Start date: Immediate
Employment: Full-time
Reports to: CEO
Location: Based in office in Downtown Vancouver. Frequent travel to project site, with travel to supplier and consultant locations as required.
Compensation: 130k - 200k, depending on experience, plus benefits.
About us
Wafr builds sustainable infrastructure engineered for the AI era, with less power, less water and
in less time. We design and supply the electrical, mechanical and thermal systems that critical
facilities depend on, from AI data centres to utilities, renewables and industry.
Through our subsidiary, Wave Infrastructure, we are bringing this together in our own project: a
high-density AI Research Lab in Alberta with sustainability at its core. Wave considers the
energy a facility consumes, the water it uses, the opportunities it creates, and the computing
capacity it ultimately delivers.
We are now expanding the team that will scale Wafr and take the Wave project from
development through construction and operation. This is an opportunity to join a growing
company at an important stage and help shape what comes next.
wafr.ca
waveinfra.com
Role mission
As Chief Development Officer, you will take the Wave project from development through to
commercial operation as the owner-side executive accountable for delivery. You will own
scope, schedule, budget, technical performance and contracting strategy, and direct the design,
EPC and commissioning partners through handover.
Core responsibilities:
- Convert Board strategy and financing commitments into an executable development and delivery plan with clear stage gates.
- Lead the integrated owner team across development, design, EPC, utilities, commissioning and operations readiness.
- Own the Project Execution Plan, master milestone schedule, delegated authority framework and executive decision cadence.
- Lead EPC delivery strategy and recommendation; approve major commercial positions before CEO/Board authorization.
- Chair weekly integrated project reviews with the architect, EPC and management.
- Protect owner requirements against uncontrolled scope growth, vendor-driven design decisions and interface gaps.
- Embed commissioning requirements from design stage through factory, site and integrated systems testing.
- Prepare monthly Board-level forecasts for cost-to-complete, schedule, top risks, commitments, contingency and decisions required.
- Lead recovery planning for material schedule, budget, permitting, procurement or quality deviations.
First 90-day priorities
- Publish a 180-day integrated execution plan and governance/RACI matrix.
- Confirm project partner scopes, consultant matrix and design-stage deliverables.
- Launch and govern EPC procurement and the progressive preconstruction process.
- Freeze owner requirements and key design criteria.
- Establish monthly executive reporting aligned to financing milestones.
Success measures / KPIs
- Project milestones achieved on or ahead of plan
- Approved baseline schedule and forecast accuracy
- Forecast cost at completion within Board-approved budget
- Decision turnaround time and closure of critical actions
- Material project risks mitigated before impact
- Commercial operation date (COD) achieved to approved performance requirements, with no critical open commissioning issues
Candidate profile
- 15+ years major capital project delivery experience, including mission-critical or data centre assets
- Delivered at least one greenfield data centre from site selection through commissioning and ready-for-service
- Demonstrated leadership of C$100M+ programs and multidisciplinary teams across MEP, civil/structural, permitting, procurement and commissioning
- Strong commercial understanding of mission-critical EPC and subcontracting
- Executive-level communication with boards, lenders, investors, customers and public authorities
- Engineering, construction, architecture or related technical degree; P.Eng., PMP or MBA beneficial
Critical experience:
Must have personally led at least one major data centre or mission-critical facility through design, construction, commissioning and handover. Owner or developer-side experience and Canadian or North American delivery experience are strongly preferred.
