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Principal Datacenter Operations Manager

Swiftkey

Chicago, ILJobPosted 2 days agoStill listed 1 day ago

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At a glance

Compensation
No compensation found
Location
Chicago, IL
Work Authorization
Not specified

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Job overview

The Principal Datacenter Operations Manager provides metro-wide strategy, integration, and governance for datacenter delivery and operations across Chicago. The role oversees infrastructure readiness, risk, reliability, facilities planning, budgets, vendors, and change management while preserving functional leaders’ accountability for execution. It leads the Operations integration function, develops talent and workforce plans, and reports portfolio health and key decisions to senior leadership.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

Infrastructure Design ReviewOperational ReadinessCommissioningRisk ManagementChange ManagementMission-Critical InfrastructureExecutive CommunicationCross-Functional LeadershipGovernanceStrategic ThinkingCritical Environment InfrastructureElectrical SystemsMechanical SystemsControls SystemsUPSGeneratorsSwitchgearCooling SystemsBattery Energy Storage SystemsIT InfrastructureNetworkingStructured CablingDatacenter LogisticsOrganizational DesignCapacity Planning

Qualifications

High School Qualification or Equivalent10+ Years Mission-Critical Service Management3+ Years People ManagementBachelor's or Technical College Degree in Related Field or Equivalent Experience15+ Years Enterprise Infrastructure or Program ExperienceHigh School Qualification or Equivalent With 17+ Years Experience5+ Years People ManagementPMPCDCMPCxA/ACGLEED APOSHA 30

