Overview

DATA4 creates Smart & Scalable digital facilities for our customers. Our network of highly connected, resilient and sustainable data center campuses underpins our customers’ digital growth in Europe. DATA4 Group finances, designs, constructs and operates its own data centers. Delivered through our data center campus model, we provide our customers with secure, scalable and high-performance data hosting solutions.

DATA4 values: At DATA4 we are driven by our values. These are the core of everything we do – from the proactivity we show in delivering great outcomes for our clients, to the responsibility we show as a key contributor to the digital economy. Our three values are:

To be entrepreneurial – we are teams of doers who make things happen - with autonomy, energy and a sense of responsibility
To always take responsibility – for our impact on the people we work with, the society we are part of, and the environment in which we operate
To constantly be adaptable – our business is designed to adapt, answering not only today’s challenges, but also anticipating what’s coming next.

About the role

The Head of Data Center Operations Germany is leading all Data Center operational activities at country level. They are directly accountable for delivery of safe, secure and available operations of all data centers in their span of control. They manage the main functions related to operational activities. As such, the Head of Data Center Operations is accountable for multiple campuses within Germany. They lead initiatives to improve safety, physical security and operational performance including energy performance at country level.

The Head of Data Center Operations reports to the Country Director. They liaise with the VP Operations to define their operational objectives and contribute to local and global strategic goals. They benchmark their processes and operational performance with other countries, with the support of Data4 Operations Global Process Owners. They manage health, safety, environment and physical security at their facilities with the support of the HSE and Physical Security Managers. They liaise on a regular basis with Customer Success team to ensure client operational requests and objectives are met.

The Head of Data Center Operations is responsible for defining career paths in accordance with the country growth strategy. They define together with the Country Director, the VP Operations and Human Resources the training strategy with the aim of turning DC Operations personnel into leaders showing entrepreneurship, responsibility and adaptability. They identify competences and resources available and provide direction and expertise to all individual contributors within their scope by promoting Data4 strategy and best business practices. They ensure succession planning, early talent detection, individual performance reviews and individual yearly business objectives. They take calculated risks and provide support to other countries in Data4 Operations when needed.

The Head of Data Center Operations is responsible for operational budgets and forecasts and ensures both capital expenditures and cost of goods sold / operational expenditures are kept within allowed budget. They promote a culture of transparency and raise early warnings, manage risks and provide solutions for any budget overrun or execution delays. They identify need for capital investments and manage short-term and long-term investments with the Country Director and the VP Operations.

The Head of Data Center Operations provides weekly, monthly and quarterly reports to the Country Director. They participate in mandatory ISO9001, 27001, , and 50001, PCI-DS and ISAE-3402 audits. They manage gaps and propose mitigation and remediation plans to any non-compliance identified.

The Head of Data Center Operations interfaces with senior leadership. The candidate for the role must excel in written and verbal communication, in both Spanish and English. They must demonstrate the ability to think strategically and take bold initiatives on behalf of their internal and external customers. They have experience of operating large-scale data centers or comparable experience in mission critical environments (e.g. semiconductors, nuclear operations, military…).

Responsibilities

Responsibilities related to the role include:

Respect and enforce certification policies in terms of:
IMS: Respect and enforce the certification policy and be proactive in improving the Integrated Management System (IMS) with stakeholders.
H&S: Respect and enforce health and safety rules.
Environment: Respect and enforce environmental policies.
Information security: Respect and enforce information security policies.
Energy: Respect and enforce the policy of energy management policy.

Job specific responsibilities

Hires and inducts the right team of DC Infrastructure Lead, Energy Manager, Operational Quality Manager, DC Operations Contract Manager
Develops people, owns training programs, manages performance, and ensures succession planning
Defines performance targets and implements improvement plans with Spain Country Director to address performance issues
Issues periodic operational performance reports, and ensures operational standards align with the business and industry best practices
Drives continuous improvement and lessons learned, manages risks within own scope
Manages COGS and CAPEX budgets, accountable for budget early warnings
Works with other teams to constantly improve the level of service rendered internally and to our customers
Defines the 3-years roadmap in collaboration with German Country Director and VP Operations
Assists with special queries from other countries such as new data center launch, crisis resolution, or any other operations related topic.

Requirements

Education and experience

10+ year experience in similar position or in mission-critical operation, with background in incident management and resolution
Bachelor\'s Degree in Industrial/Electrical/Mechanical/Energy Engineering or equivalent experience
Fluent English (B2/C1)

Technical skills

Required

Experience in people management
Experience with complex systems
Experience with change management and facility management
Experience with incident management, incident resolution and learning from errors

Agile with IT tools – knowledge of ticketing tools such as JIRA, Proxima or Remedy
KPI and metrics management and analysis
Familiar with customer success management in Data Centers
Experience in managing people’s managers

Soft skills

Effective communication – emails, phone and face to face
Strong work ethics and trustworthiness, capability of building a trusting relationship with peers and senior leadership
Strategic thinking and ability to build a multiple year vision
Capability of conveying strategic ideas through written documents
Capabilities for retention, leadership and team motivation.

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