Director, Data Center Contracts & Commercial Strategy

Employer description

Lambda, The Superintelligence Cloud, is a leader in AI cloud infrastructure serving tens of thousands of customers. Our customers range from AI researchers to enterprises and hyperscalers. Lambda’s mission is to make compute as ubiquitous as electricity and give everyone the power of superintelligence. One person, one GPU.

If you’d like to build the world’s best AI cloud, join us.

*Note: This position requires presence in our San Francisco, San Jose, or Bellevue office location 4 days per week; Lambda’s designated work from home day is currently Tuesday.

What You’ll Do

Own the contracting and commercial strategy for how Lambda secures data center capacity — from leased and colocation sites today to owned, greenfield builds as the portfolio grows

Serve as Lambda’s lead negotiator on the highest-value capacity agreements — leases, colocation and service agreements, master agreements, design, equipment, and construction contracts — setting negotiation strategy and partnering with Legal and Finance on terms

Lead lease and colocation negotiations with landlords, providers, and developers from LOI through definitive agreements and service orders — balancing rent, power pricing, delivery dates, expansion rights, and performance obligations

Manage the existing lease portfolio — renewals, expansions, amendments, restructurings, exits, and landlord performance — and keep obligations, milestones, and critical dates current

Protect delivery schedules through ready-for-service dates, delay credits, step-in rights, milestones, and SLAs, and hold landlords, suppliers, and contractors accountable for performance

Build the contracting strategy for owned capacity — design firms and Engineers of Record, long-lead equipment (owner- vs. contractor-furnished), and GC, EPC, or EPCM delivery models and cost types (lump sum, GMP, cost-plus)

Run competitive bids and RFPs, evaluate proposals, and recommend awards across leases, equipment, and construction

Negotiate and execute master agreements with key providers, OEMs, design firms, and contractors that secure capacity and favorable terms across sites

Drive change order, claims, and dispute discipline alongside Construction, Legal, and Finance

Set standards for contract execution — term sheets, negotiation guardrails, templates, contract abstraction, approval workflows, and governance — that build the foundation for scale

Partner across Data Center Development, Construction, Design, Capacity Planning, Finance, Legal, and Operations, and deliver executive-level briefings on deal strategy, risks, and contingency plans

You

Have 10+ years of experience in data center or complex infrastructure contracting, commercial real estate or capacity leasing, strategic sourcing, or procurement

Hold a Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Real Estate, Supply Chain Management, Engineering, or a related field, or have equivalent experience

Are recognized as a lead negotiator — you have personally closed large, complex agreements (typically $100M+), not directed someone else to

Have negotiated data center leases or colocation agreements and understand how landlords and providers price, structure, and deliver capacity and/or have negotiated construction, design, or equipment contracts and understand delivery models (GC, EPC, EPCM, design-build) and cost types (lump sum, GMP, cost-plus)

Understand the data center lifecycle — land, power and utility, design, equipment, construction, commissioning — and how each affects deliverability

Have managed contracts after signature — renewals, amendments, change orders, claims, and closeout

Have set process, policy, or governance standards that an organization adopted

Brief and persuade executives comfortably and build the business case that earns the decision

Operate well in ambiguity, on compressed timelines, managing parallel deals in a supply-constrained market

Nice to Have

Experience securing capacity for hyperscalers, AI clouds, or large GPU/HPC deployments

Experience on the landlord, developer, colocation provider, or contractor side

Experience with complex construction programs such as semiconductor, oil and gas, or energy

Experience standing up a contracts or sourcing function where little existed

Salary Range Information

The annual salary range for this position has been set based on market data and other factors. However, a salary higher or lower than this range may be appropriate for a candidate whose qualifications differ meaningfully from those listed in the job description.

About Lambda

Founded in 2012, with 500+ employees, and growing fast

Our investors notably include TWG Global, US Innovative Technology Fund (USIT), Andra Capital, SGW, Andrej Karpathy, ARK Invest, Fincadia Advisors, G Squared, In-Q-Tel (IQT), KHK & Partners, NVIDIA, Pegatron, Supermicro, Wistron, Wiwynn, Gradient Ventures, Mercato Partners, SVB, 1517, and Crescent Cove

We have research papers accepted at top machine learning and graphics conferences, including NeurIPS, ICCV, SIGGRAPH, and TOG

Our values are publicly available: https://lambda.ai/careers

We offer generous cash & equity compensation

Health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents

Wellness and commuter stipends for select roles

401k Plan with 2% company match (USA employees)

Flexible paid time off plan that we all actually use

Equal Opportunity Employer

Lambda is an Equal Opportunity employer. Applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, age, sex, gender, marital status, sexual orientation and identity, genetic information, veteran status, citizenship, or any other factors prohibited by local, state, or federal law.