Technical Program Manager (TPM) - Data Center Builds

Role Overview

Lambda is seeking a Technical Program Manager (TPM) to own the integrated delivery program for new data center builds, from the handoff of a selected site by Real Estate through construction, commissioning, operational readiness, and turnover to Network Deployment. You will be the single source of truth for milestones, risks, and dependencies on your sites, leading internal teams and external partners (GCs, design firms, utilities, and vendors) across site work, utilities, shell, MEP, controls, white space, inspections, and commissioning.

Ambiguity is high, timelines are compressed, and the stakes are central to company growth. As we scale beyond our first sites, you will help build the playbooks and governance that let us run many concurrent deployments well.

What You’ll Do

• Own the integrated schedule from site handoff to Operations; break builds into workstreams with clear owners and milestones, and actively manage the critical path and schedule compression.

• Drive the delivery sequence from rack requirements to engineering criteria, design, plan set, permitting, construction, commissioning, and turnover for MW-scale, high-density (including liquid-cooled) capacity.

• Lead cross-functional execution with Real Estate (site assumptions, fiber, permit path), Energy and Utilities (interconnection, substation, power delivery), Engineering (requirements in the design and plan set), Procurement (long-lead equipment), Construction Management (GC schedule, field progress, inspections), Commissioning (test plans, acceptance), Operations (staffing, procedures, access), and Security, Finance (requirements, budget, CapEx), and Legal.

• Manage risk and governance: maintain risk registers, dependency logs, decision trackers, and schedule variance reports; surface permitting, utility, design, procurement, sequencing, and commissioning risks early.

• Escalate with facts: status, baseline vs. forecast date, variance, impact, owner, mitigation options, and decision date. Lead schedule recovery when milestones slip.

• Hold partners accountable to contractual milestones, production and shipping schedules, and commercial commitments while maintaining productive relationships.

• Communicate to leadership through program reviews and concise, high-signal status updates.

• Deliver clean turnover: define handover criteria and ensure white space, power, cooling, controls, cable pathways, access, and documentation are ready for Network Deployment.

• Scale the function: build repeatable playbooks, dashboards, and lessons-learned loops across concurrent deployments.

• Travel (~40%) to sites to validate progress and build partner relationships.

Scope of Ownership

• Owns: site-level delivery program management; the integrated schedule; cross-functional coordination; milestone, risk, dependency, and decision tracking; variance reporting and escalation; Operations readiness.

• Partners on, but does not own: site selection and real estate; engineering design authority; construction means and methods and GC management; commissioning authority; procurement commercial strategy; network and services deployment; steady-state operations.

You

• Have 7+ years in data center delivery, infrastructure or construction program management, mission-critical facilities, or large capital projects.

• Have delivered ground-up data centers or comparable mission-critical, industrial, semiconductor, or energy facilities, ideally multi-site on compressed timelines.

• Know the full lifecycle: site handoff, permitting, design, utilities, procurement, construction, MEP, controls, commissioning, and turnover.

• Run integrated schedules, critical path, dependency logs, and change control with rigor.

• Understand technical tradeoffs well enough to spot risks, ask precise questions, and escalate without owning design authority.

• Align partners, vendors, and engineering teams around shared deliverables, and bridge physical infrastructure with network and security teams.

• Make sound decisions with incomplete information under schedule pressure, and communicate status clearly to executives.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Nice to Have

• Hyperscale, AI/GPU, cloud region, or high-density compute delivery experience.

• Utility interconnection, substation, MV/HV power, and liquid cooling experience.

• Work with colocation providers, GCs, EPCs, commissioning agents, and permitting authorities.

• PMP, construction management, engineering, or project controls certification.

Success Measures

• Sites reach infrastructure turnover on the committed timeline.

• Milestones across engineering, construction, commissioning, operations, procurement, and utilities are visible and accurate.

• Critical path risks are escalated early with a clear owner, impact, and mitigation options.

• Handoff to Operations meets defined readiness criteria, with no major gaps.