Senior Manger Site Readiness – AI Data Centers

CleanSpark (Nasdaq: CLSK), is a market-leading data center developer with a proven track record of success. We control a portfolio of more than 1.8 GW of power, land, and data centers across the United States powered by globally competitive energy prices. Sitting at the intersection of Bitcoin, energy, operational excellence, and capital stewardship, we optimize our infrastructure to deliver superior returns to our shareholders. Monetizing low-cost, high reliability energy by producing a global emerging critical resource – compute – positions us to prosper in an ever-changing world. Visit our website at www.cleanspark.com.

Job Overview

The Senior Manager, Site Readiness – AI Data Centers is responsible for advancing sites from early-stage development through construction readiness. This role drives the coordination of permitting, entitlements, utilities, land requirements, and preconstruction activities to ensure each site is fully approved, de-risked, and positioned to meet construction timelines.

Working cross-functionally with Development, Design, Construction, Legal, and external partners, this role serves as the day-to-day lead for site readiness efforts, ensuring all workstreams remain aligned and progressing in parallel. The position also supports engagement with local jurisdictions and regulatory agencies, in coordination with Development leadership, to facilitate timely approvals and resolve issues that could impact project delivery.

Key Responsibilities

Entitlements and Jurisdictional Management

• Permitting Strategy: Develop and execute a comprehensive permitting roadmap for each project, including land use, environmental, grading, and building permits.

• Government Relations: Support the Chief Development Officer and VP of Policy and Government Relations as directed and where appropriate serve as the point of contact for local planning departments, building officials, and regulatory agencies to expedite approvals.

• Public Hearings: Represent the company as needed at planning commission meetings, zoning boards, and city council hearings to secure necessary variances or Special Use Permits (SUPs).

Local Codes and Regulatory Strategies

• Code Interpretation & Technical Compliance: Conduct reviews of local building codes and design guidelines to ensure AI specific infrastructure meets local requirements. Identify any challenges or gray areas and propose solutions. Partner with Design and Construction teams to ensure plans align with local code requirements.

• Local Standards & Ordinance Navigation: Conduct reviews of local ordinances including zoning, architectural standards, setbacks, energy efficiency, noise, environmental or other relevant ordinances. Collaborate with all Corporate Services teams to develop strategies and solutions.

• Proactive Jurisdictional Engagement: Lead technical “Pre-app” meetings with local building officials to socialize new construction and secure buy-in before formal submission. Serve as the primary technical advocate when local inspectors or code officials raise questions regarding the development and construction as needed.

Easements and Land Rights

• Easement Resolution: Coordinate and partner with Legal team and Land & Power team to identify, negotiate, and secure necessary easements (utility, access, drainage) and rights-of-way required to support development / construction requirements.

• Title and Survey Review: Analyze ALTA surveys and title reports to identify encumbrances or "gotchas" that could impact the construction footprint or site ingress/egress.

• Boundary & Encroachment Management: Coordinate and partner with Legal team and Land & Power team to resolve any existing site encroachments or boundary disputes prior to mobilization.

External Professional Services Oversight

• Consultant Management: Coordinate as needed or directed the work of third-party firms, including civil engineers, environmental consultants (Phase I/II ESA), traffic consultants, or other firms supporting development and construction.

• Scope & Budgeting: Support the VP Construction with defining Scopes of Work (SOWs) for site readiness services, review proposals, and manage the associated budgets to prevent cost overruns in the pre-construction phase.

• Deliverable Quality Control: Ensure all technical reports (geotechnical, hydrological, etc.) meet the specific load and cooling requirements of AI-optimized data center shells.

Utility and Infrastructure Coordination

• Utility Liaison: Work closely with power and water authorities to ensure that service delivery timelines align with the construction schedule.

• Temporary Services: Secure permits and infrastructure for temporary construction power, water, and site trailers to enable immediate mobilization.

• Fiber Connectivity: Support Corporate Services teams as needed to coordinate with telecommunications providers to ensure diverse fiber paths are secured and permitted to the property line.

Risk Mitigation and Site Assessment

• Site Constraints Analysis: Identify physical or legal constraints (e.g., wetlands, endangered species, archaeological sensitivity) and assist VP Construction with development of mitigation plans.

• Due Diligence Reporting: Maintain a "Site Readiness Dashboard" for executive leadership, highlighting critical path items, risks to the "Start Construction" date, and mitigation strategies.

• Handover Coordination: Formalize a "Ready to Build" package for the internal construction execution team, ensuring all conditions of approval are documented and understood.

Strategic Support

• Standardization: Assist in developing a "Site Readiness Playbook" to standardize the approach for deployments and industrialized models.

• RACI & Workflow: Contribute to the development of project-specific RACI matrices to ensure clear accountability between all Enterprise teams.

• Additional duties as assigned

This role requires strong leadership, accountability, and the ability to operate with precision in a collaborative, fast-paced, and evolving environment.

Required Qualifications

• 8–12 years in land development, project management, or site readiness, specifically within heavy industrial, energy, or data center sectors.

• Technical Literacy: Ability to interpret civil engineering drawings, ALTA surveys, and complex legal descriptions.

• Negotiation Skills: Proven track record of negotiating with utility providers and municipal leaders.

• Project Management: Proficiency in project management software (e.g., Procore, Primavera P6, or MS Project) to track multi-threaded permitting timelines.

This position may involve duties that require operation of a company vehicle or travel between job sites. As such, candidates must be insurable under CleanSpark's vehicle insurance policy. CleanSpark is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Originally posted on Himalayas