Senior Director, Data Center Site Development

Ecotal; Miami (FL); On-site; USD 300,000 - 385,000; Full time

Job summary

Ecotal in Miami, FL seeks a Senior Director of Data Center Site Development to lead front-end development, land, civil, and infrastructure strategy for a national portfolio of large-scale data center campuses.

You will drive site selection, due diligence, entitlements, civil/site development, and utility infrastructure from initial evaluation through construction handoff, coordinating with Real Estate, Development, Engineering, Utilities, Finance, and Construction leaders.

Qualifications

• 10-15+ years of experience in land development, site development, civil engineering, infrastructure development, real estate development, or large-scale capital project delivery.
• Significant experience with land/site evaluation, acquisition support, technical due diligence, entitlements, permitting, and civil site development.
• Strong knowledge of ALTA/TOPO surveys, geotechnical investigations, environmental diligence, grading, drainage, roads, water, sewer, and horizontal infrastructure.
• Experience coordinating with utilities and evaluating power availability/interconnection, water, sewer, fiber, and other infrastructure requirements.
• Strong understanding of zoning, land-use approvals, development agreements, easements, permitting, and jurisdictional processes.
• Proven ability to identify technical and commercial risks during the earliest stages of site development.
• Experience managing civil engineers, environmental/geotechnical consultants, utility partners, contractors, and multidisciplinary development teams.
• Experience with large-scale greenfield developments and complex land/infrastructure programs strongly preferred.
• Data center, hyperscale, mission-critical, energy, utility, industrial, or other infrastructure development experience preferred.
• Civil Engineering background and/or Professional Engineer (P.E.) license is highly desirable

Responsibilities

• Lead site development strategy for large-scale data center campuses from initial land/site evaluation through construction readiness.
• Partner with Real Estate and Development teams on site selection, land acquisition, land assemblage, and property evaluation.
• Lead comprehensive site due diligence including ALTA/TOPO surveys, geotechnical investigations, environmental studies, easements, title constraints, wetlands, drainage, and other site-specific risks.
• Evaluate land and site feasibility based on civil infrastructure, utility capacity, access, grading, drainage, environmental constraints, permitting, and development requirements.
• Oversee civil/site engineering including mass grading, stormwater, roads, water, sewer, site access, and other horizontal infrastructure.
• Lead entitlement and permitting strategy, including zoning, land-use approvals, development agreements, jurisdictional approvals, and coordination with municipalities and regulatory agencies.
• Partner with utility and engineering teams to evaluate and secure power, water, sewer, fiber, and other critical infrastructure required for large-scale data center development.
• Coordinate civil, structural, utility, environmental, geotechnical, and other technical consultants throughout early-stage development.
• Identify potential site-killer risks early and develop mitigation strategies around land, utilities, environmental conditions, civil infrastructure, schedule, cost, and permitting.
• Develop site infrastructure budgets, schedules, scopes, and execution strategies to support investment and development decisions.
• Manage external engineers, consultants, contractors, utility partners, and other development stakeholders across multiple markets.
• Lead projects through development and site readiness before transitioning into vertical construction execution.
• Establish scalable site-development standards and processes as the national data center portfolio continues to expand

Skills

Land development

Civil engineering

Site selection

Entitlements

Regulatory coordination

Utilities coordination

P.E. license

Education

Civil Engineering degree

Job description

Senior Director, Data Center Site Development

Miami, FL (On-Site)

ABOUT THE ROLE

A rapidly growing developer/operator in the hyperscale and mission-critical infrastructure space is seeking a Senior Director of Data Center Site Development to lead the front-end development, land, civil, and infrastructure strategy for a national portfolio of large-scale data center developments.

This role will focus heavily on site selection, land acquisition and evaluation, technical due diligence, entitlements, civil/site development, geotechnical and environmental diligence, utility infrastructure, and overall site readiness from initial evaluation through construction handoff.

The Senior Director will work closely with Real Estate, Development, Engineering, Utilities, Finance, and Construction leadership to identify viable sites, mitigate early-stage development risk, and ensure land and infrastructure are positioned to support large-scale hyperscale and AI data center campuses.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead site development strategy for large-scale data center campuses from initial land/site evaluation through construction readiness
• Partner with Real Estate and Development teams on site selection, land acquisition, land assemblage, and property evaluation
• Lead comprehensive site due diligence including ALTA/TOPO surveys, geotechnical investigations, environmental studies, easements, title constraints, wetlands, drainage, and other site-specific risks
• Evaluate land and site feasibility based on civil infrastructure, utility capacity, access, grading, drainage, environmental constraints, permitting, and development requirements
• Oversee civil/site engineering including mass grading, stormwater, roads, water, sewer, site access, and other horizontal infrastructure
• Lead entitlement and permitting strategy, including zoning, land-use approvals, development agreements, jurisdictional approvals, and coordination with municipalities and regulatory agencies
• Partner with utility and engineering teams to evaluate and secure power, water, sewer, fiber, and other critical infrastructure required for large-scale data center development
• Coordinate civil, structural, utility, environmental, geotechnical, and other technical consultants throughout early-stage development
• Identify potential site-killer risks early and develop mitigation strategies around land, utilities, environmental conditions, civil infrastructure, schedule, cost, and permitting
• Develop site infrastructure budgets, schedules, scopes, and execution strategies to support investment and development decisions
• Manage external engineers, consultants, contractors, utility partners, and other development stakeholders across multiple markets
• Lead projects through development and site readiness before transitioning into vertical construction execution
• Establish scalable site-development standards and processes as the national data center portfolio continues to expand

IDEAL BACKGROUND

• 10-15+ years of experience in land development, site development, civil engineering, infrastructure development, real estate development, or large-scale capital project delivery
• Significant experience with land/site evaluation, acquisition support, technical due diligence, entitlements, permitting, and civil site development
• Strong knowledge of ALTA/TOPO surveys, geotechnical investigations, environmental diligence, grading, drainage, roads, water, sewer, and horizontal infrastructure
• Experience coordinating with utilities and evaluating power availability/interconnection, water, sewer, fiber, and other infrastructure requirements
• Strong understanding of zoning, land-use approvals, development agreements, easements, permitting, and jurisdictional processes
• Proven ability to identify technical and commercial risks during the earliest stages of site development
• Experience managing civil engineers, environmental/geotechnical consultants, utility partners, contractors, and multidisciplinary development teams
• Experience with large-scale greenfield developments and complex land/infrastructure programs strongly preferred
• Data center, hyperscale, mission-critical, energy, utility, industrial, or other infrastructure development experience preferred
• Civil Engineering background and/or Professional Engineer (P.E.) license is highly desirable

Compensation: Total compensation is expected to range from $300K–$385K, including base salary, annual bonus, and RSUs, with flexibility based on interview performance and depth of relevant data center experience.