Job description

Cloud Operations and Innovation (CO+I) is responsible for Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure and delivery of global online services with security, compliance, operational excellence, and smart growth. Within CO+I, the EMEA Data Centre Delivery (DCD) team leads end-to-end EPC delivery of Microsoft data centres across the region. The Lease Construction Manager (LCM) is an Individual Contributor, Full-Time role based near Dubai, United Arab Emirates (relocation support provided) with a work site expectation of 3 days per week in-office and travel of 25–50% (travel up to 50% to data center sites). The LCM serves as Microsoft’s Employer’s Representative overseeing construction of one or more leased data centre projects across a metro or country, ensuring the lease provider complies with MSFT requirements in the lease contract/lease agreement contract while delivering the project. The role drives safe, high quality, predictable, and efficient delivery across assigned projects by setting clear goals aligned with EPC regional OKRs, proactively identifying and mitigating risks, coordinating with Microsoft Subject Matter Experts (SME) and Lease Providers to achieve Ready For Service (RFS) for each lease data centre project, aligning team objectives, business processes, vendor management strategies, and cross-group collaboration, and supporting regional DCD initiatives through strategic planning and hands-on execution. Key responsibilities include relentless advocacy for a safe worksite and construction health & safety knowledge, managing stakeholder dependencies, construction deliverables and hand-offs with Microsoft teams including E2E (End-to-End), Security (DCPS), Data Center Engineering (DCE), Data Center Operations (DC Ops), Site Selection and Acquisition (SSA), and Environmental Health & Safety (EHS), managing lease providers and associated teams/partners to deliver RFS, managing and supporting vendor contracts, ensuring regional capacity delivery goals align to business OKRs, and identifying/tracking KPIs to improve delivery of RFS while providing feedback and insights to leadership. Business process responsibilities include maintaining lease contract requirements using MSFT best practices, driving deployment of solutions that can be socialized globally across the MSFT DCD Organization, facilitating decision-making to drive solutions and schedules, managing change, and applying influence, strategies, and negotiation skills to identify options and recommend solutions. Communication responsibilities include acting as single point of contact for project development and delivery, coordinating meetings/activities of Lease Providers and internal MSFT SMEs, attending scheduled owner/architect/contractor (OAC) and other project meetings, reporting project progress on scope, schedule, and budget weekly or as required, and providing weekly project status reporting to DCD standards. Accountability includes managing the construction process to achieve RFS, tracking lessons learned and sharing improvements across groups, routing RFS approval to stakeholders and regional approvers, ensuring lease provider compliance to lease agreement contract, driving business OKRs for regional capacity delivery goals, and assessing resourcing and forecasting business needs to meet demands. Required qualifications include a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, construction management or equivalent engineering science (or significant related construction management experience in lieu of a degree) and solid recent experience managing large, complex construction projects involving large-scale MEP plants, plus ability to read and understand commercial lease agreements (preferred). Additional/preferred qualifications include strong understanding of maintenance and corrective break-fix planning on mission-critical infrastructures and understanding electrical engineering principles including breaker coordination studies, switch-gear sequence of operations, and local electrical codes. The role requires meeting Microsoft/customer/government security screening requirements including passing the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.