VP, Land Development

Big Watt Digital; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 240,000 - 360,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual Cash Bonus

Equity Incentive Units

Job summary

Big Watt Digital is seeking a VP of Land Development to lead site selection, land acquisition, zoning, permitting, and utility alignment through construction readiness for AI-ready data center campuses.

The role reports to the President of Data Center Development & Construction and will collaborate across legal, power, and datacenter teams to ensure shovel-ready projects and scalable, high-density infrastructure for next-generation workloads.

Qualifications

• 20+ years in engineering and construction.
• 5+ years in data center engineering and design.
• Architect, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering background.

Responsibilities

• Site control and due diligence including land acquisition and environmental risks.
• Lead zoning, variance, and permitting to prepare shovel-ready sites.
• Oversee environmental, geotechnical, stormwater, water/sewer, and acoustic studies.
• Develop logistics plan for modules, yards, and construction laydown.
• Define design basis: GPU SKU, rack density, and network-to-GPU ratio.
• Coordinate preplanning: schedules, cost estimates, and execution strategy.
• Coordinate with land acquisition, power, and datacenter partners on interfaces.
• Draft SLAs with legal for power delivery milestones and liability.

Education

Architect, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering background

Job description

Big Watt Digital is looking for an VP of Land Development with experience in data center engineering and design. The VP of Land Development will drive the project from site selection and land acquisition through zoning, permitting, and utility alignment (power/fiber) until it is fully ready for construction. This role reports to the President of Data Center Development & Construction and will play a key role in Big Watt Digital's success.

Big Watt Digital is a mission-critical infrastructure platform developing and operating next-generation, high-density data center campuses built for the demands of AI and advanced digital workloads. Our model brings together large-scale power, digital infrastructure, development execution, and operational discipline to deliver speed, certainty, and scalability.
WHY BIG WATT DIGITAL: We are building at the intersection of energy, data centers, AI infrastructure, and large-scale development-where execution matters.

Description

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

• Site Control & Due Diligence: Evaluate and acquire land packages, assess environmental risks, flood plains, and geopolitical factors.lead comprehensive site due diligence (power availability and interconnection path; Fiber access and offsite network path; Land area, easements.
• Entitlements & Permitting: Lead the zoning, variance, and municipal approval processes to ensure the site is "shovel ready."
• Studies: Lead Environmental, geotechnical, stormwater, water/sewer, and acoustic studies
• Develop logistic plan for modules, equipment yards, and construction laydown
• Develop test fit aligned with the basis of design (GPU SKU, rack count, rack density, and rack weight; Network-to-GPU ratio.Ability to support high-density electrical infrastructure, liquid cooling, and customer capacity requirements.
• Oversee the project preplanning including development of schedule, cost estimate, and execution strategy (long lead equipment, module strategy, early work, and construction readiness) for each site.
• Work closely with the land acquisition team, power team, and datacenter partners establishing spatial boundary lines and interface points for:
• Define clear battery limits, property lines, and right-of-way easements between the power generation site and the data center footprint.
• Coordinate with local authorities to ensure data center building permits and environmental/noise variances are aligned and do not conflict with the power team's utility permits.
• Partner with legal to draft the technical SLAs regarding when power must be delivered to the data center gate, ensuring clear liability if power milestones slip.

THE PERSON WHO WILL THRIVE HERE

• 20+ years' experience in engineering and construction
• 5+ years' experience in datacenter engineering and design
• Architect, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering background

HOW WE WOR

BUILD Create durable systems, not temporary fixes.|EXECUTE Move with urgency and accountability.|PARTNER Work across disciplines and stakeholders.|SCALE Design for the next campus, not just today.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

In addition to a competitive salary, Big Watt Digital offers:

• Annual Cash Bonus
• Incentive Award Units (Equity)