Francesco Sellaro

Looking after construction activities for the Hyperscale portfolio across the EMEA South region, with a strong focus on Italy and Spain.

Currently leading construction activities on a 150 MW hyperscale campus in Milan, including:

• 2 × 24 MW data centers under construction, supported by two power substations feeding the entire campus
• 1 × 20.6 MW hyperscale data center fully commissioned and successfully handed over to the customer

In parallel, driving the acquisition and development of a second hyperscale campus (190 MW), including:

• Building and scaling a dedicated internal project team
• Supporting early-stage pre-construction activities such as power procurement, environmental and urban planning permitting, and site development
• Contributing to the business plan and funding strategy for a USD 2 billion, 10-year development program

Main responsibilities

• Leads and manages medium to large-scale, and occasionally regional, construction programs providing leadership across a Project Management team (10 people), ensuring alignment with Contract, Customer SOQs, Operations strategy, and project KPIs.
• Provides end-to-end project leadership for ground-up construction, expansions, and renovations, ensuring delivery in line with cost, schedule, quality, H&S standards, and Customer and Industry Standards.
• Directs up to 40 external vendors per project, including general contractors, A&E design teams, commissioning agents, and OFCI equipment suppliers.
• Maintains strong, high-value relationships with local authorities for permitting activities and with hyperscale customers throughout the project lifecycle.
• Oversees contract administration, including contract generation and review, change management, cost control, forecasting, and financial reporting.
• Ensures strong and trusted relationships with all corporate functions supporting projects and programs.
• Actively collaborates with Real Estate, Commercial, Design, and Customer Operations teams to support successful project and portfolio delivery.

Senior Project Manager responsible for the construction delivery of hyperscale data center projects in Milan, managing multi-phase developments for AWS from pre-construction through commissioning and customer handover.

Key Projects:

• 9.6 MW Data Center for AWS, delivered in 4 construction phases
• 10.2 MW Data Center for AWS, delivered in 2 construction phases
• 120 MW High-Voltage Substation feeding the entire campus
• HV power and fiber network infrastructure connecting the substation to multiple data center facilities across the Milan South area

Project Leadership & Delivery

• Led end-to-end delivery of hyperscale data center projects, from RIBA 3 design coordination and permitting through construction, commissioning, and handover.
• Managed phased delivery strategies to support customer deployment schedules and capacity ramp-up.
• Hire and manage a Team of Employed Construction managers per each Project (7 in total), ensuring and reporting to me the progress of the day-by-day activities.
• Direct management of 20+ resources per each project, such as FIDIC engineer, Clerck of Works, EoRs, and Quantity Surveyors and Cx agents, hired as Augmented Staff in support of the single project delivery.
• Held full accountability for project budgets, schedules, change management, and risk mitigation.

Stakeholder & Client Management

• Ensured alignment with hyperscaler requirements, technical standards, and contractual milestones.
• Acted as the primary point of contact for AWS and internal STACK stakeholders.
• Coordinated closely with utilities, local authorities, and network providers for power and fiber connections.

Vendor & Contractor Management

• Managed first-person EPCs, general contractors, A&E design teams, commissioning agents, and OFCI specialist vendors.
• Ensured construction quality, H&S compliance, and adherence to project KPIs.
• Leading the delivery and full commissioning of customer fit-out spaces, including telecom Packs and Security (AC-CCTV).

Infrastructure & Utilities Coordination

• Oversaw delivery of critical infrastructure, including HV substations, power distribution, and fiber networks, enabling reliable campus-wide operations

Looking after design operations from conception to construction, specializing in RIBA stages 1-5. Key responsibilities include test fit processes, design management, and BIM implementation.

Additionally, I oversee fitout design for Data Halls, ensuring alignment with client SOQs and specifications. Committed to global design excellence and BIM process standardization:

• Guiding the test fit process to optimize spatial layouts and functionality.
• Overseeing design management and facilitating design review and approval processes.
• Championing design standardization initiatives to enhance efficiency and consistency.
• Facilitating smooth design handover to Construction teams, ensuring continuity and alignment.
• Playing a proactive role during the RIBA 4 Tender Phase, encompassing contractor selection, assessment, and onboarding.
• Taking full accountability for the BIM process across all project phases, from setup and validation of contractual documents (BEP/EIR) to QAQC design procedures and BIM model validation.
• Additionally, I lead the fitout design efforts for our Data Halls within the Sales and Solutions Engineering Team, collaborating closely with clients to capture their requirements and deliver tailored solutions. Key responsibilities include:
• Collaborating with clients to capture their specific requirements, including rack positioning, cold/hot aisle needs, and power distribution schemes.
• Facilitating seamless interaction between clients and Vantage Design Teams to ensure alignment with client specifications.
• Leading an internal team of 10 fit-out designers to develop Data Hall fitout layouts that meet client needs.

Drive the implementation of the company-wide standards and procedures for the delivery of HPC and Colocation Data Centers in the emerging markets.

• Liaise with and co-operate with VDC team members during all the phases, from concept design to handover.
• Define and agree procedures for convening, chairing, attendance and responsibility for recording information delivery and model Authoring.
• Monitor and implement a Common Data Environment including processes and procedures to enable reliable information exchange between Project Team Members and other parties within Colt.
• FIT OUT DESIGN
• Collaborate with theSolution Engineering department to deal with the Fitout effort
• Design and provide Data Hall design solutions to the Client

• Since 2014 I work with BIM methods, supporting engineering consultancies, general contractors and Clients
• BIM services (LOD 200-400)
• Tutoring companies in CAD to BIM transition
• BIM coaching
• CDE platforms management ( BIM 360 & similar)
• Coordination and Management of BIM Models
• Set up of BIM strategy to implement projects throught parametric models

Reporting to the Head of Engineering and Construction, responsible for all the Company-wide Digital & BIM Operations and procedures for the construction of Critical facilities and railway projects of an important MEP General Contractor.

• BIM Manager on Site
• NEW ENI (OIL&GAS COMPANY) HEADQUARTERS -SAN DONATO MILANESE
• Group R&D and Head of BIM implementation for NBI branch (Worldwide)
• BIM Management & Ops.
• enrollment of all the activities throught BIM Method
• set up of BIM standards and procedures

• coordination and management of MEP BIM models - LOD 400 in support of the RIBA 5 construction drawings of the Red Line North Metro.
• set up of Mechanical Electric and Plumbing systems
• design of installations layouts
• BIM (MEP) coordinator deployed @ Mpartner Offices (www.mpartner.it)

• Core business of the company: renewal of existing buildings. I took part of a renewal project of an offices building in the center of Berlin (friedrichstrasse).
• Main activities:
• - Assisting Project Manager
• - Taking dayly reports
• - Manage Italian's fornitures

• Architectural executives project of Parking Calasancios in Madrid
• Project management of "Ciudad de la Cultura de Galicia" in Santiago de Compostela, Spain (Piter Eisenmann design project)