Data Center - Critical Facilities Lead

HighPoint Technology Group•Elk Grove Village, IL

26d•Onsite

About The Position

The Data Center - Critical Facilities Lead is responsible for overseeing the operation, maintenance, and reliability of all critical infrastructure systems within the data center environment. This role ensures full compliance with operational procedures and industry standards while maintaining maximum uptime and performance across all mechanical, electrical, and emergency backup systems. The role involves monitoring all data center facilities services including physical security, HVAC, electrical plants, and all critical service delivery network infrastructures. It also includes performing advanced maintenance, troubleshooting, and repairs on electrical, mechanical, and HVAC systems, as well as supervising and mentoring a team of technicians. The position will participate in network cable installations and removals, space planning, cabinet/equipment installations, rack and stack, smart hands hardware break/fix support, and network cable diagnostics. The Lead will respond to customer calls to troubleshoot, analyze, and diagnose issues in a critical environment and manage/coordinate all activities of the Data Center Support team.

Requirements

Minimum of FIVE YEARS working in a Data Center / Network Operations Center (NOC), with complex data center facilities such as Electrical, Mechanical, and HVAC systems in a Data Center environment.
Experience managing or supervising operations in a data center or critical facilities environment.
Strong working knowledge of critical data center infrastructure systems, including Electrical, mechanical, HVAC systems, ATS (Automatic Transfer Switches), Emergency Generators, UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), CRAC/CRAH systems (Cooling systems) with the ability to read and interpret technical manuals and schematics.
Previous leadership or supervisory experience in a critical facilities environment.
Ability to work with senior company leaders in the delivery of exceptional customer service.
Ability to follow and ensure compliance with, and execution of MOPs (Methods of Procedure), SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), and EOPs (Emergency Operating Procedures).
Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail, with the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
Proven leadership and supervisory skills, with experience managing and mentoring a team of technicians and oversight of all critical facilities operations within the data center.
Ability to prioritize in a complex, fast-paced environment.
Ability to work in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment and handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
Certification or formal training in data center operations is required.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to lift up to 50lbs. and work in elevated or tight locations.
High School diploma/GED.

Nice To Haves

Technical certification in electrical, mechanical, or HVAC systems preferred.
Prior military experience preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

Manage team and staff performance, influencing, motivating, and enabling others to contribute to the organization's success.
Complete support procedures, systems documentation, and issue tracking entries, maintaining accurate documentation, logs, and reporting for all facility operations.
Maintain Service Level Agreements (SLA’s) through the implementation of proactive issue detection and reporting tools.
Monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot all critical facilities including HVAC, Electric, and mechanical systems to ensure continuous uptime.
Monitor the critical service delivery infrastructure for both customer facing and internal networks.
Supervise and coordinate maintenance activities, vendors, and internal teams.
Oversee emergency backup systems including generators and transfer systems.
Ensure all work is performed safely and in accordance with company policies and regulatory requirements.
Support capacity planning and infrastructure improvements.
Lead incident response and root cause analysis for system events or outages.
Serve as a point of contact for external customer issues when reported to the Operations Command Center.
Manage day-to-day delivery of all move, add, and change (MAC) requests including hardware installations and network cabling.
Document and implement best practices and processes to minimize operational downtime.
Assist in creating MOPs, SOPs, and EOPs documents for personnel to follow for planned and unplanned events.
Maintain appropriate facility and networking inventories for both customer and internal use systems.
Assist with coordination, communication, and escalation efforts during emergency recovery events for customers.
Assist with the development of tools that will enhance the team’s performance.
Contribute to outage postmortem analysis meetings and discussions.
Maintain work area in a safe and orderly manner to ensure facility is ready for customer visits at any moment.
Create, update, and close service tickets.
Perform remote hands work for internal and external customers.
Perform Facilities Rounds and escalate pertinent information.
Process in and out bound shipping/receiving for Deliveries.
Provide data center escorts as requested.
Perform any other activities assigned as requested by management.