Data Center Engineering Manager

Engineering Manager - Job Description
Reports to Operations Manager
Direct reports 4 M&E Shift Engineers
Site-based role

Purpose

To lead the engineering function, maintain critical infrastructure resilience, manage engineering risks, and provide technical leadership to the shift engineering team.

Role Overview

Reporting to the Operations Manager, the Engineering Manager is responsible for the safe, reliable and effective operation of the data centre critical mechanical and electrical infrastructure. The Engineering Manager will provide leadership and technical oversight to a team of four M&E Shift Engineers responsible for the 24/7 operation and monitoring of the data centre. The role is responsible for ensuring that critical infrastructure is operated and maintained to the required standards, engineering risks are effectively managed, incidents are appropriately responded to and investigated, and the engineering team has the competence, procedures and support required to perform their duties safely and effectively. The Engineering Manager will work closely with the Operations Manager, customers, contractors, equipment manufacturers and other internal stakeholders to maintain site availability, improve operational resilience and support the continued development of the data centre.

Key Responsibilities

Engineering Team Leadership and Management

• Lead, manage and develop a team of four M&E Shift Engineers providing 24/7 operational coverage of the data centre.
• Provide clear leadership, direction and technical support to the shift engineering team.
• Conduct regular one-to-one meetings, performance reviews and development discussions.
• Establish clear objectives and performance expectations for the engineering team.
• Identify training and competency requirements and develop appropriate training and development plans.
• Maintain an engineering competency framework and ensure engineers are appropriately trained, assessed and authorised for the activities they undertake.
• Promote a culture of accountability, ownership, continuous improvement and high engineering standards.
• Monitor shift performance, standards of communication, record keeping and completion of operational activities.
• Ensure effective communication and handover between shifts and between the shift engineering team and site management.
• Support recruitment, onboarding and development of engineering personnel when required.

Critical Infrastructure Operations

• Oversee the safe and reliable operation of the data centre critical mechanical and electrical infrastructure, including HV and LV electrical distribution systems, UPS systems, standby generators, cooling systems, BMS, fire detection and suppression systems and associated building services.
• Ensure critical infrastructure is operated in accordance with approved procedures, manufacturer recommendations, statutory requirements and industry best practice.
• Monitor the condition, performance, capacity and resilience of critical infrastructure and identify emerging risks or potential points of failure.
• Ensure equipment defects, alarms and abnormal operating conditions are appropriately investigated, escalated and managed.
• Maintain appropriate operational resilience and ensure risks to data centre availability are identified, communicated and mitigated.
• Review engineering alarms, trends and operational data to identify recurring issues and opportunities to improve system performance and reliability.
• Support capacity planning, infrastructure upgrades, customer installations and expansion projects.

Maintenance Management

• Ensure all critical infrastructure is maintained in accordance with manufacturer recommendations, statutory requirements, contractual obligations and recognised engineering standards.
• Plan and coordinate maintenance activities to minimise operational risk and disruption to customers.
• Review maintenance reports and ensure defects, observations and recommendations are appropriately assessed, prioritised and tracked through to completion.
• Monitor outstanding defects, remedial works and equipment reliability issues and elevate risks where appropriate.
• Ensure maintenance activities are subject to appropriate planning, risk assessment, change control and technical review.
• Analyse equipment failures and maintenance performance to identify trends and opportunities to improve reliability.

Incident Management and Operational Escalation

• Act as the first management escalation point for engineering incidents and significant operational issues.
• Participate in the site management escalation and on-call arrangements as required.
• 24/7 availability.
• Provide technical leadership and support to the shift engineering team during incidents and abnormal operating conditions.
• Ensure incidents are appropriately managed, escalated, communicated and documented.
• Lead or support engineering incident investigations, root cause analysis and the development of corrective and preventative actions.
• Ensure lessons learned from incidents, failures and near misses are communicated and incorporated into procedures, training and operational practices.
• Monitor corrective and preventative actions through to completion.
• Support the Operations Manager with customer communications, incident reports and technical investigations.

Customer Engagement and Technical Representation

• Act as a senior technical and operational representative of the data centre when engaging with key customers.
• Attend regular operational, service review and engineering meetings with key customers, including the data centre largest and most critical customers.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with customer engineering, operations and management teams.
• Provide clear and accurate updates on site engineering performance, infrastructure reliability, maintenance activities, operational risks and improvement initiatives.
• Present and explain technical information, engineering risks and complex infrastructure issues clearly to both technical and non-technical customer stakeholders.
• Participate in customer meetings following incidents and significant operational events, supporting the Operations Manager with technical explanations, investigation findings, root cause analysis and corrective and preventative actions.
• Respond to customer technical queries and requests for engineering information, ensuring responses are accurate, timely and appropriately reviewed.
• Support customer audits, site inspections, resilience reviews, due diligence activities and technical assessments.
• Manage customer expectations regarding engineering activities, maintenance, defects, infrastructure risks and project delivery.
• Develop credibility and trust with key customers through strong technical knowledge, effective communication and consistent delivery.

