Senior Director, Energy Capital & Strategy

As a global leader in digital infrastructure, QTS designs, builds and operates advanced data centers that support strategic AI, cloud and digital transformation initiatives. We are driven by a mission to connect the world for good and our people make it possible. Every single day, the creativity, dedication and genuine care for our communities are what push us forward and make this a truly special place to be. 

The Senior Director, Energy Capital & Strategy owns and governs the company’s energy capital and power readiness strategy, ensuring alignment with long‑range growth plans, capital allocation priorities, and enterprise risk appetite. This role establishes and enforces utility risk tiering, power readiness gates, and early‑warning indicators to proactively identify, mitigate, and escalate utility, regulatory, capacity, and execution risks that could impact cost, schedule, or customer commitments. Acting as a cross‑functional integrator and strategic advisor to executive leadership, the Senior Director drives disciplined decision‑making, consistent standards, and scalable governance across the enterprise energy portfolio.
 

What You Will Do: (Job Responsibilities)

Enterprise Energy Strategy & Capital Governance

• Own and govern the enterprise energy capital and power readiness strategy, ensuring alignment with long‑range growth plans, capital allocation priorities, and risk appetite.
• Establish a structured framework to evaluate, prioritize, and sequence power‑related investments across markets and development stages.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to executive leadership on energy‑related risk, capital exposure, and readiness constraints.

Utility Risk Classification & Tiering

• Design and implement a utility risk tiering framework to consistently classify markets, utilities, and projects based on readiness, reliability, regulatory exposure, and execution risk.
• Ensure utility risk classifications directly inform site selection, capital planning, development pacing, and executive decision‑making.

Power Readiness Gates

• Create and enforce power readiness gates across the development lifecycle, defining clear criteria for progression from early feasibility through execution and delivery.
• Ensure power readiness gating is embedded into investment approvals, development milestones, and capital committee processes.

Early Warning Indicators & Risk Management

• Develop and maintain a suite of early‑warning indicators to identify emerging utility, regulatory, capacity, or execution risks before they impact schedule, cost, or customer commitments.
• Lead proactive mitigation planning and escalation for identified risks, ensuring clear ownership and accountability.

Utility Risk Review & Controls

• Chair or lead recurring utility risk review forums, providing structured oversight, consistent reporting, and decision transparency.
• Ensure risks, assumptions, and dependencies are documented, tracked, and communicated to senior leadership and governance bodies.

Cross‑Functional Leadership

• Lead cross‑functional teams spanning Energy Strategy, Utility Engagement, Development, Investments, Finance, Legal, Procurement, and Operations.
• Drive alignment across stakeholders to ensure disciplined execution, consistent standards, and enterprise‑level risk visibility.
• Influence without direct authority while setting clear expectations, frameworks, and decision criteria.

Operating Model Maturity

• Transition the organization from informal practices to repeatable, auditable, and scalable systems for energy capital and utility risk management.
• Define metrics, dashboards, and reporting that provide leadership with clear insight into readiness, risk exposure, and portfolio health.
• Other duties as assigned.

What You Will Need to Be Successful:  (Required Qualifications, Education, Experience, Certifications)

• Bachelor’s degree in one of the following disciplines (or a closely related field): Engineering (Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, or Industrial), Economics, Finance, Business Administration, Data Analytics or Applied Analytics, Operations Research or Systems Engineering, or other
• 10 or more years of professional experience with progressive responsibility in energy strategy, capital planning, infrastructure development, utility engagement, risk management, or related enterprise strategy roles.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross‑functional teams and influencing decision‑making across Development, Energy, Utilities, Investments, Finance, Legal, and Operations.
• Proven ability to drive strategic planning, governance frameworks, and business growth in capital‑intensive or infrastructure‑dependent environments.
  • Masters’s degree in one of the following disciplines (or a closely related field): Engineering (Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, or Industrial), Economics, Finance, Business Administration, Data Analytics or Applied Analytics, Operations Research or Systems Engineering, or other

Nice to Have: (Preferred Qualifications, Education, Experience, Certifications)

• 15 or more years of professional experience with progressive responsibility in energy strategy, capital planning, infrastructure development, utility engagement, risk management, or related enterprise strategy roles.

Other Key Skills: (KSAs)  

• Strong grounding in systems thinking, risk classification, and governance models.
• Ability to translate technical, regulatory, and utility‑specific inputs into enterprise‑level strategy and capital decisions.
• Experience designing and operating stage‑gate models, readiness frameworks, and early‑warning indicators.
• Executive‑level communication skills with comfort presenting complex risk and capital tradeoffs to senior leadership and governance forums.

See specific position description.

See

• Bachelor’s degree in one of the following disciplines (or a closely related field): Engineering (Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, or Industrial), Economics, Finance, Business Administration, Data Analytics or Applied Analytics, Operations Research or Systems Engineering, or other
• 10 or more years of professional experience with progressive responsibility in energy strategy, capital planning, infrastructure development, utility engagement, risk management, or related enterprise strategy roles.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross‑functional teams and influencing decision‑making across Development, Energy, Utilities, Investments, Finance, Legal, and Operations.
• Proven ability to drive strategic planning, governance frameworks, and business growth in capital‑intensive or infrastructure‑dependent environments.
  • Masters’s degree in one of the following disciplines (or a closely related field): Engineering (Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, or Industrial), Economics, Finance, Business Administration, Data Analytics or Applied Analytics, Operations Research or Systems Engineering, or other

specific position description.

In accordance with applicable law, the following represents a reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation for this role if hired in Virginia. Please note that this information is provided for those hired in Virginia only, and this role is open to candidates outside of Virginia with compensation that aligns with your location. The successful candidate’s starting salary will be determined based on permissible, non-discriminatory factors such as skills, experience, and geographic location.

The estimated pay range for this role, if based in Virginia, is: