Master planning Manager

Position Title: Data Center Master Planning Senior Design Manager

Location: Boston or Ashburn

Your role 

The Sr. Design Manager, Data Center Master Planning serves as the senior technical authority responsible for early-stage planning, test fits, and long-range campus development strategy for large hyperscale data center campuses. This role translates raw land, zoning envelopes, utility constraints, and market requirements into scalable, buildable, and approvable campus plans that maximize long-term MW yield, phasing flexibility, and capital efficiency.

Operating at the front end of the development lifecycle, role sits at the intersection of Real Estate, Development, Engineering, Utilities, Entitlements, and Construction, ensuring that site plans, master plans, and test fits are technically sound, entitlement-ready, and aligned with downstream design, procurement, and construction realities. The role requires strong technical judgment, deep familiarity with data center MEP systems, and the ability to make and defend high-impact tradeoffs that affect campus’ return on investment.

What you’ll do 

• Lead master planning and test-fit efforts for large hyperscale data center developments, translating site constraints, zoning requirements, utility availability, and design standards into scalable campus layouts and phasing strategies.
• Serve as the senior technical authority for early feasibility, evaluating power density, cooling strategies, building typologies, road and yard layouts, easements, setbacks, and future expansion paths to maximize deployable IT capacity over the life of the campus.
• Develop and review test fits, conceptual site plans, and master plan alternatives, assessing tradeoffs between MW yield, constructability, entitlement risk, cost, schedule, and operational flexibility.
• Partner closely with Real Estate Acquisitions, Due Diligence, and Entitlements teams to support site selection, due diligence, zoning strategy, site plan approvals, special exceptions, and public hearing processes.
• Lead technical coordination across internal teams (Acquisitions, Design Management, Construction and Global Design Standards) and external partners including A/E firms, planners, acousticians, traffic consultants, utilities, and jurisdictional authorities.
• Guide entitlement-driven design decisions, including building height and massing, setbacks, screening, acoustics, noise compliance, stormwater strategies, and community-facing design considerations.
• Establish and oversee phasing strategies that align utility delivery, substation build-out, building sequencing, and capital deployment with market demand and long-term campus growth.
• Ensure master plans and test fits are grounded in real data center engineering, reflecting realistic MEP space requirements, equipment clearances, yard layouts, redundancy strategies, and constructability constraints.
• Oversee consultant engagement for planning and early design scopes, including RFPs, scope definition, schedule alignment, and quality control of deliverables.
• Review and approve early-stage technical deliverables including master plans, test fits, utility studies, acoustic studies, conceptual MEP narratives, and entitlement support exhibits.
• Provide continuity from concept through execution, supporting handoff from master planning into schematic design, ensuring original planning assumptions remain valid as projects advance.
• Drive continuous improvement in planning tools, repeatable campus typologies, MW density benchmarks, and entitlement playbooks to increase speed, predictability, and long-term campus value.

What you’ll need 

• 10+ years of experience in master planning, design, or development, with significant exposure to hyperscale or large-scale data center campus environments.
• Demonstrated expertise in space planning and test fits for data centers, including how early layout decisions affect MEP systems, constructability, cost, and phasing.
• Strong technical foundation in data center MEP systems, with the ability to translate engineering realities into early-stage planning decisions.
• Proven experience supporting site plan approvals and entitlements, including coordination with jurisdictions, planners, and specialty consultants (acoustics, traffic, environmental).
• Deep understanding of phasing strategies for multi-building campuses, including utility delivery sequencing, interim conditions, and future-proofing.
• Ability to balance technical rigor with commercial and development priorities, making and defending tradeoffs under uncertainty.
• Experience managing and directing multi-disciplinary consultant teams through fast-paced, high-stakes early development phases.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to clearly explain complex planning and engineering concepts to non-technical stakeholders, executives, and external authorities.
• Highly organized, process-driven, and comfortable operating in ambiguous, early-stage environments where decisions have long-term consequences.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Architecture, or a related field required; professional registration strongly preferred.

A bit about us

Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL®, the company’s global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx®) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges. Digital Realty gives its customers access to the connected data communities that matter to them with a global data center footprint of 300+ facilities in 50+ metros across 25+ countries on six continents.

To learn more about Digital Realty, please visit digitalrealty.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

A bit about our team 

Our Operations team keeps our customers’ infrastructure running safely and securely. We get plenty of opportunities to take on a variety of tasks and develop our technical skills. From overseeing electrical power to cooling and fire suppression systems, our team plays a vital role in making sure everything in our data centers operates as it should.

What we can offer you

Our rapidly evolving business sector offers the opportunity to be part of a courageous and passionate team who work together to understand and meet the changing needs of our global customers. 

Join us and you’ll be part of a supportive and inclusive environment where you can bring your whole self to work. As part of our team, you’ll get to work with people from different business areas, challenge the way we do things and put your ideas into action. We’ll also give you plenty of development opportunities so you can build a rewarding and successful career with us. 

Apply today, take charge of your career and grow your talents with us.

Health and Safety

Safety isn't just a priority here at Digital; it's critical to everything we do. Safeguarding lives, protecting assets, and securing data aren't just ideals - they're essential pillars of our commitment to excellence for our people, our partners and our customers. We have a culture of care where every member of Team Digital embraces a relentless pursuit of working safely across Digital Realty. Together we are Safely Powering Progress.

Our Compensation Philosophy

Digital Realty offers its employees a highly competitive compensation package, excellent benefits, and an environment that recognizes and rewards your contributions. Central to our compensation philosophy is rewarding our employees for achieving the values and objectives aligned to the company's overall goals and values.

Our published pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum target for new hire pay for the full-time position determined by role, level, and geographical location. Individual pay is based on additional factors including but not limited to job-related skills, experience, and relevant education and/or training. Moreover, an employee’s total compensation package varies by role and may include salary, cash bonus or commissions, and equity awards not quantified below.

Compensation range $180,000 – $200,000. This compensation range represents the Company’s good faith belief as to what it will pay as a base salary for this position at the time of this posting. 

Benefits: For this role, Benefits include medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D insurance, 401k match, disability benefits, wellness and education benefits, employee stock purchase plan, paid time off, holidays, and more.