Principal Datacenter Operations Manager

Microsoft•Chicago, IL

About The Position

Microsoft Cloud Operations & Innovation (CO+I) powers Microsoft’s cloud services. Reporting directly to the Metro Leader, the Principal Datacenter Operations Manager ensures new and retrofitted datacenter infrastructure is ready for safe, reliable operations; coordinates large-scale deployments; and translates metro-wide strategy into coordinated priorities, plans, and governance across campuses and functions. The role leads change management and oversees facilities management across the Chicago Metro. The position spans design, construction, commissioning, operational readiness, turnover, stabilization, warranty, early-life performance, and modifications in live datacenter environments. It connects the teams that design and deliver datacenters with the teams that operate them, providing a coordinated Operations perspective across Critical Environments (CE), IT, and Logistics. The role works to embed safety, security, reliability, availability, quality, maintainability, and long-term operability from the beginning. In partnership with the Metro Leader and functional leaders, the manager aligns metro priorities, coordinates cross-campus planning, manages dependencies, and resolves ownership gaps while preserving Directors’ accountability for execution and outcomes. The manager establishes organizational strategy, governance, priorities, operating model, and culture; builds and develops a high-performing team; and oversees operational readiness and infrastructure integrity across new builds, upgrades, retrofits, and live-site modifications. The role leads the planning cadence, decision forums, and cross-functional alignment that turn metro strategy into coordinated action, including change-management governance and facilities-management oversight across the Chicago Metro. The role requires organizational leadership, trusted partnerships, disciplined portfolio governance, and the ability to translate technical and operational risk into clear recommendations for leadership. It provides strategy, integration, and governance oversight rather than assuming local operational execution: Campus Directors retain accountability for campus execution, while functional Directors retain accountability for their respective strategies, delivery, and operational outcomes.

Requirements

High school qualification or equivalent and 10+ years of mission-critical service-management experience, such as providing IT services, manufacturing, warehouse, retail, military, or managing physical operations in IT and/or critical-environment infrastructure; or equivalent experience.
3+ years of people-management experience.
Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security-screening requirements, including passing the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.
Demonstrated experience across multiple infrastructure lifecycle stages, including design, construction, commissioning, operational readiness, turnover, stabilization, warranty, or live-site operations.
Demonstrated understanding of mission-critical infrastructure, operational risk, infrastructure delivery, safety, security, quality, cost, schedule, commissioning, and reliability.
Ability to lead through influence and establish accountability across organizations and partners outside direct reporting relationships.
Strong executive communication skills and ability to translate complex technical, operational, and business risks into clear recommendations and decisions.
Ability to anticipate, assess, and mitigate infrastructure and operational risk and build trusted partnerships across engineering, construction, commissioning, Operations, and vendors.
Experience aligning strategy, priorities, and integrated plans across IT Operations, Critical Environments, IAM/Logistics, or comparable cross-functional organizations.
Experience establishing and operating governance mechanisms, including escalation paths, decision forums, performance reviews, guardrails, and structured decision-making.
Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence senior leaders and Directors without direct authority while preserving functional accountability.
Demonstrated systems and strategic thinking, governance discipline, cross-functional collaboration, and executive communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's or Technical College degree in Computer Science, Math, Telecommunications, Electrical/Mechanical Engineering, Supply Chain Management, or a related field and 15+ years of enterprise-level experience managing large-scale complex projects/programs, critical-environment infrastructure, or physical IT infrastructure; or high school qualification or equivalent and 17+ years of such experience; or equivalent experience.
5+ years of people-management experience.
Applicable certifications such as APICS/Inventory Control, CompTIA, Microsoft, Network Certifications, CCNA, ITIL v3 Foundation, Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF), Leadership Development, PMP, or CDCMP.
Extensive experience leading organizations or programs responsible for datacenter infrastructure, operational readiness, critical environments, infrastructure reliability, or large-scale mission-critical operations.
Experience leading infrastructure programs across multiple sites, campuses, or a regional portfolio.
Experience delivering retrofit, upgrade, and design-change programs in live mission-critical environments while protecting customer availability and operational continuity.
Experience across the full infrastructure lifecycle, including design reviews, L1-L5 commissioning, turnover, stabilization, warranty, and operational lifecycle management.
Working knowledge of Critical Environment infrastructure, including electrical, mechanical, controls, UPS, generators, switchgear, cooling systems, and BESS, plus familiarity with IT infrastructure, networking, structured cabling, and datacenter logistics.
Relevant professional certifications or licenses such as PMP, CDCMP, CxA/ACG, LEED AP, OSHA 30, or applicable engineering or construction credentials.
Experience with organizational design, capacity planning, Capacity Clusters, or multi-site and cross-Metro operating models in hyperscale or mission-critical environments.

