Technical Program Manager (TPM) – Data Center & AI Infrastructure - San Francisco - Hybrid

Experience: 12 Years
Industry: Data Center / AI Infrastructure / Cloud / Enterprise IT
Travel: Local and National Travel as Required

Job Overview

We are seeking a highly organized and proactive Technical Program Manager (TPM) to manage data center build-out, expansion, and AI infrastructure deployment projects from initial kickoff through completion and operational handoff.

The ideal candidate will have experience coordinating data center infrastructure, IT hardware, networking, facilities, telecommunications, cloud, construction, or technical implementation projects. You will work closely with internal engineering and operations teams, customers, vendors, contractors, colocation providers, and technology partners to ensure projects are delivered on schedule, within budget, and according to technical and operational requirements.

This role requires strong project management skills, excellent communication, attention to detail, and the ability to work effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage data center build-out and expansion projects from project kickoff through completion, acceptance, and operational handoff.
• Develop and maintain detailed project plans, schedules, milestones, budgets, action logs, decision logs, dependency trackers, and risk registers.
• Coordinate internal engineering, IT, infrastructure, facilities, security, network, and operations teams.
• Manage relationships and project activities with external partners, including:
  • Colocation providers
  • General contractors
  • Electrical and mechanical contractors
  • Network carriers
  • Hardware and equipment vendors
  • Installation and field-service providers
• Coordinate site readiness activities, including space planning, rack layouts, power availability, cooling, cabling, equipment delivery, installation, connectivity, physical access, and security requirements.
• Coordinate deployment and installation of servers, storage systems, network equipment, GPU/AI infrastructure, and supporting data center equipment.
• Track procurement activities, hardware lead times, vendor commitments, shipment dates, installation schedules, and outstanding dependencies.
• Identify project risks, issues, and blockers; coordinate owners and drive timely resolution.
• Lead recurring project meetings, establish agendas, document meeting notes, track action items, and follow up on commitments.
• Visit data center and project sites as needed to monitor progress, coordinate vendors, validate readiness, and support issue resolution.
• Partner with technical leads to ensure projects meet agreed requirements for:
  • Capacity
  • Power
  • Cooling
  • Network connectivity
  • Redundancy
  • Security
  • Equipment installation
  • Operational readiness
• Coordinate acceptance testing, commissioning, punch-list completion, documentation, and transition to operations or managed services.
• Prepare concise and accurate status reports for leadership, customers, and project stakeholders, highlighting:
  • Overall project progress
  • Key milestones
  • Risks and issues
  • Decisions required
  • Budget status
  • Dependencies
  • Upcoming activities
• Develop and improve repeatable project management processes, checklists, templates, standards, and delivery workflows as the company's data center and AI infrastructure footprint expands.
• Manage multiple concurrent projects and workstreams while maintaining clear priorities and accountability.

Required Qualifications

• 12 years of experience in project management, technical program management, infrastructure operations, data center operations, facilities coordination, construction coordination, cloud delivery, telecom, managed services, or enterprise IT.
• Demonstrated experience managing and coordinating vendors, contractors, equipment providers, customers, and/or internal technical teams.
• Experience working on projects involving one or more of the following:
  • Data centers
  • IT infrastructure
  • Servers and storage
  • Networking
  • Cloud infrastructure
  • Power and electrical systems
  • Cooling/HVAC
  • Structured cabling
  • Telecommunications
  • Physical or infrastructure security
  • Hardware deployments
• Strong understanding of project management fundamentals, including project plans, schedules, milestones, dependencies, risks, issues, budgets, and action tracking.
• Ability to coordinate multiple technical workstreams and drive projects toward completion.
• Comfortable working with technical teams and understanding high-level infrastructure concepts such as servers, racks, networking, storage, power, cooling, cabling, security, and cloud services.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to create concise executive-level and customer-facing project status updates.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, proactive, and capable of managing multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Strong problem-solving and follow-through skills.
• Willingness to travel locally or nationally to data center and customer sites as required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing data center construction, expansion, migration, or deployment projects.
• Experience with GPU/AI infrastructure deployments or high-density compute environments.
• Familiarity with colocation data center environments and data center service providers.
• Experience coordinating electrical, mechanical, networking, cabling, and hardware installation activities.
• Experience with project management tools such as Jira, Smartsheet, Microsoft Project, Asana, Monday.com, or similar platforms.
• Familiarity with IT infrastructure, cloud platforms, networking, or enterprise systems.
• PMP, CAPM, ITIL, or other relevant project/program management certification is a plus.

Key Skills

Technical Program Management | Project Management | Data Center Infrastructure | AI Infrastructure | Data Center Build-Out | Data Center Deployment | Vendor Management | Construction Coordination | Infrastructure Deployment | Network Infrastructure | Server & Storage Deployment | GPU Infrastructure | Cloud Infrastructure | Telecom | Facilities Coordination | Project Planning | Risk Management | Budget Tracking | Stakeholder Management | Site Readiness | Commissioning | Acceptance Testing | Operational Handoff

What Success Looks Like

• Projects are delivered according to agreed scope, schedule, budget, and technical requirements.
• Vendors and internal teams have clear ownership of deliverables and deadlines.
• Risks, issues, dependencies, and decisions are identified and communicated early.
• Data center sites and infrastructure are ready for deployment according to project requirements.
• Hardware, networking, power, cooling, cabling, and connectivity dependencies are coordinated effectively.
• Acceptance testing, documentation, punch-list activities, and operational handoffs are completed with minimal disruption.
• Project stakeholders and leadership have clear, timely, and concise visibility into project status.

Work Environment

This position requires collaboration with engineering, infrastructure, facilities, operations, vendors, contractors, customers, and leadership teams. The role may require periodic travel to data centers, colocation facilities, customer sites, and vendor locations.

Candidates should be comfortable working in both an office environment and active data center/project-site environments.