Electrical Safety and Authorised Person Responsibilities

• Support the effective implementation and management of the site Electrical Safety Rules.
• Act as a High Voltage Authorised Person (HVAP), subject to appropriate competency assessment and appointment.
• Undertake or oversee HV switching activities in accordance with the site Electrical Safety Rules and approved switching procedures.
• Support the management, appointment and competency assessment of Authorised Persons and Competent Persons where applicable.
• Ensure electrical activities are appropriately planned, risk assessed and controlled.
• Promote high standards of electrical safety across the site.

Contractor and Vendor Management

• Monitor contractor performance against agreed service levels, maintenance requirements and site standards.
• Ensure contractors working on critical infrastructure are appropriately competent, inducted, supervised and managed.
• Challenge suppliers and service providers where performance, response times or quality of service do not meet the required standards.
• Coordinate planned maintenance, repairs, emergency call-outs and remedial works.
• Develop effective working relationships with key equipment manufacturers and specialist service providers.
• Support procurement and commercial teams with the evaluation and management of engineering service contracts.

Health, Safety and Compliance

• Ensure engineering activities are undertaken safely and in accordance with applicable legislation, company policies and site procedures.
• Promote a strong safety culture within the engineering team.
• Ensure appropriate risk assessments, method statements, permits and safe systems of work are in place for engineering activities.
• Participate in safety inspections, audits, incident investigations and compliance reviews.
• Ensure statutory inspections, testing and maintenance activities are completed within required timescales.
• Identify engineering and operational risks and ensure appropriate mitigation measures are implemented.
• Support compliance with applicable environmental, energy and sustainability requirements.

Projects and Change Management

• Provide operational and technical input into infrastructure upgrades, customer installations and capital projects.
• Ensure new and modified infrastructure is appropriately documented and incorporated into maintenance programmes, procedures and training.
• Ensure engineering changes are subject to appropriate technical review, risk assessment, approval and change management.

Qualifications and Experience

Essential

• Recognised technical qualification in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Building Services Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• Significant experience working within a critical infrastructure environment such as data centres, telecommunications, healthcare, financial services, utilities or other 24/7 operational facilities.
• Strong understanding of critical mechanical and electrical infrastructure.
• Experience managing or supervising engineering teams.
• Experience managing planned and reactive maintenance activities.
• Experience responding to and managing engineering incidents and equipment failures.
• Experience managing contractors, maintenance providers and specialist engineering vendors.
• Experience managing senior customer relationships and participating in technical or operational meetings with key customers.
• Strong understanding of safe systems of work, risk management and engineering operational procedures.
• Excellent communication, leadership, organisational and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to remain calm and make effective decisions during incidents and other high-pressure operational situations.

Desirable

• Previous engineering management experience within a data centre environment.
• High Voltage Authorised Person experience or the ability to achieve HVAP authorisation following appropriate training and competency assessment.
• Recognised health and safety qualification such as IOSH Managing Safely or NEBOSH.
• Experience implementing or managing Electrical Safety Rules.
• Experience with critical infrastructure maintenance management systems and Computerised Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS).
• Experience with BMS, EPMS and other critical infrastructure monitoring platforms.
• Knowledge of data centre standards and frameworks such as Uptime Institute, EN 50600 or ISO management systems.
• Experience supporting infrastructure upgrades, commissioning and integrated systems testing.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong leadership and people management skills.
• Strong technical understanding of mechanical and electrical critical infrastructure.
• Effective decision-making and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to lead engineering teams during incidents and high-pressure situations.
• Strong organisational and planning skills.
• Effective contractor and supplier management.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to communicate technical issues clearly to operational management, customers and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to identify trends, risks and opportunities for improvement.
• Ability to prioritise competing operational requirements and manage multiple workstreams.
• High standards of attention to detail and engineering governance.
• Commitment to safety, reliability, operational excellence and continuous improvement.

Working Arrangements

The role is primarily site-based due to the operational nature of the position and the requirement to provide leadership and technical oversight of the data centre engineering team. The Engineering Manager will be expected to provide reasonable flexibility to support significant engineering activities, planned works and operational incidents outside normal working hours. Participation in the site management escalation or on-call arrangements may be required.

#J-18808-Ljbffr