Full job description

  1. Ensure CE, IT, Logistics, maintainability, reliability, safety, security, and operational requirements are incorporated into infrastructure designs and formal design reviews. Establish Operations engagement throughout construction and commissioning, including quality reviews, readiness assessments, L2-L5 commissioning participation, and resolution of operational concerns before turnover. Establish standardized operational-readiness governance aligned with site-transition milestones, clear acceptance criteria, and defined decision rights. Ensure infrastructure, documentation, procedures, spares, training, tooling, systems, and operational dependencies are ready before operational acceptance, enabling Operations teams to safely and effectively assume ownership on Day 1. Support Go/No-Go and readiness decisions with clear, data-driven assessments of infrastructure and operational risk. Provide governance for post-turnover stabilization, warranty, and defect resolution, including monitoring early-life performance and driving corrective actions. Establish a proactive approach to identifying and mitigating infrastructure and operational risk before it affects safety, security, availability, readiness, cost, schedule, or creates long-term technical debt. Establish mechanisms for monitoring infrastructure integrity and early-life reliability across the Metro portfolio. Ensure lessons learned are converted into measurable improvements in future designs, standards, construction practices, commissioning, and operational-readiness processes. Provide Principal Datacenter Operations Manager-level governance across new datacenter delivery and a portfolio of Metro Operations construction projects, including infrastructure retrofits, upgrades, corrective work, and design modifications within operating datacenters. Ensure construction and infrastructure work in live environments is governed through rigorous change management, risk assessment, Method of Procedure (MOP) and Emergency Operating Procedure (EOP) review, commissioning, and outage planning to protect safety, customer availability, and operational continuity. Serve as the senior Operations integration leader across CE, IT, Logistics, DCD, DCE, Commissioning, end-to-end organizations, Field Operations, contractors, OEMs, Metro Operations, and other key partners. Establish the role as the single integration point and one window into Operations for requirements across electrical, mechanical, controls, IT infrastructure, networking, structured cabling, logistics, spares, receiving, and asset management. Ensure Operations teams have the knowledge, documentation, training, tools, systems access, and resources required to safely and effectively operate new and modified infrastructure. Maintain continuity of operational knowledge and lessons learned across projects and sites. Align campuses and Capacity Clusters to metro priorities within agreed guardrails; in Tier 4 / X-Large metros, coordinate cross-Metro planning, alignment, and communications with the Metro GM and other Metro Leaders. Oversee facilities management across the Chicago Metro, aligning campus facilities plans, maintenance priorities, service standards, and issue resolution with metro-wide safety, reliability, availability, and cost objectives while preserving local and functional leaders' accountability for execution. Provide metro-wide strategy, integration, and governance oversight without assuming local operational execution; Campus Directors retain ownership and accountability for campus execution and initiatives, while OU Portfolio, Capacity Cluster, IT, CE, and other functional Directors retain end-to-end accountability for their respective strategies, delivery, and operational outcomes. Establish consistent governance for infrastructure readiness, with clear decision rights, escalation paths, response expectations, and accountability. Ensure appropriate Operations representation in formal design reviews, readiness, Go/No-Go, and infrastructure-governance forums, supported by a centralized intake and issue-management model. Provide Metro and regional leadership with concise reporting on portfolio health, readiness, schedule, financial performance, infrastructure risk, reliability, and key decisions. Translate complex technical and operational issues into clear, decision-ready information for senior leadership and serve as the senior Operations escalation point for significant infrastructure-delivery and readiness risks. Maintain accountability for safety, security, quality, scope, schedule, financial performance, operational readiness, reliability, and risk across the integrated portfolio. Provide fiscal oversight for approved budgets and oversee vendor strategy, contracting, performance, and commercial accountability. Lead change management across the Chicago Metro, coordinating impact and risk assessments, stakeholder alignment, communications, readiness, and adoption for infrastructure, facilities, and operating-model changes; ensure clear approval, escalation, and implementation governance while maintaining functional ownership of execution. Maintain clear metro-wide escalation paths and decision forums, raise issues early, and enable timely, well-informed decisions across CE, IT, and IAM/Logistics leadership. Keep the Metro aligned to the standardized organizational model and Organization Design Guardrails, preparing capacity and complexity evidence for leadership-layer changes or exceptions reviewed through the Two-Lens Framework and approved through LT governance. Serve as a trusted strategy and integration partner to the Metro Leader while functional Directors retain end-to-end accountability for operational execution and outcomes. Establish and monitor meaningful key performance indicators (KPIs) for infrastructure readiness, delivery quality, reliability, issue resolution, schedule performance, risk reduction, cost efficiency, and organizational effectiveness. Develop a scalable and repeatable infrastructure-integrity and operational-readiness model that strengthens integration between datacenter delivery and Operations across CO+I. Build, lead, coach, and develop the Operations integration function across Strategic Design & Construction Operations Coordination, Tactical Construction Site Operations Coordination, and Turnover Deliverables & Post-Operation Coordination. Establish organizational strategy, priorities, governance, operating rhythm, performance expectations, resource allocation, and a long-term capability roadmap aligned with CO+I priorities. Lead and develop technical and program-management talent, strengthening technical depth, leadership capability, succession readiness, and organizational resilience. Lead integrated metro-wide capacity, workforce, and succession planning, allocating resources across campuses, sites, and programs based on business priority, infrastructure complexity, operational risk, portfolio demand, and long-term capability needs. Represent the Operations integration function with Metro, regional, and broader CO+I leadership. Partner with the Metro Leader to set metro-wide strategy, priorities, guardrails, and decision rights, and translate that direction into aligned plans across Datacenter IT Operations, Critical Environments (CE), and IAM/Logistics leadership. Coordinate a unified planning cadence across campuses and Capacity Clusters, tracking cross-functional dependencies, risks, progress, and ownership gaps against metro priorities. High School Qualification or equivalent AND 10+ years' experience of mission-critical service management (e.g., providing IT services, manufacturing, warehouse, retail, military, or managing physical operations in an IT and/or critical environment infrastructure) OR equivalent experience. 3+ years' people management experience. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: Bachelor's or Technical College Degree in Computer Science, Math, Telecommunications, Electrical/Mechanical Engineering, Supply Chain Management or related field AND 15+ years' experience in enterprise-level experience managing large scale and complex projects/programs, or critical environment infrastructures (e.g., UPS, Generator, AHU), or working in physical IT infrastructures (e.g., Servers, SANs, Networking, Capacity, DC Rack/Enclosures, structured cabling) OR High School Qualification or equivalent AND 17+ years' experience in enterprise-level experience managing large scale and complex projects/programs, or critical environment infrastructures (e.g., UPS, Generator, AHU), or working in physical IT infrastructures (e.g., Servers, SANs, Networking, Capacity, DC Rack/Enclosures, structured cabling) OR equivalent experience. 5+ years' people management experience. Demonstrated experience across multiple infrastructure lifecycle stages, including design, construction, commissioning, operational readiness, turnover, stabilization, warranty, or live-site operations. Demonstrated understanding of mission-critical infrastructure, operational risk, infrastructure delivery, safety, security, quality, cost, schedule, commissioning, and reliability. Demonstrated ability to lead through influence and establish accountability across organizations and partners outside direct reporting relationships. Strong executive communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical, operational, and business risks into clear recommendations and decisions. Proven ability to anticipate, assess, and mitigate infrastructure and operational risk and to build trusted partnerships across engineering, construction, commissioning, Operations, and vendor organizations. Demonstrated experience aligning strategy, priorities, and integrated plans across IT Operations, Critical Environments, IAM/Logistics, or comparable cross-functional organizations. Experience establishing and operating governance mechanisms, including escalation paths, decision forums, performance reviews, guardrails, and structured decision-making. Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence senior leaders and Directors without direct authority while preserving clear functional accountability. Demonstrated systems and strategic thinking, governance discipline, cross-functional collaboration, and executive communication skills. Extensive experience leading organizations or programs responsible for datacenter infrastructure, operational readiness, critical environments, infrastructure reliability, or large-scale mission-critical operations. Experience leading infrastructure programs across multiple sites, campuses, or a regional portfolio. Experience delivering retrofit, upgrade, and design-change programs in live mission-critical environments while protecting customer availability and operational continuity. Experience across the full infrastructure lifecycle, including design reviews, L1-L5 commissioning, turnover, stabilization, warranty, and operational lifecycle management. Working knowledge of Critical Environment infrastructure, including electrical, mechanical, controls, uninterruptible power supply (UPS), generators, switchgear, cooling systems, and battery energy storage systems (BESS), plus familiarity with IT infrastructure, networking, structured cabling, and datacenter logistics. Relevant professional certifications or licenses such as PMP, CDCMP, CxA/ACG, LEED AP, OSHA 30, or applicable engineering or construction credentials. Experience with organizational design, capacity planning, Capacity Clusters, or multi-site and cross-Metro operating models in hyperscale or mission-critical environments.

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