Senior Data Center Administrator (RapidScale)

Cox Communications • Los Angeles, CA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

At RapidScale We are searching for a Senior Data Center Administrator or Data Center Administrator II who is a hands-on operational engineer responsible for ensuring the reliability, safety, and efficiency of our data center environments. This role oversees end-to-end physical operations, including inventory management, logistics and shipping, vendor coordination, onsite work execution, and scheduling. In addition, this position leads forward-looking capacity planning for power, space, and cooling across multiple locations. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with strong operational discipline and proactive communication to ensure seamless data center operations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a related discipline and 4 years’ experience in a related field. The right candidate could also have a different combination, such as a master’s degree and 2 years’ experience; a Ph.D. and up to 1 year of experience; or 8 years’ experience in a related field.
• Five to eight or more years of experience in data center operations, hardware operations, or colocation facility management, including multi-site environments.
• Strong hands-on expertise with rack and stack deployments, structured cabling, power distribution including single and three-phase systems, and hardware troubleshooting.
• Experience using DCIM or CMDB platforms such as ServiceNow CMDB and working within ITSM and change management processes.
• Demonstrated vendor management and logistics coordination experience.
• Ability to read power and cooling diagrams, understand breaker panels and PDUs, and interpret airflow and thermal data.
• Strong documentation, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Ability to work onsite in data center environments and lift up to 50 lbs while operating in hot aisle or cold aisle conditions, at heights, and within confined spaces as needed.
• Participation in an on-call rotation and the ability to respond to after-hours incidents.
• Ability to travel between regional data center sites approximately 10 to 25 percent of the time.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to meet site access and background check requirements.

Nice To Haves

• Experience forecasting capacity for power, space, and cooling and building business cases for infrastructure expansion.
• Familiarity with networking fundamentals including fiber types, optics, cross-connects, and DWDM basics, along with server platform knowledge.
• Certifications such as BICSI, DCPro, DCPMM, CDCP, CDCS, or ITIL v3 or v4.
• Experience with scripting or automation tools such as Python or PowerShell to support inventory or capacity reporting.

Responsibilities

• Inventory, Asset & Logistics Management
• Maintain accurate inventory across all data center locations including racks, servers, network equipment, cables, spares, PDUs, optics, and consumables, with greater than 98% accuracy in DCIM or CMDB systems.
• Manage RMA processes and coordinate inbound and outbound logistics, including packaging, compliance documentation, shipment tracking, and receiving.
• Implement standardized labeling, barcode or RFID tracking, and chain-of-custody procedures to minimize asset loss and streamline audits.
• Vendor & Partner Relationship Management
• Serve as the primary operational point of contact for data center providers, smart-hands vendors, carriers, and hardware suppliers.
• Track and report vendor performance against SLAs and SLOs for onsite support, cross-connects, deliveries, and maintenance windows.
• Coordinate vendor quotes, ordering, and scheduling for rack expansions, structured cabling, and facility services.
• Hands-On Data Center Operations
• Perform or supervise rack and stack deployments, cable management, hardware replacements, optics installation, labeling, and patching in accordance with MOP, SOP, and EOP standards.
• Conduct site walkthroughs to ensure safety, operational cleanliness, and adherence to change control processes.
• Execute routine inspections including power strips, breakers, airflow, and alarms, and perform incident triage and hardware diagnostics when necessary.
• Work Coordination & Scheduling
• Plan and coordinate onsite work across multiple facilities involving internal teams, vendors, and smart-hands support while minimizing operational disruption.
• Author Method of Procedure (MOP) documentation and change requests, and lead pre-task briefings and post-work validation.
• Maintain a rolling 12-week schedule covering hardware deliveries, installations, decommissions, and maintenance windows.
• Capacity Planning & Forecasting
• Develop and maintain capacity models for rack space, floor space, power utilization, and cooling efficiency.
• Analyze utilization trends and forecast capacity needs 12 to 24 months in advance, providing recommendations for expansion, leasing, or infrastructure optimization.
• Partner with architecture and finance teams to support demand forecasting, scenario planning, and capital and operational budget planning.
• Monitor and optimize key operational metrics including rack density, power headroom, PUE proxies, stranded capacity, and thermal compliance.
• Governance, Compliance & Safety
• Ensure compliance with security standards and site policies including access control, visitor management, media handling, and secure data destruction.
• Maintain accurate documentation including site diagrams, rack elevations, power maps, MOPs, SOPs, and asset lifecycle records.
• Promote a strong safety culture including adherence to PPE requirements, LOTO procedures, safe lifting practices, and ESD controls.

Benefits

• The Company offers eligible employees the flexibility to take as much vacation with pay as they deem consistent with their duties, the company’s needs, and its obligations; seven paid holidays throughout the calendar year; and up to 160 hours of paid wellness annually for their own wellness or that of family members.
• Employees are also eligible for additional paid time off in the form of bereavement leave, time off to vote, jury duty leave, volunteer time off, military leave, and parental leave.
• Benefits of working at Cox may include health care insurance (medical, dental, vision), retirement planning (401(k)), and paid days off (sick leave, parental leave, flexible vacation/wellness days, and/or PTO).
• For more details on what benefits you may be offered, visit our benefits page.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees