Director of Operations, Critical Infrastructure
United States
Full Time
Experienced
Director of Operations, Critical Infrastructure
Job Summary
The Director of Operations is responsible for leading the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of on-site power generation and critical infrastructure systems supporting U.S. data center campuses. This role owns day-to-day operational execution, risk management, and team performance across assigned regions or sites, ensuring compute load protection and high availability at all times.
The Director partners closely with Engineering, Construction, Training, and Vendor Management teams to operationalize standards, review the execution of Methods of Procedure (MOPs), and continuously improve maintenance and incident response programs. This is a hands-on leadership role with direct accountability for operational outcomes.
Key Responsibilities
Qualifications
Job Summary
The Director of Operations is responsible for leading the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of on-site power generation and critical infrastructure systems supporting U.S. data center campuses. This role owns day-to-day operational execution, risk management, and team performance across assigned regions or sites, ensuring compute load protection and high availability at all times.
The Director partners closely with Engineering, Construction, Training, and Vendor Management teams to operationalize standards, review the execution of Methods of Procedure (MOPs), and continuously improve maintenance and incident response programs. This is a hands-on leadership role with direct accountability for operational outcomes.
- Lead and manage multi-site operations teams responsible for all infrastructure, including electrical distribution, on-site power generation, UPS, switchgear, cooling systems, and life safety systems.
- Enforce and ensure consistent execution and continuous improvement of MOPs, SOPs, and EOPs governing load transfers, ramp rates, and abnormal operating conditions.
- Own operational readiness, maintenance execution, and incident response for assigned campuses or regions.
- Partner with training teams to implement and sustain repair, preventive maintenance, and emergency response programs.
- Manage vendor and power plant operating agreements, ensuring performance meets reliability, availability, and safety expectations.
- Serve as an escalation point for major operational incidents, driving timely resolution and root cause analysis.
- Establish and track operational KPIs related to availability, reliability, safety, and maintenance effectiveness.
- Drive a strong safety and compliance culture aligned with regulatory requirements and company standards.
- Support growth initiatives by hiring, developing, and retaining high-performing operations leaders and technical staff.
- Partner with Engineering and Construction to ensure operability and maintainability are built into new capacity, retrofits, and expansions.
- Coordinate with vendors and OEMs supporting campus infrastructure.
Qualifications
- 10+ years of experience in mission-critical operations, power generation, or utility environments, with leadership responsibility.
- Strong understanding of on-site MEP systems and data center operations.
- Demonstrated experience managing operational risk and executing MOP-driven environments.
- Proven ability to lead teams, manage vendors, and operate in 24/7 critical environments.
- Strong communication and cross-functional leadership skills.
- PE license or equivalent certification.
- Experience with regulatory compliance (OSHA, EPA, NERC/FERC exposure).
- Familiarity with CMMS, SCADA, and power monitoring platforms.
- Areas for these are currently, Abilene (sites 1 & 2), New Mexico, Wisconsin, Chicago IL.
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