Data Center Operator

Salute•Hoffman Estates, IL

3d•$38 - $41

About The Position

The Data Center Operator (DCO) is a facilities-focused role responsible for the operational integrity, commissioning, and regulatory compliance of electrical power, mechanical, monitoring, and control systems in highly available, concurrently maintainable, fault-tolerant mission-critical data center environments. The role focuses on maximizing customer uptime cost-effectively. The DCO ensures electrical, mechanical, and fire/life safety equipment operates reliably and efficiently through planned preventive maintenance, corrective work, and emergency response. The DCO is the hands-on electrical and mechanical troubleshooting resource and the focal point for facility operations at a data center, reporting to the Site Manager and interacting with Multi-Skilled Operators (MSOs), vendors, clients, and internal departments. The DCO is the technical authority over vendor work on site. Responsibilities include scheduling and escorting vendors; reviewing and approving procedures; witnessing critical steps; checking results against OEM and industry criteria; and determining when work may begin, stop, or close out. Supported equipment includes standby diesel generators and fuel systems, switchgear, UPSs, PDUs, AHUs, thermal management equipment, CDUs and facility water loops for liquid cooling, chemical treatment systems where applicable, pumps, motors, VFDs, and building automation systems. The role includes directing contractors and consultants, supervising MSOs, leading switching operations and emergency response, investigating incidents, and maintaining equipment reliability and capacity. The DCO also participates in phased construction commissioning and integration and testing of new systems while keeping critical systems online, and identifies opportunities to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs. The position may require unusual hours approximately once every other week for critical maintenance windows and requires on-call response to data center emergencies. Other related duties may be assigned by management.

Requirements

Strong background operating critical mechanical and electrical systems, including design review, layout, and installation.
Ability to read and interpret electrical and mechanical one-line diagrams.
Ability to conduct power and thermal system capacity, safety, and code-compliance assessments.
Hands-on experience installing, maintaining, and troubleshooting large commercial and industrial electrical systems.
Experience with medium-voltage switchgear, including leading or directly supervising switching.
Experience with 480/277 V and 208/120 V generation and distribution systems.
Experience with diesel-powered AC generators and fuel systems.
Experience with static and dynamic rotary UPS systems, where applicable.
Experience with multi-string flooded-cell batteries and monitoring systems.
Experience with static switches, PLC and relay logic controls, power monitoring, and data center power distribution and management systems.
Ability to review and critique vendor MOPs and lead pre-job briefs, including sequence of operations, lockout/tagout, and rollback plans.
Working knowledge of NETA, IEEE, and OEM acceptance criteria, and ability to interpret as-found and as-left test data, including insulation resistance, breaker trip, relay, battery, and UPS testing, and identify out-of-range results.
Experience with warranty administration, trend analysis, and holding vendors and OEMs accountable for repeat failures.
Experience leading root cause analysis and commanding emergency response under a live EOP.
Current knowledge of NFPA electrical, fire, and life safety and building codes, or applicable local regulatory equivalents; knowledge of NEC, NFPA 70E, NFPA 72, NFPA 25, and compliance issues.
Expert knowledge of industrial safety best practices, including lockout/tagout, arc-flash protection, OSHA requirements, and state regulations.
Excellent understanding of critical data center electrical and mechanical systems, including feeders, transformers, generators, switchgear, UPS systems, ATS units, PDUs, chillers, pumps, air-handling units, and CRAC units.
Ability to work directly with customers, internal teams, installation engineers, technical consultants, and implementation personnel to coordinate customer turn-ups and transitions from installation to operation.
Ability to respond to data center emergencies while on call.
Availability for unusual hours approximately once every other week to meet critical maintenance windows.

Nice To Haves

Experience with liquid cooling, including CDUs, facility water loops, water chemistry, and leak response.

Responsibilities

Place safety above all other considerations and remain consistently focused on safety in every task.
Operate, monitor, maintain, and respond to abnormal conditions in facility systems.
Inspect building systems, including HVAC and electrical distribution, and keep mechanical equipment rooms and enclosures clean, functional, and safe.
Respond rapidly to indoor emergencies and air-quality complaints, including humidity issues.
Create, close, and track work requests; initiate or respond to work orders, follow up, and verify completion.
Complete planned and ad-hoc preventive maintenance involving electrical, mechanical, maintenance trades, and engineering disciplines.
Witness critical steps of vendor preventive maintenance and verify work against OEM checklists before accepting it.
Diagnose corrective issues, establish repair scope with vendors, and approve proposed fixes before work orders are closed.
Work with the Site Manager and stakeholders to track and complete preventive and predictive maintenance schedules and critical-system commissioning.
Review vendor Methods of Procedure (MOPs) before work and reject those that are incomplete, unsafe, or do not meet OEM and site requirements.
Lead vendor pre-job briefs covering scope, sequence, hazards, rollback, and acceptance criteria.
Exercise stop-work authority for safety, quality, and acceptance concerns, and delay or hold work that does not meet requirements.
Lead switching operations or directly supervise vendor switching in accordance with the approved MOP and NFPA 70E practices.
Review vendor as-found and as-left test data and reject results outside NETA, IEEE, or OEM acceptance criteria.
Verify redundancy is restored, alarms are normal, and the area is returned to its original condition before signing off work orders.
Track equipment trends and reliability reports, flag repeat failures, and pursue warranty claims with vendors and OEMs.
Manage contractors and consultants for daily operations and critical maintenance, including UPS, generator, switchgear, and chiller maintenance.
Evaluate vendor quality, safety, and timeliness; document deficiencies; and contribute results to contract renewal and vendor selection recommendations.
Manage and supervise Multi-Skilled Operators in day-to-day operation and maintenance of critical electrical and mechanical equipment.
Command live Emergency Operating Procedure (EOP) events, direct MSOs and vendors, and escalate to the Site Manager and management.
Lead root cause analyses for incidents involving vendor work and complete and file incident reports with corrective actions.
Remain on call to respond to data center emergencies.
Operate and maintain CDUs and facility water loops for liquid-cooled deployments, including leak detection and response.
Provide applied electrical, mechanical, integrated controls, and water chemistry expertise across the data center.
Coordinate with management, contractors, and consultants on phased data center construction commissioning, including integration and testing of new systems while maintaining critical systems online.
Analyze operating conditions, recommend technologies, and improve operational efficiency and reduce costs.
Own data center white-space and back-of-house electrical loading and capacity, including client installations and systems.
Coordinate customer turn-ups with customers, internal teams, installation engineers, technical consultants, and implementation personnel to support a smooth transition from installation to operation.
Perform other related duties and responsibilities as assigned by management.