Senior Manager Datacenter Design & Deployment

DigitalOcean • Seattle, WA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

This role reports directly to the VP of Data Center Operations and is responsible for leading a specialized team of design engineers and a dedicated deployment organization. The team is tasked with transforming approved data center designs into physically installed, commissioned, and production-ready infrastructure. The Senior Manager will oversee the entire process from floor layout through go-live, ensuring adherence to schedule, specifications, and a repeatable global standard for AI/GPU infrastructure. The role requires a passion for data center layouts, rack elevations, Bills of Materials (BOMs), cable design, installation documentation, deployment execution, contractor coordination, commissioning, and operational readiness. The position is located in hub locations, Seattle, with an expected 20-30% travel to active deployment sites globally, with increased travel during major buildout or refresh cycles.

Requirements

• 10+ years in data center design, deployment, or infrastructure program management, including large-scale AI/GPU deployments.
• 5+ years leading design or deployment teams, including managing other managers.
• Deep familiarity with GPU rack/cluster network topologies (e.g., rail-optimized fabrics), structured cabling standards (copper and fiber, including MPO/MTP), and commissioning processes for high-density compute.
• Hands-on experience with design and documentation tooling (e.g., AutoCAD, Visio, DCIM/NetBox or equivalent) and project/program management tooling for tracking multi-site deployments.
• Experience negotiating and managing third-party contractor and staffing vendor relationships, including SOWs and performance accountability.
• Track record of building or scaling repeatable deployment processes across multiple sites or regions, not just executing a single build.
• Strong cross-functional partnership skills — this role sits at the intersection of Engineering, Network, Construction, Supply Chain, and Site Operations and needs to align all of them to a schedule.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a team of Design Engineers and Deployment Engineers/Managers across multiple concurrent, global deployment programs.
• Own floor layouts, rack elevations, cable routing diagrams, bills of materials (BOMs), and installation packages for new builds, expansions, and hardware refreshes.
• Develop and maintain point-to-point cabling standards, labeling conventions, and deployment documentation used across all sites.
• Build and manage the master deployment schedule across concurrent projects, sequencing site readiness, hardware delivery, and contractor availability to hit committed go-live dates.
• Own the deployment budget for your programs, including contractor labor, equipment staging, and freight/logistics costs; report variances and forecast spend to leadership.
• Source, qualify, and manage relationships with structured cabling and installation contractors and staffing vendors across all regions, including negotiating statements of work and holding vendors to quality and schedule commitments.
• Partner with Data Center Engineering to ensure every deployment package complies with current electrical, mechanical, and safety standards before work begins onsite.
• Partner with Network, Supply Chain, Construction, and Site Operations to align deployment timing with hardware delivery, facility readiness, and network turn-up.
• Own commissioning and handoff criteria — define what "done" means for a deployment before it's turned over to Site Operations, and hold that bar consistently across sites.
• Run root-cause reviews on deployment defects and schedule misses, and drive the resulting process or documentation changes so the same issue doesn't recur at the next site.
• Establish and continuously improve global deployment methodology — playbooks, checklists, and training — so deployment quality doesn't depend on which team or contractor executes it.
• Develop the design and deployment engineers on your team, including career growth planning and technical mentorship; build a succession plan for key roles on your team.
• Represent Design & Deployment in capacity planning and new-site scoping discussions, providing realistic lead times and staffing requirements to leadership.
• Ensure designs from rack layout to network topology are future proof and in a continuous cycle of enhancement.
• Investigate and develop faster deployment methodologies.

Benefits

• Competitive array of benefits to support you from our Employee Assistance Program to Local Employee Meetups to flexible time off policy
• Reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and education
• Access to LinkedIn Learning's 10,000+ courses
• Bonus in addition to base salary
• Equity compensation to eligible employees, including equity grants upon hire and the option to participate in our Employee Stock Purchase Program

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed