Vice President – Site Selection

Vice President – Site Selection

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Commercial or Industrial Real Estate, Business Administration, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in site selection or real estate; 15+ years preferred.
• Excellent analytical skills with understanding of real estate finance and discounted cash flow analysis.
• Strong IT skills: ability to use multiple communication tools and packages essential.
• Strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills at all levels of the organization and with other stakeholders and third parties such as suppliers and real estate brokers.
• Flexible, adaptable, and self-directed; able to work in a variety of circumstances, e.g.: remotely, while traveling, across multiple time zones, cross functionally, by project, etc.
• In-depth knowledge of land acquisition, zoning, environmental regulations, and infrastructure requirements.
• Excellent negotiation and contract management skills.
• Proven project management abilities, with experience leading cross-functional teams.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the evaluation and selection of new data center sites in existing and emerging markets, in line with Vantage’s strategic objectives.
• Identify large industrial estates capable of supporting hyperscale data center campuses.
• Oversee all aspects of real estate negotiations, including landowner and broker discussions, deal lifecycle management, and ensuring compliance with all terms and conditions.
• Sign off on Letters of Intent and Purchase Agreements, authored by the team, and coordinate with internal and external legal teams on closing activities.
• Oversee the tracking and monitoring of sophisticated real estate transactions, including acquisition of freehold, leasehold, or fee simple ownership interest in land and/or buildings.
• Review key metrics, data, and market details for identified markets and sites, and complete initial site assessments and diligence packages for internal review.
• Collaborate with Market Development, Sales, Marketing, New Site Development, and subject matter experts to align land acquisition goals with corporate strategy.
• Implement and improve processes to capture information on borrower or project changes that may require lender consent or notification.
• Drive standardization of loan agreements, including representations, warranties, reporting, and lender consent rights.
• Oversee transition of sites to the VDC New Site Development team following acquisition.
• Oversee the management of qualified property management contracts for the duration of the pre-development period and oversee all P&L cashflows.
• Stay up to date with relevant real estate legislation and anticipated changes.
• Ensure compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements during the acquisition and development process.
• Provide support to the Site Selection team from concept through shovel-ready state across Vantage’s North American portfolio.
• Review status updates from the team of all projects in the Site Selection portfolio, including risks, schedule, quality, and budget.

Preferred Qualifications

• Data Center experience is strongly preferred, but not required.
• Working proficiency or fluency in French not required, but advantageous.