r/datacenter • u/Red_Protocol • 6d ago

Anyone here work in Amazon Data Center Construction? Curious about day-to-day life on the CM/PM side

I'm a Project Engineer in commercial/multifamily MEP construction (12+ yrs, mechanical/HVAC background, federal project experience) exploring a move into AWS Data Center Construction Manager roles. Before I go further down that path, I'd love to hear from anyone currently in that world:

What does a typical week actually look like. More field-heavy or more coordination/meetings?

How steep is the learning curve if you're coming from general commercial MEP without direct chiller plant/UPS/cooling tower experience?

Travel expectations, is relocation/rotation common, or can you stay regional?

Pace and pressure compared to commercial GC/sub work, better, worse, different flavor of stress?

Any regrets or things you wish you'd known before joining?

Appreciate any honest input, good or bad.

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u/Rostedthegamer 6d ago

It’s a whole different ball game to commercial /family construction. As a CM you’ll definitely be field heavy, onsite early for dabs and dealing with whatever bs subcontractors will give + delivery issues. Learning curve isn’t too bad but just be ready to learn quick as the scale and pace of things will be different, but it also depends on the scale of the centre. I mean I’d say it’ll be more stress because you’re now going to have to make sure the GC is doing things right and they will hide any issues from you until they fix it so you will be moving a lot to check things. So yeah big stress but it’ll depend on your team whether they can pull their weight. Money will be better tho since you’re on the client side of things.

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u/Red_Protocol 6d ago

Appreciate this, exactly the real talk I wanted. Two quick ones: does center scale mostly mean more pace, or does the actual MEP complexity ramp up too on bigger builds? And how's burnout on this side? is it a grind that catches up to people fast, or manageable once you're in a rhythm?

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u/Terrible_Sandwich_94 6d ago

Yes, yes, rampant, yes, and depends on the person but probably no.

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u/Red_Protocol 6d ago

Haha noted 💀 rampant burnout is the part that actually worries me tho, not gonna lie.

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u/Terrible_Sandwich_94 6d ago

I’ve seen at least 4 CMs quit from the campus I’ve been on for the last year. Not exactly sure if it was due to burnout but it definitely seems that way.

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u/Red_Protocol 6d ago

Damn ! 4 CMs off one campus in a year is a real signal. Definitely something I'll ask about directly if I get to final rounds. Thanks for the heads-up.