Director, Solutions Data Centers

Cushman & Wakefield•Chicago, IL

12d•$144,500 - $170,000•Onsite

About The Position

This individual leads the design and articulation of integrated facilities management (IFM) solutions for hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, and AI/HPC data center portfolios. This is a client-facing, pursuit-critical role that converts complex critical-environment requirements into deliverable operating models, staffing plans, and commercial constructs. The role carries a deliberate and heavy emphasis on engineering solutioning and engineering staffing — building the critical-facilities engineering organization that sits at the center of every data center mandate: staffing and shift-coverage models, licensure and qualification matrices, wage and total-rewards strategy, labor-market feasibility, and recruiting ramp plans.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering, Facilities/Construction Management, or a related technical discipline; equivalent military or trade-progression experience will be considered.
10+ years in facilities management, critical facilities operations, or engineering services, including 5+ years with direct data center or mission-critical environment accountability.
5+ years in FM solutions development, bid management, or a senior operations role with direct ownership of staffing models and cost build-ups.
Demonstrated experience building critical-facilities engineering staffing models and defending them to sophisticated technical clients.
Working command of data center infrastructure: electrical distribution and redundancy topologies (N+1, 2N, 2N+1), UPS and generator systems, mechanical cooling including liquid cooling, BMS/EPMS, and fire life safety.
Fluency in FM commercial models, SLA/KPI regimes, and pricing mechanics; advanced Excel modeling capability.
Excellent written and verbal communication; able to author a technical solution narrative and present it to C-suite and engineering audiences alike.
Willingness to travel domestically (typically 25-30%).

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting hyperscale, colocation, or AI/HPC clients and their standardized operating requirements.
Certifications such as PE, CEM, CFM, ATD/ATS (Uptime Institute), CDCP/CDCS, PMP, LEED AP, or NFPA 70E
Experience with union environments, prevailing wage.
Global or multi-region portfolio solutioning experience.
Prior experience with major CMMS/IWMS platforms and asset data standardization.

Responsibilities

Lead solution architecture for data center IFM pursuits — new business, expansions, renewals, and rebids — across single-site, regional, and global portfolios.
Interrogate client requirements (RFI/RFP/RFQ, SLAs, KPIs, MOPs/SOPs, uptime standards, Uptime Institute tier and criticality classifications) and translate them into a defensible operating model.
Build the labor model, organizational chart, span of control, and scope matrix that underpin the price — and defend every assumption in internal governance and client-facing sessions.
Partner with Sales, Operations, HR, Talent Acquisition, Procurement, Finance, EHS, Sustainability, Legal, and Technology to assemble one integrated solution rather than a collection of functional inputs.
Author and orchestrate the technical response: solution narrative, staffing plan, mobilization and transition plan, technology stack, governance model, risk register, and assumptions and exclusions schedule.
Lead solution workshops, site walks, due-diligence visits, and client orals; present and defend the engineering and FM approach to client engineering leadership and procurement.
Conduct win/loss reviews and feed outcomes back into standard solution assets, benchmark libraries, and pricing templates.
Maintain a reusable library of data center solution components — role profiles, coverage models, PM libraries, scope matrices, and benchmark staffing ratios.
Design the critical-facilities engineering operating model: on-site engineering teams, 24x7x365 shift coverage, on-call and escalation structures, remote operations center integration, and vendor-augmented models.
Solution the maintenance program across all critical systems — MV/LV electrical distribution, switchgear, UPS and battery plant, static transfer switches, PDUs, generators and fuel systems, chillers, CRAC/CRAH units, pumps, cooling towers, liquid cooling and direct-to-chip systems for AI/HPC densities, BMS/EPMS, fire detection and suppression, and building envelope.
Set the engineering technology approach: CMMS/EAM configuration, asset hierarchy and tagging standards, BMS/EPMS integration, remote monitoring, analytics, digital twin and reliability reporting.
Quantify the engineering solution — headcount, overtime, shift differentials, tools, test equipment, PPE, training, spares and critical-spares strategy, and subcontracted specialist services.
Build engineering staffing models by site and by portfolio: role mix (Chief Engineer, Critical Facilities Manager, Lead/Shift Engineer, Critical Facilities Engineer, Controls/BMS Technician, Electrical and Mechanical Technicians, Fire Life Safety specialists, EHS and Compliance roles), FTE counts, shift rotations, relief factors, vacation and absence coverage, and overtime assumptions.
Define qualification and licensure matrices by jurisdiction — electrical and mechanical licenses, stationary/operating engineer licenses and client-specific critical-environment certifications.
Partner with Talent Acquisition on the recruiting ramp plan — sourcing channels, pipeline build ahead of award, hiring sequencing against go-live, contingency and contractor bridge strategies.
Benchmark proposed engineering ratios (engineers per MW, per critical system, per square foot) against internal and industry data, and articulate the rationale for any deviation.