Responsibilities

Build, lead, coach, and develop the Operations integration function across Strategic Design & Construction Operations Coordination, Tactical Construction Site Operations Coordination, and Turnover Deliverables & Post-Operation Coordination.
Establish organizational strategy, priorities, governance, operating rhythm, performance expectations, resource allocation, and a long-term capability roadmap aligned with CO+I priorities.
Develop technical and program-management talent, strengthening technical depth, leadership capability, succession readiness, and organizational resilience.
Lead integrated metro-wide capacity, workforce, and succession planning, allocating resources across campuses, sites, and programs according to business priority, complexity, risk, demand, and capability needs.
Foster a culture of safety, security, quality, accountability, inclusion, partnership, operational excellence, continuous improvement, and One Microsoft principles.
Represent the Operations integration function with Metro, regional, and broader CO+I leadership.
Partner with the Metro Leader to set metro-wide strategy, priorities, guardrails, and decision rights, and translate direction into aligned plans across Datacenter IT Operations, CE, and IAM/Logistics leadership.
Coordinate metro-wide planning across campuses and Capacity Clusters, tracking dependencies, risks, progress, and ownership gaps.
Lead Operations integration across design, construction, commissioning, readiness, turnover, stabilization, warranty, and post-turnover lifecycle activities.
Ensure CE, IT, Logistics, maintainability, reliability, safety, security, and operational requirements are incorporated into infrastructure designs and formal design reviews.
Establish Operations engagement during construction and commissioning, including quality reviews, readiness assessments, L2-L5 commissioning participation, and resolution of operational concerns before turnover.
Establish operational-readiness governance aligned with site-transition milestones, acceptance criteria, and decision rights.
Ensure infrastructure, documentation, procedures, spares, training, tooling, systems, and operational dependencies are ready before operational acceptance.
Support Go/No-Go and readiness decisions with data-driven assessments of infrastructure and operational risk.
Govern post-turnover stabilization, warranty, and defect resolution, monitoring early-life performance and driving corrective actions.
Identify and mitigate infrastructure and operational risks before they affect safety, security, availability, readiness, cost, schedule, or create technical debt.
Use reliability data, commissioning findings, defect trends, incidents, equipment performance, and field experience to identify systemic risks and recurring issues.
Partner with engineering, construction, commissioning, Operations, OEMs, and vendors to drive corrective and preventive actions.
Establish mechanisms to monitor infrastructure integrity and early-life reliability across the Metro portfolio.
Convert lessons learned into measurable improvements in designs, standards, construction practices, commissioning, and readiness processes.
Provide Principal-level governance across new datacenter delivery and Metro Operations construction projects, including retrofits, upgrades, corrective work, and design modifications in operating datacenters.
Oversee approved projects ranging approximately from $250K to $100M, including delivery strategy, prioritization, risk, financial performance, and operational outcomes.
Govern live-environment construction and infrastructure work through change management, risk assessment, MOP and EOP review, commissioning, and outage planning to protect safety, customer availability, and operational continuity.
Partner with DCE, DCD, Commissioning, and Operations to govern infrastructure changes and ensure assets are documented, commissioned, maintainable, and supportable.
Drive scalable, cost-effective solutions while reducing rework, warranty exposure, duplicate effort, and avoidable operational cost.
Serve as the senior Operations integration leader across CE, IT, Logistics, DCD, DCE, Commissioning, end-to-end organizations, Field Operations, contractors, OEMs, Metro Operations, and other partners.
Establish a single integration point and one window into Operations for electrical, mechanical, controls, IT infrastructure, networking, structured cabling, logistics, spares, receiving, and asset-management requirements.
Build partnerships and establish accountability, decision-making, communication, and escalation mechanisms across organizations, aligning teams around shared operational outcomes.
Ensure Operations teams have the knowledge, documentation, training, tools, systems access, and resources needed to operate new and modified infrastructure safely and effectively.
Maintain continuity of operational knowledge and lessons learned across projects and sites.
Align campuses and Capacity Clusters to metro priorities within agreed guardrails; in Tier 4 / X-Large metros, coordinate cross-Metro planning and communications with the Metro GM and other Metro Leaders.
Oversee facilities management across the Chicago Metro, aligning campus facilities plans, maintenance priorities, service standards, and issue resolution with metro-wide objectives while preserving local and functional accountability.
Establish governance for infrastructure readiness, including decision rights, escalation paths, response expectations, and accountability.
Ensure Operations representation in design reviews, readiness, Go/No-Go, and infrastructure-governance forums, supported by centralized intake and issue management.
Report portfolio health, readiness, schedule, financial performance, infrastructure risk, reliability, and key decisions to Metro and regional leadership.
Translate technical and operational issues into decision-ready information for senior leadership and serve as the senior Operations escalation point for significant delivery and readiness risks.
Maintain accountability for safety, security, quality, scope, schedule, financial performance, operational readiness, reliability, and risk across the integrated portfolio.
Provide fiscal oversight for approved budgets and oversee vendor strategy, contracting, performance, and commercial accountability.
Lead change management across the Chicago Metro, coordinating impact and risk assessments, stakeholder alignment, communications, readiness, and adoption for infrastructure, facilities, and operating-model changes.
Maintain metro-wide escalation paths and decision forums, raise issues early, and enable timely decisions across CE, IT, and IAM/Logistics leadership.
Keep the Metro aligned to the standardized organizational model and Organization Design Guardrails, preparing capacity and complexity evidence for leadership-layer changes or exceptions reviewed through the Two-Lens Framework and approved through LT governance.
Establish and monitor KPIs for infrastructure readiness, delivery quality, reliability, issue resolution, schedule performance, risk reduction, cost efficiency, and organizational effectiveness.
Use performance insights and lessons learned to establish common standards, share practices across campuses, identify systemic opportunities, and improve processes and future datacenter delivery.
Track readiness milestones, issue aging, commissioning and turnover defects, documentation quality, early-life issues, availability, capacity acceptance, warranty trends, recurring failures, risk closure, rework and cost avoidance, and lessons-learned implementation.
Develop a scalable, repeatable infrastructure-integrity and operational-readiness model that strengthens integration between datacenter delivery and Operations across CO+I.