Construction, VP Greater Ironville, KY Area

Position Summary

The Vice President of Construction will lead all field execution and construction management activities for a multi-billion dollar power generation and data center infrastructure program. This individual owns the construction strategy, budget, schedule, safety performance, and quality outcomes across one or more concurrent mega-project sites. The VP serves as the senior construction authority interfacing with ownership, EPC contractors, utility partners, regulatory agencies, and the data center end-user's technical teams, ensuring the program is delivered safely, on time, and within budget at a scale and pace consistent with critical compute infrastructure demands.

This is an on-site executive leadership role requiring deep technical credibility in heavy industrial/power construction, strong commercial acumen, and the ability to manage extreme schedule pressure inherent to AI/data-center-driven power projects.

Key Responsibilities

Executive Leadership & Strategy

Own the overall construction execution strategy for the program, aligning with corporate development, finance, and ownership objectives.

Serve as the senior-most construction representative in executive steering committees, board updates, and investor/lender site reviews.

Build, lead, and scale a construction organization (construction managers, superintendents, field engineers, safety, QA/QC) capable of executing a multi-billion dollar, multi-site program.

Set the standard for construction culture: safety-first, schedule discipline, and quality accountability.

Program & Schedule Management

Own the master construction schedule across all work packages (civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, controls, BOP, substation/interconnection, and data center shell/core where applicable).

Identify and proactively mitigate critical-path risks, especially around long-lead equipment (turbines, generators, transformers, switchgear) and their integration into the construction sequence.

Drive contingency planning for schedule compression, given the accelerated timelines typical of data-center-driven power projects.

Report progress, forecasts, and risk exposure to executive leadership and ownership on a recurring basis.

Budget & Commercial Oversight

Own construction-phase budget (multi-billion dollar TIC), including cost forecasting, variance analysis, and contingency management.

Oversee change order review, negotiation, and approval processes with EPC contractors and subcontractors.

Partner with Finance and Legal on contract strategy (EPC, lump-sum, cost-plus, hybrid), claims avoidance, and dispute resolution.

Ensure construction spend aligns with capital drawdown schedules and lender/investor reporting requirements.

Contractor & Stakeholder Management

Lead selection, negotiation, and management of EPC contractors, major subcontractors, and construction management firms.

Serve as the primary construction-side liaison with the utility/grid operator on interconnection-related construction activities.

Coordinate directly with the data center owner/operator's technical and construction teams to align on integration points, energization sequencing, and commissioning handoff.

Manage relationships with AHJs (authorities having jurisdiction), inspectors, and regulatory bodies to ensure permit compliance throughout construction.

Safety, Quality & Compliance

Hold ultimate accountability for site safety performance across all contractors and subcontractors; champion a zero-incident safety culture.

Ensure QA/QC programs are enforced across all disciplines, with particular attention to systems critical to uptime (power delivery, redundancy systems, cooling, controls).

Ensure full compliance with NFPA, IEEE, NEC, OSHA, environmental permits, and local/state/federal codes.

Oversee commissioning and startup readiness in coordination with engineering and operations teams.

Risk Management

Maintain and actively manage the program-level construction risk register.

Lead root-cause analysis and corrective action for schedule slips, safety incidents, or quality escapes.

Develop and maintain contingency and recovery plans for supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and weather/force majeure events.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Civil, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, or Construction Management (Master's degree or MBA a plus).

Or 15+ years of progressive construction management experience in power generation, heavy industrial, or large-scale critical infrastructure projects.

Minimum 5+ years in a senior executive construction leadership role (VP, Senior Director, or equivalent) on projects exceeding $1B in total installed cost.

Direct experience with power plant construction (gas turbine, combined-cycle, reciprocating engine, or renewable/battery storage) and/or large-scale data center construction.

Proven track record managing EPC contracts, multi-contractor environments, and complex commercial negotiations at scale.

Deep understanding of utility interconnection processes, grid codes, and substation/transmission construction.

PE license or PMP certification preferred; OSHA 30-Hour certification required.

Demonstrated ability to operate under compressed schedules typical of hyperscale/data-center-driven power projects.

Preferred Experience

Prior experience delivering behind-the-meter or co-located generation assets for data center or hyperscale clients.

Familiarity with Tier III/IV data center reliability standards and their impact on power delivery redundancy.

Experience with modular/phased power plant deployment strategies.

Experience working with private equity or infrastructure fund ownership structures and lender/investor reporting requirements.

Key Competencies

Executive presence and the ability to represent the project to ownership, lenders, and public stakeholders.

Strong financial and commercial acumen at a multi-billion dollar program scale.

Decisive risk management under time and capital pressure.

Exceptional organizational leadership across large, matrixed teams and multiple concurrent contractors.

Clear, confident communicator across technical, executive, and regulatory audiences.

Travel & Work Conditions

Extensive on-site presence required; role is field-based with regular travel to project site(s), corporate HQ, and stakeholder meetings.

Availability to respond to critical schedule, safety, or quality events outside standard hours.

This job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of the role and is not exhaustive. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or be assigned at any time.

The range below reflects the base salary for the position. Actual compensation may vary based on job-related factors such as skill set, experience, education, and location. In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for bonus, equity, and/or commission programs. Nscale may offer a competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, flexible paid time off, parental leave, and retirement plan participation.

Salary Range

$230,000—$410,000 USD

For information on how Nscale handles candidate personal data, please see our Employee & Candidate Privacy Notice: Here.

Nscale does not accept unsolicited candidate submissions from recruitment agencies.