Design Manager
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Summary
Oversees multidisciplinary design execution for large-scale data center construction projects — managing external architecture and engineering consultants, reviewing design deliverables, and coordinating schedules, budgets, and changes from early planning through construction delivery. Centers on data center design management across MEP, structural, civil, and architectural disciplines.
About Overwatch Mission Critical
Overwatch is a service-disabled Veteran-owned small business (SDVOB) certified through the National Veterans Business Development Council (NVBDC), offering construction professional services, talent acquisition, and general contractor services for the mission-critical infrastructure industry.
Our mission is the construction and management of state-of-the-art data centers with the precision and reliability this industry demands. From high-end engineers to seasoned professionals, we deploy the people you need to get your data center off the ground. At Overwatch, it's more than a job. It's a purpose.
Role Description
The Design Manager is responsible for leading multidisciplinary design execution, ensuring projects are delivered in alignment with PowerHouse standards, tenant requirements, and overall program objectives.
Reporting to the Design Director, this role is responsible for managing external consultants, coordinating across engineering disciplines, and driving design execution.
The Design Manager plays a key role in balancing standardization and tenant-specific deviations, while maintaining discipline around cost, schedule, quality, and change management.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
- Oversee multidisciplinary design delivery, including MEP, structural, civil/site, architectural, telecom, and security systems.
- Manage A&E consultants to produce fully integrated, coordinated, and constructible design packages.
- Attend weekly design and discipline breakout meetings.
- Attend milestone page turn reviews in person.
- Provide QA/QC oversight of design submissions and ensure deliverables meet quality, scope, and schedule expectations.
- Ensure alignment between base building design, turnkey scope, and tenant-specific requirements.
- Review tenant requirements and design standards to ensure alignment with PowerHouse platform objectives.
- Evaluate and communicate the cost, schedule, and technical impacts of tenant-driven changes.
- Enforce a change management process to maintain cost and schedule certainty.
- Manage consultants to minimize unnecessary design variation and ensure controlled implementation of approved changes.
- Provide design oversight during construction to ensure execution aligns with approved design documents, project requirements, and PowerHouse standards.
- Conduct periodic site observations to verify design implementation and identify potential issues.
- Review design-related submittals, RFIs, and proposed contractor deviations for consistency with approved documents and design intent.
- Support project readiness for key commissioning milestones, including Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), Functional Systems Testing (FST), and Integrated Systems Testing (IST).
- Assist in resolving design-related issues identified during construction and commissioning activities.
Key Qualifications & Competencies
- Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, or related field, or additional significant relevant working experience in lieu of degree.
- 10+ years of construction or development project management experience on mission-critical or technically complex commercial construction projects, including data centers or high-density MEP environments. Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary design teams and managing external consultants.
- Experience managing design scope, cost, schedule, and change management processes throughout the project lifecycle.
- Advanced knowledge of the data center development, design, and construction principles and practices.
- Advanced knowledge of building systems and infrastructure, including MEP, structural, civil, and architectural disciplines.
Sub Specialty Area
- DC Construction Design
Required Software Experience
- Cloud based project management software a plus (Procore, Autodesk Construction Cloud).
Required Training
- Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, or related field, or additional significant relevant working experience in lieu of degree.
Required Experience
- 10 years Mission Critical / Large Scale Industrial Design experience.
Data Center Years Experience Needed
- 3 Years
Certifications Required
- Professional licensure (AIA, PE) preferred.
- Project management (PMP) or construction management (CCM) certifications.
- LEED accreditation or other sustainability-related certification.
- Experience with data cenorking experience in lieu of degree.
Driver’s License Requirement
For roles that require on-site presence or travel between work locations as an essential function of the position, candidates must possess and maintain a valid driver’s license appropriate for the role and be eligible to operate a motor vehicle in accordance with applicable laws.
Communication Skills
Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively in a professional work environment, including preparing written reports and documentation, conveying information clearly to team members, clients, and stakeholders, and responding appropriately to verbal and written communications related to job duties.
Physical Requirements and Work Environment
This position operates primarily in an active data center construction environment, encompassing both indoor and outdoor work settings. The role requires the physical ability to perform essential job functions safely and effectively in a dynamic environment that includes ongoing construction activity and evolving site conditions.
The work environment includes areas and temporary structures owned, leased, or controlled by third parties over which Overwatch may have limited or no control. Because the project remains under construction, certain areas of the site — including access routes, staging zones, and temporary structures — may not yet be fully ADA-compliant until construction is complete or those third-party areas are finalized.
Physical Requirements
- Must be able to walk, stand, stoop, twist, bend, and climb stairs or ladders for extended periods while navigating uneven, unpaved, or obstructed terrain.
- Must be able to lift, carry, push, or pull up to 50 pounds on an occasional basis.
- Must be able to drive between job sites and access all areas of an active construction zone, including raised platforms, scaffolding, and confined spaces.
- Must be able to tolerate exposure to outdoor weather conditions, dust, and construction-related noise, vibrations, and odors.
- Must be able to communicate effectively with contractors, engineers, and site personnel, and maintain situational awareness in high-activity environments.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE), including hard hats, safety vests, hearing protection, and steel-toe boots, is required.
- Must have sufficient visual acuity to read drawings, specifications, and safety signage, and to observe site activity.
Work Environment:
Work is performed primarily in and around active construction areas, which may include unfinished buildings, temporary field offices, staging areas, and partially completed infrastructure. These locations may contain uneven surfaces, limited accessibility, and other conditions typical of construction projects prior to final completion. Overwatch does not control and cannot modify accessibility conditions within areas, facilities, or temporary structures owned or managed by third parties.
Reasonable Accommodation
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position, provided such accommodations do not create safety hazards, impede essential mobility within active work zones, or require modification of facilities not owned or controlled by Overwatch.
Benefits
We offer a competitive salary and benefits package, including health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, 401(k) plan, and paid time off. Relocation assistance is available to support candidates transitioning to the location.
OVERWATCH is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. OVERWATCH considers candidates regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.