Director of Commissioning

5C Data Centers USA, Inc.•Springfield, OH

8d•$210,000 - $250,000•Remote

About The Position

The Director of Commissioning will lead 5C's field commissioning function, reporting directly to the VP of Commissioning & Quality Assurance. Initially the primary dedicated commissioning resource, is a hands-on leader who establishes portfolio standards, commissioning strategies and readiness requirements; provides independent assurance of testing and system performance; and coaches delivery teams and commissioning providers. The role will help define portfolio-wide commissioning governance from design and pre-construction through construction, energization, functional performance testing, integrated systems testing and handover. As the portfolio scales, the Director develops and implements approved coverage plans using direct hires, third-party commissioning providers and specialist resources while retaining functional accountability.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in mechanical or electrical engineering, Construction Management or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience
Clear field and executive communication.
10+ years of progressive commissioning experience, including leadership across complex projects, multiple contractors, and distributed sites.
Demonstrated leadership in data centers, mission-critical facilities, industrial construction, energy, or similar complex infrastructure.
Ability to create and implement practical processes, conduct field assurance, influence senior contractors, and scale employees or third-party coverage without an established team.

Responsibilities

Establish portfolio commissioning standards, roles, responsibilities, script requirements, acceptance criteria, and escalation paths.
Personally oversee priority commissioning activities while developing reusable procedures, templates, tools, and a risk-based roadmap.
Develop resource triggers based on concurrent sites, commissioning complexity, test duration, geographic spread and specialist requirements.
Recruit approved hires and manage third-party commissioning providers and specialists with clear competency, authority, deliverables, and performance expectations.
Partner with Engineering and Planning & Pre-construction to review commissioning implications of design, sequences of operation, controls architecture, maintainability, and testability.
Embed commissioning requirements, witness points, test boundaries, specialist needs, schedule logic and documentation requirements into design reviews, procurement packages, and project plans.
Evaluate commissioning providers and contractor commissioning capability, relevant mission-critical experience, technical depth, staffing and proposed methodology.
Review commissioning plans, staffing, test procedures, equipment startup responsibilities, and readiness criteria; require deficiencies are corrected before affected testing proceeds.
Establish system turnover and commissioning-readiness criteria based on needs of the customer (Operations), including installation completion, quality records, controls readiness, labeling, documentation, and safe access.
Coordinate with Build Quality and Construction to prevent incomplete installation of systems from entering functional testing.
Own the portfolio methodology for functional performance testing and integrated systems testing, including failure scenarios, sequence verification, redundancy, controls, and recovery behavior.
Witness or direct critical tests, challenge assumptions and ensure objective evidence supports acceptance.
Establish risk-based deficiency classification, ownership, due dates, escalation, and closure verification.
Identify systemic or repeat failures and drive root-cause analysis and corrective action across projects.
Partner with Engineering, Pre-Construction, Operations and Safety to define testing boundaries, temporary configurations, and operational constraints.
Ensure operational personnel are engaged in testing, training, documentation review, and phased turnover.
Establish the commissioning record as a reliable source of acceptance evidence, including test scripts, results, trends, deficiencies, and final records.
Use digital platforms and analytics to identify recurring failure modes, schedule risk, and portfolio-wide improvement opportunities.
Report commissioning readiness, critical deficiencies, testing progress, schedule risk, provider performance, and acceptance status to the VP of Commissioning & Quality Assurance.
Provide clear decisions, owners, and escalation dates rather than activity-only reporting.