Director, Development Cost & Capital Planning (EMEA, AI Infrastructure)

Location: London, hybrid, with regular travel to project locations across EMEA. Right to work in the UK or EU is required.

Company

Nscale develops sovereign generative AI infrastructure through high-performance, sustainable data centres and GPU platforms for AI workloads across Europe.

What you will do

• Own L0 indicative estimates, L1 estimated budgets, L2 schematic design budgets, Total Development Cost, proformas, and development cost baselines through Gate 2.
• Prepare CAPEX, contingency, cash flow, cost-risk inputs, investment-grade business cases, and underwriting budgets for acquisitions and Investment Committee approvals.
• Manage project risk registers, contingency planning, cost benchmarking, market intelligence, and estimate-to-outturn analysis across EMEA jurisdictions.
• Integrate power, utilities, enabling infrastructure, procurement strategy, long-lead items, supply chain risks, and AI infrastructure costs into development budgets.
• Support site screening, due diligence, land and power acquisition, Colocation leasing, contracting, and development gateway approvals.
• Establish cost planning standards, tools, governance, global WBS alignment, and the commercial handover into Delivery, initially as an individual contributor and later by building and leading the development cost planning team.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in quantity surveying, cost management, estimating, commercial management, or capital planning.
• Proven experience in hyperscale data centres, mission-critical facilities, major infrastructure, energy, or industrial developments.
• Ability to build experience-based cost plans and budgets when information is limited.
• Strong understanding of the full data centre development lifecycle, from site origination and early-stage development through planning, permitting, and construction mobilisation.
• Experience preparing cost bases for investment-grade business cases and underwriting budgets, developing risk registers and contingency models, and creating portfolio capital plans.
• Strong understanding of contractor markets, procurement strategies, and supply chain dynamics, with experience working with developers, investors, lenders, consultants, and contractors.
• Ability to present to Executive Committees, Investment Committees, and Board stakeholders.
• Fluency in data centre cost benchmarking, including €/MW, €/m², and cost per IT load, plus understanding of power, cooling, and AI-ready infrastructure cost drivers.
• Working knowledge of EMEA contract forms and procurement routes, including FIDIC, NEC, and local equivalents, and their cost and risk implications.
• Proficiency with estimating and cost management tools and advanced Excel-based cost and cash flow modelling.
• Right to work in the UK or EU and willingness to travel across EMEA.

Nice to have

• Degree in Quantity Surveying, Construction Economics, Commercial Management, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• MRICS, CICES, ACostE, or equivalent professional accreditation.
• Experience across multiple EMEA jurisdictions.
• Experience supporting large-scale AI, cloud, hyperscale, or mission-critical developments.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid work based in London with regular travel to EMEA project locations.
• Opportunity to establish standards, tools, and governance for a growing EMEA development function.
• Initial individual-contributor scope with the opportunity to build and lead a future high-performing team.
• Work on sustainable data centres, GPU clusters, and sovereign generative AI infrastructure.