Design Manager Position
Reporting to the Vice President of Development and Construction, the Design Manager will oversee engineering scope, schedule, and budget for greenfield, brownfield, and retrofit engineering/design projects. This position will manage internal and external resources for the delivery of datacenter building, power, cooling, telecom, and controls infrastructure to align with the datacenter capacity roadmap for EMEA.
The Datacenter Design Manager will be responsible for the facilitation and delivery of datacenter designs including the development of innovative technology and advanced concepts from site due diligence through design development, permitting, construction, commissioning, and the turnover to Operations.
Key Responsibilities
* Provide design management, technical direction, decision-making, and overall leadership for datacenter designs.
* Oversee the delivery of multiple, concurrent, complete datacenter design solutions aligned with scopes, schedules, budgets, safety, and sustainability goals.
* Engage with key stakeholder groups within the organization as well as outside vendors who specialize in datacenter architecture, engineering, and equipment.
* Support procurement in selecting local partners for design development, contract oversight, and value engineering implementation with general contractors and vendors.
* Cultivate strong client relationships by leading technical meetings and offering support to internal partners.
* Collaborate closely with the Sales and Operation team to ensure lease agreement compliance.
* Actively track design-related RFIs, design deviations, and change requests on-site, driving timely responses from internal and external SMEs (supported by consultants and Construction PM).
* Provide regular, detailed updates on design progress, risks, blockers, changes, and priorities.
* Drive benchmarking initiatives for internal regional alignment and ensure the highest design and construction quality standards.
* Conduct regular meetings with design teams to provide feedback and address concerns.
This is a full-time position located in one or all company locations in EMEA.
Required Skills and Qualifications
* Strong knowledge of critical cooling and power infrastructure within data center projects preferred.
* Problem-solving mindset with a focus on continuous improvement.
* Ability to forge strong client and supplier relationships, and maintain accurate records and reports.
* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to effectively work with internal and external stakeholders.
* Strong application software skills including MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and AutoCAD.
* Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.
* Proven self-starter with attention to detail.
* Travel required is expected to be up to 15-30% but may increase over time as the business evolves.
Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, or related field required. Minimum of 8 years of experience in engineering, equipment and/or construction for mission critical or high-tech industry. 3+ years of experience in data center design management; 5+ years preferred.