Senior Project Manager, Data Center Construction

Summary

Bell Canada is seeking a hands-on Data Centre Construction Manager to lead end-to-end delivery of new Data Centre builds and upgrades. You will coordinate partners and contractors to drive scope, schedule, budget, safety, and quality, ensuring on-time delivery. After commissioning and handover, the role transitions to Data Centre Manager, leading a local operations team and partnering closely with Facilities to maintain high availability, reliability, and compliance for mission-critical services. This is a customer-facing role that requires exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

Construction / Build Phase

• Own end-to-end delivery of greenfield and brownfield Data Centre projects from design development through commissioning and handover.
• Plan and manage scope, schedule, budget, risk, quality, and EHS for construction activities while maintaining integrated master schedules and the critical path.
• Lead day‑to‑day coordination with general contractors, trades, OEMs, and consultants by running site meetings, and supporting change control.
• Drive readiness for high‑density AI and HPC deployments, including power, cooling using air and or liquid solutions, and structured cabling.
• Support procurement, contract administration, and cost‑control activities; assist with validating progress draws and claims and help track contingencies and value‑engineering opportunities.
• Report progress, risks, and mitigations to leadership and stakeholders with clear status dashboards.

Transition to Operations & Steady State Management

• Lead and manage the local Data Centre operations team post‑build, ensuring effective team performance, operational readiness, and alignment with availability and reliability objectives.
• Partner with Facilities to ensure availability and reliability targets are met for all critical systems, including power, cooling, fire protection, and security.
• Support preventive and corrective maintenance activities with OEMs and service providers by reviewing and approving MOP, SOP, and EOP activities through established change‑control processes.
• Monitor capacity across power, cooling, and space and plan expansions while coordinating customer moves, adds, and changes and commissioning new loads.
• Drive continuous improvement in safety, operations, and energy efficiency, including PUE, by leveraging DCIM and other tools and operational KPIs.
• Support customer onboarding by contributing to design coordination and technical alignment, supporting quoting and scope definition, coordinating power, cooling, and connectivity readiness, and guiding clients through implementation milestones to ensure smooth deployment of new workloads.
• Serve as a customer‑facing leader for site tours, readiness reviews, incident communications, and service improvement initiatives.
• Maintain compliance with corporate policies, security requirements, and regulatory standards while leading audits and remediation activities.

Critical Qualifications

Preferred Qualifications

• Exceptional leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills with a strong customer focus.
• Ability to influence diverse stakeholders and navigate complex partner relationships.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; proactive risk management and decision-making.
• Experience operating mission-critical facilities and collaborating with Facilities/MEP teams.
• Familiarity with DCIM/CMMS platforms and site KPI management; AI/HPC/GPU deployments a plus.
• Bilingual (French/English) is an asset.