Design Principal, Global Engineering Development (Electrical)

Equinix

About The Position

The Design Principal is responsible for design decisions related to a portfolio of datacenter projects which can include: new construction, phased expansion, retrofits and upgrades, acquisition conversions, M&E equipment selections, and standards upgrades in either a specific region or globally. They are an exceptional industry professional progressing towards becoming a recognised expert on datacenter design. The Design Principal critically assesses design decisions with consultation with more senior staff across disciplines and applies required Equinix standards and country specific regulations to make the best design choices. They manage the relationship and output of key design partners and equipment suppliers for their assigned projects and critically assess and escalate issues where the relationship with such partners is not meeting expectations.

Requirements

7+ years’ experience in a Design MEP Firm or in the design team of a Mission Critical Building operator or Subcontractor OR 7+ years’ experience as an Architectural lead in a Mission Critical Architectural Design Practice
Pan-global experience of local electrical design/construction practice is highly desirable.
The ideal candidate has experience and electrical code/regulation/law familiarity in AMER, EMEA and APAC regions.
Advanced Degree (Masters) in Electrical is preferred, Bachelor's Degree acceptable or extensive and demonstrable experience in role
Architects to hold RIBA, RA, AIA or local equivalent
PE, CEng or local equivalent, for Engineering route candidates desirable but not essential
Spoken and written English proficiency is essential, additional languages are strongly desirable
Experience of electrical equipment development (LV switchgear, UPS and STS products particularly desirable)

Responsibilities

Global electrical engineering direction of Equinix design through continued development of Equinix’s Reference Designs and Equinix direct-producre equipment
Multidisciplinary design management of Equinix’s Reference Designs
Evaluation of new products and engineering approaches, supporting the Innovation incubation process, for incorporation into the Reference Design on reaching maturity
Supports Regional Design teams with in-project implementation of Reference Design packages
Provides subject matter expert direction to the Major Capital Equipment (MCE) team dealing with portfolio-wide procurement of electrical equipment
Liaison with Global Design Standards/Technical Review and Operations teams to ensure alignment and compliance
Owns and leads a design process, interacting with Architectural, MEP, and other design partners to deliver a portfolio of world class datacenters with a strong focus on technical excellence, mission critical resilience and cost management
Reviews and contributes to the development of globally standardized tools, techniques and processes for the management and reporting of the design process
Works with peers in other regions to drive consistency and technical excellence on design and delivery practices and methodologies
Thinks and acts in a global manner, considering the applicability of any design decision, innovations or standards changes for all regions
Conducts the master planning of expansion portfolio using global design standards and templates; incorporating regional information to apply these to the inception of projects
Generates project visualization, initial model using reference design templates and cost estimate for business case inception
Liaises with regional team to incorporate local infrastructure into the design
Liaises with commercial management team regionally and globally to assist business case generation
Liaises with regional team to procure local variations on equipment where Reference Design equipment selections are not available
Responsible for electrical design of Global Reference Designs, and multidisciplinary design management to deliver Reference Design packages & guidance
Prepares regional-specific and customer-specific configurations of the Reference Design, reacting to local market conditions and customer requirements
Delivers cost reduction through innovative approaches to design and equipment development
Manages innovation roadmaps for product or configurations insertion into Global Reference Designs
Supports process development and evolution required for efficient execution of Reference Design Design-based projects by Regional Design Delivery project teams.
Maintains interpersonal relationships with internal technical staff, external design consulting partners, construction management, commercial management, and regional P&L holders to ensure appropriate stakeholder exposure and buy in to Data Center projects
Appropriately leverages the center of excellence teams and more senior Design staff to augment their individual technical expertise to ensure all facets of the datacenter design are adequately considered and approved
Manages internal and external resources via their influence and outstanding competencies
Partners with Global Operations, Global Design Standards, and other teams as necessary to achieve alignment on design details
Partners with Procurement teams in the identification, evaluation and selection of suitable electrical equipment and provides lifecycle support to Global Operations; and further varies forward feedback to the product selection process
Supports Sales & Sales Engineering teams develop strategy for customer-driven adaptations of baseline M&E infrastructure in the form of a customer-specific fit-out design pack
Indirectly manages experienced electrical and mechanical engineering staff in the Independent Technical Review and Innovation & Development teams to deliver a portfolio of world-class datacenter designs on time and to budget
Directly responsible for managing the design schedule for assigned projects to ensure on time creation and review of BODs, REIC Submissions, and design documentation for IFP and IFC sets
Manages, with the aid of the commercial management team, design budgets and controls change management requests during the construction phase, in consultation with the Construction Manager
Works hand-in-hand with the regional design teams and Construction Managers to deliver Concept Designs and Standards that support the delivery of world class datacenters
Manages, with the aid of the commercial management team, the costs of the designs to ensure appropriate balancing of cost flexibility and global standardization
Tests the cost impact of design concepts with the Commercial Management team and keeps a logical record of pricing-tested design concepts that have been discounted
Manages Reference Design external consultant team, providing direction on electrical engineering and multidisciplinary design management to deliver Reference Design packages
Stays up-to-date on advancements in design being investigated by the centers of excellence teams to ensure technologies support future Data Center design and construction needs and feeds back information to construction for incorporation of changes
Ensures designs meet Equinix’s Global Design Standards and the business needs for capacity, density, and function
Utilizes design review findings and best practices to inform Reference Design development
Feeds back to GDSTR team requested changes to Global Design Standards arising out of projects
Brings a systemic and scale-focused approach to tools and process for early-stage design, identifying shortfalls or opportunities to scale and conceptually ideates tools and process development solutions
Owns the Electrical discipline of the Reference Design and assists regional teams in the selection and implementation of configurations or variations
Responsible for the multidisciplinary design management to deliver Reference Design Packages
Owns the repository of Reference Design electrical equipment technical submittals and the feedback loop from projects and vendors for necessary updates