions

Qualifications

• Experience in cost management, quantity surveying, or construction estimating
• Hands-on experience on data center or mission-critical construction - hyperscale, colo, or large-scale build-to-suit
• Owner-side experience preferred; GC or QS consulting backgrounds considered if DC domain knowledge is strong
• Solid understanding of the DC cost stack: civil, structural, MEP, HV/LV power, cooling (CRAC/CRAH, DLC, immersion), emergency power, and IT fit-out
• Understands how design decisions - power density, redundancy tier, cooling strategy - translate to capital cost
• Comfortable benchmarking at $/MW, $/SF, and $/kW; understands what drives variation between projects
• Strong change order discipline: can assess pricing validity, identify scope gaps, and document entitlement
• Familiar with GMP, lump sum, and cost-plus contract structures
• Proficient with cost management tooling (Procore, Sage, or equivalent)
• Degree in construction management, quantity surveying, engineering, or related field
• Comfortable operating with urgency in a fast-moving delivery program
• Retirement or pension plan, in line with local norms
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Generous PTO policy, in line with local norms