Construction Manager

Description

Fermi America is developing the largest next generation private power campus in the United States to serve the compute demand of artificial intelligence. As hyperscale load growth outpaces the capability of the legacy grid, Fermi is delivering behind the meter, utility scale power at a speed and density the incumbent market cannot match.

Project Matador, our flagship development in Carson County, Texas, is planned to scale to approximately 17 GW of generation, comprising roughly 11 GW of natural gas, 5.4 GW of nuclear, and 600 MW of solar, supporting millions of square feet of high density data center infrastructure. This is not incremental infrastructure. It is sovereign scale energy development, executed on an owner led delivery model.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Construction Manager is Fermi America's owner representative in the field for an assigned construction area on Project Matador, within the Capital Projects organization that holds single point accountability for capital project delivery. The role is accountable for the day to day direction of the contractors executing that area, for the safe and productive delivery of the work, and for the owner interfaces that the contractors depend on to keep work fronts open: engineering deliverables, owner furnished equipment, laydown and logistics, permits, site access, and adjacent scopes.

This is a field leadership position. The Construction Manager is on the work daily, knows the status of every active work front without waiting for a report, and holds contractors to the Fermi America standard for safety, quality, schedule, and cost. The role represents the owner in field level commercial matters, including field change identification, documentation of contractor performance, and substantiation of positions that Project Controls, the Project Manager, and the Construction Director take forward.

This role sits on the owner side of the table. It is not a contractor coordination position and it is not a support function. The Construction Manager is expected to direct contractors, make field decisions within delegated authority, and defend them with facts.

Assigned Areas

Fermi America is hiring several Construction Managers at this level. Each will be assigned one of the following areas, with the potential for reassignment as the campus phasing evolves. These seats sit alongside the existing Construction Managers for Power and for Electrical and HV.

• Power. Reports to the Construction Director, Site. Gas turbine generation blocks including simple cycle and combined cycle units, heat recovery steam generators, cooling systems, fuel gas conditioning, balance of plant, and the offload, laydown, and set of owner furnished major equipment. The current Construction Manager Power directs the Firebird SGT-800 and GE Frame 6B and TM2500 programs.
• Site Infrastructure. Reports to the Construction Director, Site. Site civil and earthwork, campus roads and drainage, water and wastewater systems, natural gas supply and metering infrastructure, temporary facilities, laydown yards, fencing and security infrastructure, and campus utilities serving generation and data center parcels.
• Data Centers. Reports to the Construction Director, Data Centers. Assigned by tenant campus: data center shell, core, and site works, data center substations and campus electrical interfaces, and field management of the tenant design build contractor, working with the Project Manager Data Centers for that tenant.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Field Execution and Contractor Direction

• Direct the EPC and construction contractors executing the assigned area as the owner's field representative, including daily coordination, work front planning, and resolution of field issues.
• Own the construction execution plan for the assigned area, including work sequencing, area logistics, crane and heavy haul planning, temporary facilities, and interfaces with adjacent areas.
• Maintain a current, first hand understanding of progress, manpower, equipment, and constraints on every active work front and report it accurately to the Construction Director and the Project Manager.
• Identify constraints early and clear them through the owner organization: engineering, procurement, permits, access, and owner furnished equipment.
• Lead constructability reviews on assigned scope and drive contractor adoption of the resulting actions.

Safety and Environmental

• Set and enforce the Fermi America safety standard on the assigned area, holding contractors to Fermi requirements and applicable OSHA regulation without exception.
• Participate in job safety analysis reviews, pre task planning, incident investigation, and corrective action closeout in coordination with the HSSE Area Manager.
• Ensure construction activities comply with site environmental permit conditions and stormwater controls in coordination with HSSE and Permitting.

Quality

• Ensure work is executed to the issued for construction drawings and specifications and to the contractor's approved inspection and test plans.
• Coordinate with the QA/QC Area Manager on witness and hold points, nonconformance reporting, and closeout of quality findings.
• Drive systems completion readiness, including punch list management, mechanical completion walkdowns, and turnover package assembly in coordination with the Commissioning Manager and the Construction Completions Manager.

Owner Furnished Equipment and Logistics

• Manage the receipt, offload, laydown, preservation, and issue of owner furnished equipment and materials within the assigned area, including transfer of care, custody, and control to the installing contractor.
• Coordinate with the Materials Manager, Procurement, and Logistics on delivery sequencing, heavy haul routing, site receiving, and damage inspection so deliveries align with the installation schedule.
• Maintain laydown yard organization, material inventory custody, and warehouse interfaces for the assigned area.

Schedule, Cost, and Commercial Support

• Review and validate contractor progress reporting, schedule updates, and look ahead plans against field reality; challenge reported percent complete where it is not supported.
• Identify field changes, trends, and potential claims as they arise; document them contemporaneously and provide the EPC Project Controls team with the factual record required for change management.
• Review contractor daily, weekly, and monthly reports and support invoice verification by confirming that reported quantities and milestones reflect installed work.
• Support the Construction Director, the Project Manager, and the Commercial Manager with field substantiation for change order evaluation, backcharges, and dispute positions.

