Ada Construction Manager

Over the last 20 years, Ares’ success has been driven by our people and our culture. Today, our team is guided by our core values – Collaborative, Responsible, Entrepreneurial, Self-Aware, Trustworthy – and our purpose to be a catalyst for shared prosperity and a better future. Through our recruitment, career development and employee-focused programming, we are committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive work environment where high-performance talent of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives can build careers within this exciting and growing industry.

Ada Infrastructure is a part of the digital infrastructure platform of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES), a leading global alternative investment manager offering clients complementary primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, real estate, private equity and infrastructure asset classes. We are a global datacentre business grounded in sustainability, safety, and security. With a world-class team of industry leaders and the resources of Ares Management, Ada Infrastructure is executing on our mission to lead the world in sustainable digital infrastructure that drives customer success and social impact.

This role is an excellent opportunity to join a deeply experienced and high-performing team, while benefiting from the opportunity to directly impact and contribute to our global datacentre delivery program. Our hand-picked team combines industry-wide experience and in-country expertise with unmatched customer relationships and industry intelligence. We are a lean team of datacentre infrastructure experts developing a global datacentre program that meets the evolving needs of our customers, at scale and in a sustainable way. We are committed to listening, collaborating cross-functionally and partnering to drive efficient and effective solutions that achieve our business objectives. We provide regional leadership and direction that enables our regional teams to design and deliver scalable future-ready solutions to successfully support our customers.

The Ada Construction Manager (CSA) leads, with the Ada Construction Manager, the contractor design, construction and commissioning phases of the project to meet with the needs of the Ada Infrastructure business case, from Stage 4 design commencement (PCSA) through to IST and system/facility turnover. To achieve this objective, the construction manager must assist in the direction of all activities associated with each design phase (end of Stage 3 through Detailed & Construction Design), oversee the procurement GC (incl. MEP sub-contractor) and assist in managing the project through construction to IST completion and system turnover according to the pre-agreed transition plan to the Operations Manager.

The construction manager will take control of the oversight – in particular – of the CSA aspects of the project in order to ensure that the early works (buried services, ground improvement works, river wall works, etc.) are expedited efficiently to allow the shell and core works of the DC building to proceed. To support the implementation of the above, the construction manager needs to assist in establishing and managing execution team appropriate to each phase of the project.

Specific End Results:

• A strong culture of safety is in place.
• Clear safety goals are in place and have the support of all organisations involved in the project.
• Communicate a clear project execution strategy to the overall project team and ensure that this strategy is translated into meaningful goals and associated timelines.
• Help to establish and communicate the key project objectives to successfully deliver a constructed and commissioned facility.
• Help develop the long-term engineering, construction and Start Up plan (in coordination with the Operational Readiness team) required to achieve the project target cost and associated schedule.
• Help to ensure that project controls are successful and that the relevant information is communicated to the team and senior management.
• Help to execute the project and deliver the appropriate information according to the funding plan agreed with governance.
• Help to implement the project execution plan and team building applicable to the relevant project phase.
• Support the planning, staffing and organizing of the project for the relevant phases.
• Identify, document and communicate the project risks, exceptions and assumptions.
• Ensure an effective risk management plan is executed and that risk owners are appointed.
• Help to build safety and regulatory compliance into both the design and project execution approach and ensure that this is implemented.
• Ensures monthly progress and cost reports are generated and issued.
• Be the champion for the SPS schedules/reports in EMEA.
• Help to find innovative and creative approaches regarding the design and/or construction of facilities that will result in substantial cost and/or time savings while still achieving all of the project objectives.
• Help to ensure that the ADA Infrastructure EHS, Quality and Engineering standards and practices are implemented and the safety and quality goals are met during the course of the design and construction and close-out.
• Excellent communications developed within the ADA Infrastructure project team and to the wider program team as appropriate.

Key Actions:

• Cooperate closely with the Construction Project Manager and Stakeholder representatives.
• Provide strong leadership to ensure a highly effective project team delivers the facility that will provide the intended benefits and objectives within scope, schedule, quality & budget.
• Ensure the project has an effective communications plan.
• Define roles and responsibilities of project team members.
• Seek regular feedback on project execution effectiveness and implement improvements wherever necessary.
• Facilitate a great mood within the team and take proactive steps to manage and create a positive working environment.
• Celebrate project successes.
• Drive the project to as simple as possible execution.
• Minimise interfaces; ensure project decision-making process is as straightforward and rapid as possible.
• Hold project team members accountable to their responsibilities and communicate clearly where underperformance is occurring.
• Influence and guide the senior management interfaces to the project to ensure objectives are aligned, understood and well communicated.
• Represent ADA Infrastructure’s interests in all engineering and construction and handover phases of the project and responsible for achievement of the project objectives for cost, schedule, quality and safety defined in the Project Execution Plan (PEP).
• Handle issues related to funding.
• Authorize expenditures for goods and services, including contractor, supplier and consultant selection within the approved scope of the project.
• Verify that the project is compliant with ADA Infrastructure Guidelines and current industry practices from technical and project controls perspective.
• Organise and meet with the project leader and the project controls lead for budget review and reconciliation.
• Clarify and agree the transition and handover process/procedure.
• Organize and chair the project progress meetings.
• Establish a meeting matrix for all relevant meetings and identify meeting chair, attendants and MOM distribution list.
• Coordinate various group activities & client interface relative to setting project objectives and project execution.
• Implement project Execution Planning, & team building.
• Assure proper project controls are in place.
• Recommend and manage the appropriate AE and CM and equipment procurement contracting strategy where appropriate.
• Participate in the periodic performance review of all team members, including the A/E’s, CM’s and other consultants, identifying areas requiring improvement, and cooperating with A/E senior management in facilitating corrections/improvements.
• Prepare for, and achieve successful stage gate reviews for the relevant phase gates.
• Facilitate and ensure conflict resolution within overall project team.
• Ensure that previous lessons learned are incorporated within the project.
• Monitor cost and schedule trends and identify corrective actions.
• Communicate trends.
• Ensure change and change management is tracked, monitored and reported with approval as appropriate.
• Liaise with the Ada Infrastructure Sales representative to ensure that any potential end user change requests are tracked, validated, signed off and then implemented with all parties prior to being put in hand by the GC.
• Change process to follow that of the FIDIC contract.

Qualifications & Experience:

An engineering/construction/project management qualification with a minimum of 5 – 10 years in a similar construction position (client side or contractor side).

There is no set deadline to apply for this job opportunity. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the search is no longer active.