Permit Manager (Owner's Representative) - Data Center Construction

The Permit Manager serves as the Owner’s Representative responsible for planning, coordinating, tracking, and reporting all entitlement, permitting, inspection, and approval activities required to support the successful delivery of mission-critical construction projects. This role acts as the primary liaison between the owner, design consultants, contractors, utility providers, regulatory agencies, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs), ensuring permitting activities remain aligned with project schedules, design development, construction sequencing, energization, commissioning, and occupancy milestones.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Architecture, Engineering, Planning, Public Administration, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
• 7+ years of experience in permitting, design management, construction management, land development, or program management.
• Experience supporting large-scale commercial, industrial, mission-critical, utility, or infrastructure projects.
• Working knowledge of building, civil, environmental, utility, fire/life-safety, inspection, and occupancy permitting processes.
• Strong project coordination, schedule management, documentation, and stakeholder communication skills.
• Ability to coordinate across project teams, consultants, contractors, utilities, AHJs, and regulatory agencies.
• Proficiency with project management, scheduling, document control, and reporting software.
• Ability to read and interpret construction drawings, project schedules, permit requirements, and agency correspondence.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Data center, mission-critical, advanced manufacturing, or utility infrastructure project experience.
• Experience supporting phased campus developments and multiple concurrent construction packages.
• Experience working directly for an owner or as an owner's representative.
• Relevant professional certifications such as PMP, CCM, PE, RA, AICP, or LEED.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Permitting Strategy and Planning

• Develop and maintain the project's overall entitlement and permitting strategy.
• Identify required federal, state, county, municipal, utility, environmental, and fire/life-safety approvals.
• Establish permitting sequences for campus phases, buildings, utility systems, and construction packages.
• Identify permitting dependencies, long-lead approvals, and critical-path risks.
• Align permitting activities with design, procurement, construction, commissioning, energization, and occupancy milestones.

Permit Matrix and Schedule Management

• Create, maintain, and manage the project permit and approval matrix.
• Track permit requirements, submission dates, review durations, fees, status, inspections, expiration dates, and closeout requirements.
• Integrate permitting milestones into the project master schedule and develop look-ahead schedules for key permitting activities.
• Monitor permitting progress against planned dates and escalate potential schedule impacts.

Agency and Stakeholder Coordination

• Serve as the primary day-to-day point of contact for permitting matters among project teams, consultants, contractors, utilities, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs).
• Coordinate meetings and communications with planning, zoning, building, fire, environmental, transportation, utility, and other reviewing authorities.
• Prepare meeting agendas, decision logs, and action-item trackers while documenting agency comments and required follow-up actions.
• Escalate unresolved permitting issues through appropriate project leadership channels.

Submission and Review Management

• Establish submission requirements, checklists, quality-control reviews, and target submission dates.
• Coordinate with architects, engineers, and consultants to ensure permit applications are complete and submission-ready.
• Manage permit applications through agency review processes and track comments, resubmissions, and approvals through closure.
• Facilitate comment-resolution efforts when permitting issues impact multiple disciplines or project milestones.

Design and Construction Integration

• Participate in design, coordination, and construction meetings to identify permitting impacts and constraints.
• Coordinate with project teams to ensure permit requirements are incorporated into project planning and execution.
• Identify design changes or field conditions that may require permit revisions, amendments, or additional agency review.
• Coordinate permit-related requirements for mobilization, temporary facilities, utility installation, equipment setting, inspections, and occupancy milestones.

Risk Management and Reporting

• Maintain permitting risk and constraints logs and develop mitigation plans for identified risks.
• Provide weekly status reports and executive-level updates on permitting progress, key milestones, risks, and required actions.
• Forecast upcoming submissions, reviews, inspections, renewals, and approval milestones.

Financial and Administrative Management

• Assist with tracking permit-related fees, utility fees, consultant costs, bonds, deposits, and payment documentation.
• Maintain organized permit files, correspondence, approvals, applications, and supporting records throughout the project lifecycle.

Inspections, Occupancy, and Closeout

• Coordinate jurisdictional inspections, occupancy approvals, and permit closeout activities with project stakeholders.
• Track inspection results, corrective actions, outstanding documentation, and reinspection requirements.
• Ensure testing reports, record drawings, certifications, and final approval documentation are completed and turned over at project closeout.