Principal Engineer, Data Center

DigitalOcean•Seattle, WA

3h•$153,600 - $192,000•Hybrid

About The Position

This role is for a senior technical deployment owner who can lead complex onsite execution, drive cross-functional alignment, resolve high-impact blockers, improve scalable deployment standards, and support the successful transition of new infrastructure into steady-state operations. You’ll join a collaborative, fast-moving team with opportunities to influence large-scale deployments, new data center expansions, and next-generation infrastructure across DigitalOcean’s global footprint. This role requires significant onsite deployment support and requires very high levels of domestic and international travel based on project needs.

Requirements

6 to 8+ years of experience deploying, operating, or supporting infrastructure within large-scale data center, cloud, infrastructure engineering, network, or technical operations environments
Deep understanding of data center infrastructure, including compute, networking, storage, GPU hardware, liquid-cooled infrastructure, power, cooling, rack layouts, cabling, and deployment architecture
Experience leading large-scale infrastructure deployments, new data center builds, data center expansions, rack buildouts, cluster deployments, or high-density compute rollouts
Strong technical troubleshooting skills across hardware, cabling, optics, Linux OS, network connectivity, provisioning workflows, deployment tooling, and site-level infrastructure issues
Strong Linux command-line experience and familiarity with bash scripting, automation workflows, diagnostic tooling, logs, and validation scripts
Strong understanding of data center cabling plans, front-end and back-end network patterns, port mapping, LLDP validation, labeling standards, and deployment best practices
Ability to operate as a senior technical lead in ambiguous, high-pressure, high-cadence deployment environments
Ability to lead through influence across contractors, vendors, peers, cross-functional teams, and leadership stakeholders
Experience coordinating vendors and contractors in a project capacity, including work sequencing, quality validation, task management, issue correction, and escalation
Ability to communicate deployment status, risks, tradeoffs, blockers, and recommendations clearly to leadership and cross-functional partners
Ability to identify systemic deployment issues and drive scalable improvements in process, tooling, documentation, training, vendor execution, and operational handoff
Ability to create, review, approve, and standardize deployment documentation, runbooks, procedures, MOPs, validation workflows, and training materials
Ability to define and use key performance metrics to drive deployment quality, efficiency, consistency, and readiness
Ability to support planning, resourcing, and prioritization for future deployment projects and initiatives
Strong mentorship skills with the ability to train and develop junior engineers, senior engineers, local site teams, vendors, and contractors
Strong ownership mindset with the ability to drive complex deployment issues from identification through resolution and prevention
The ability to travel domestically and internationally based on deployment needs
Support deployment schedules that include extended onsite periods, non-standard hours, or project-based rotations
Valid driver’s license and comfort with driving as needed
Ability to remain on your feet throughout the workday
Ability to lift objects up to 50 lbs

Responsibilities

Acting as a senior technical owner for complex deployment programs, new data center builds, large-scale expansions, rack buildouts, cluster deployments, and high-density compute infrastructure
Serving as an onsite technical lead or execution owner for major deployment phases, ensuring continuity, quality, schedule alignment, and successful handoff
Driving end-to-end onsite deployment execution across vendors, contractors, logistics, schedules, internal teams, dependencies, blockers, and readiness milestones
Coordinating cross-functional execution with Data Center Operations, Network Engineering, Infrastructure Engineering, Logistics, Facilities, Security, Procurement, hardware vendors, and deployment partners
Defining, validating, and improving deployment standards for rack layouts, cabling, labeling, hardware placement, validation workflows, readiness checks, and operational handoff
Leading complex troubleshooting across physical infrastructure, server hardware, GPU platforms, liquid-cooled infrastructure, cabling, optics, network connectivity, Linux OS, tooling, and provisioning workflows
Identifying systemic deployment risks and driving mitigation plans before they impact schedule, quality, availability, or operational readiness
Validating site readiness across power, cooling, rack elevations, redundancy, load balancing, physical layout, cabling, labeling, DCTrack, NetBox handoff requirements, and deployment documentation
Overseeing contractor and vendor execution models, including work sequencing, task assignment, quality validation, issue correction, and performance feedback
Establishing repeatable deployment workflows that reduce errors, improve build consistency, accelerate validation, and improve handoff quality across sites
Driving daily deployment status, escalation handling, risk communication, blocker resolution, and leadership updates for assigned projects or programs
Mentoring Senior Deployment Engineers, Deployment Engineers, local Data Center Operations teams, vendors, and contractors
Creating, reviewing, and approving deployment runbooks, MOPs, SOPs, validation workflows, checklists, training materials, and operational handoff documentation
Partnering with architecture, network, infrastructure, and operations teams to ensure deployment execution aligns with design intent and long-term scalability
Evaluating deployment outcomes, incidents, defects, and lessons learned to identify recurring issues and drive durable improvements
Supporting planning and preparation for future deployments, including resourcing, sequencing, tooling, documentation, validation workflows, and lessons learned
Contributing to metrics and reporting that measure deployment quality, efficiency, readiness, defect rates, vendor performance, and handoff success
Helping define scalable operating models for deployment rotations, contractor support, tertiary escalation, and cross-site execution