Director, Solutions Engineering

American Tower

About The Position

We are seeking a Director, Solutions Engineering to join American Tower’s Product and Strategy team. The Director leads the Systems Engineering group and serves as the primary sales engineer for the Company’s U.S. Tower division’s edge data center offerings. You will direct a team of three data center subject matter experts covering mechanical, engineering and plumbing (“MEP”), building management system (“BMS”) and security, and operations and networking. You will drive the technology evaluation stage of the sales process, oversee data center development and operational readiness, and serve as the key technical advisor and product advocate for edge collocation services. You will partner cross-functionally with Sales, Construction, Operations, and Engineering teams to articulate technology and product positioning to both business and technical users across diverse markets, including tier 2 and 3 cities where our edge data centers provide market advantages.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field required; Master’s degree preferred.
Minimum 12 years of systems engineering, sales engineering, data center operations, or IT infrastructure experience, including significant data center or collocation services experience, required.
Minimum 5 years of experience in a leadership role overseeing technical teams across multiple disciplines required.
Strong knowledge of data center infrastructure with a focus on edge locations, including MEP systems, BMS/data center infrastructure management platforms, and physical security technologies.
Understanding of enterprise networking technologies, particularly as they relate to edge deployments.
Familiarity with collocation services, including space, power, cross-connects, blended IP, and Open Cloud Exchange access.
Knowledge of common edge computing use cases and frameworks (e.g., internet of things, artificial intelligence/machine learning, 5G) as they relate to data center requirements.
Understanding of cloud on-ramps, interconnection ecosystems, and data center certifications and compliance requirements.
Familiarity with modular data center designs, rapid deployment models, and advanced cooling solutions.
Approximately 50% travel may be required to support the position’s responsibilities.
Strong written and oral communication skills, including the ability to present ideas and suggestions clearly and effectively to executives, customers, and cross-functional teams.
Ability to work with different functional groups and levels of employees to effectively and professionally achieve results in a matrix management environment.
Strong organizational skills; ability to accomplish multiple tasks within the agreed upon timeframes through effective prioritization of duties and functions in a fast-paced environment.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Drive and manage the technology evaluation stage of the sales process for edge data center solutions, serving as the organization’s primary sales engineer.
Articulate data center technology and product positioning to business and technical users across various market tiers.
Participate in customer meetings to determine requirements for space, power, connectivity, and other collocation needs.
Prepare technical proposals, cost estimates, analyses, and architectural overviews for data center deployments; contribute to request for proposal/request for information responses.
Conduct product demonstrations and feature/benefit discussions highlighting edge data center capabilities.
Engage in detailed network, power, cooling, and space assessments of customers’ current and proposed IT environments in the context of edge deployments.
Develop sales tools and provide internal product training focused on edge data center offerings.
Oversee data center development activities including MEP design reviews, commissioning, building management system implementation, physical security, and network/operations readiness.
Ensure technical standards and operational requirements are met across the edge data center portfolio from design through deployment and ongoing operations.
Drive cross-functional coordination between Sales Engineering and Data Center Development teams to ensure seamless handoffs from customer engagement through facility delivery.
Support site assessments by providing technical evaluations of power infrastructure, cooling capacity, network connectivity, and facility readiness.
As a Director, you are responsible for recruiting and managing the performance and developing the careers of Program Managers and Principal Engineers.
You’ll also cultivate a collaborative team dynamic that enables us to meet our business objectives.
Other duties as assigned.