Interfaces and Coordination

• Own the construction interfaces between the assigned area and adjacent scopes, including generation, high voltage electrical, gas and water infrastructure, and data center parcels, so that interface points are defined, scheduled, and closed.
• Coordinate with the Engineering Manager for the area (Power and Gas, Infrastructure, or Data Centers) on field engineering support, requests for information, design clarifications, and redline and as built documentation.
• Participate in weekly construction coordination meetings and provide the assigned area input to the Fermi America weekly operations reporting cycle.
• Build constructive, disciplined working relationships with contractor site leadership while protecting the owner position.

Leadership

• Lead the assigned Construction Coordinator, setting expectations and developing capability.
• Cover and support adjacent areas as directed by the Construction Director.

Requirements

Experience

• 15 or more years of progressive construction experience on large industrial, power generation, LNG, petrochemical, or mission critical projects.
• Minimum of 5 years in a construction management, general superintendent, or field superintendent role with direct accountability for contractor performance and multiple concurrent work fronts.
• Demonstrated field leadership on at least one major capital project carried from mobilization through mechanical completion and turnover.
• Experience directing EPC or construction contractors from the owner or construction manager side of the table, including field change identification and documentation of contractor performance.

Technical and Commercial Knowledge

• Working command of heavy civil, structural, mechanical, piping, and electrical construction methods and sequencing appropriate to the assigned area.
• Practical experience with heavy haul, rigging, crane planning, and the offload and set of large owner furnished equipment.
• Working understanding of construction contract administration, including notice requirements, change management, and progress and payment verification.
• Familiarity with systems completion and turnover processes and with inspection and test plan execution.

Tools and Systems

• Ability to read and work from Primavera P6 schedules and to use Oracle Aconex or an equivalent document management system. Familiarity with Oracle Primavera Unifier is an advantage.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Excel based progress and quantity tracking.

Education and Credentials

• Bachelor's degree in construction management, construction science, or engineering, or equivalent field experience with a demonstrated record of increasing responsibility.
• OSHA 30 hour construction certification, or the ability to obtain it within 90 days of hire.
• Valid driver license and the ability to meet site access and background requirements.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Site Infrastructure: experience with large site civil programs, water and wastewater systems, natural gas pipeline and metering infrastructure, and campus utilities.
• Data Centers: experience with hyperscale data center construction, data center substations and medium voltage distribution, and management of tenant design build contractors.
• Power Generation: experience with gas turbine generation construction including heat recovery steam generators, cooling systems, and balance of plant, and with Siemens Energy, GE Vernova, or comparable OEM equipment.
• Experience with commissioning and startup support on industrial or power projects.
• Familiarity with the Texas Panhandle construction labor market.
• Experience on both the contractor side with a major industrial constructor and the owner side.

CORE COMPETENCIES

Field presence; safety leadership; contractor direction; constraint removal; contemporaneous documentation; schedule and quantity discipline; interface management; clear upward communication.

MEASURES OF SUCCESS IN THE FIRST TWELVE MONTHS

• Fermi America safety standard visibly enforced on the assigned area, with contractors held to it without exception.
• Every active work front in the assigned area understood first hand and reported accurately and without surprise.
• Owner constraints, including engineering, procurement, permits, and owner furnished equipment, identified and cleared ahead of contractor need dates.
• Field changes and contractor performance documented contemporaneously, with Project Controls and the Construction Director holding substantiated positions.
• Turnover and commissioning readiness driven from the field ahead of the construction completion curve.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT

This is a site based role on an active heavy industrial construction campus. The Construction Manager works primarily in the field with time in site offices for planning, reporting, and coordination. Extended hours and weekend work are required during peak construction, heavy haul, and major equipment set periods. Daily access to active construction areas, use of required personal protective equipment, and work outdoors in all weather conditions are conditions of the role.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENT

In addition to a resume, applicants are asked to submit a brief written summary of the most significant construction scope they have personally directed in the field, stating the following:

• Project name, owner, and location.
• The scope directed, including disciplines, installed quantities or capacity, and the contractors and subcontractors under the applicant's direction.
• Peak craft headcount and the size and composition of the field team reporting to the applicant.
• The applicant's specific title and scope of accountability, and whether the role was on the owner side or the contractor side.
• Outcome at mechanical completion and turnover measured against the baseline schedule, including the applicant's account of what drove any variance and the safety record on the scope.

Submissions that describe participation rather than accountability will not advance.

WHY FERMI AMERICA

• Unmatched scale. A multi gigawatt power and infrastructure program with no current peer in the United States.
• Owner side authority. You hold the decision, not a recommendation to somebody else who holds it.
• Direct impact. Your execution outcomes flow straight into capital allocation and commercial strategy at the executive level.
• Speed and precision. We value technical rigor, decisiveness, and execution velocity over bureaucracy.

Fermi America is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.