Senior Manager Datacenter Engineering
About The Position
DigitalOcean is seeking a Senior Manager of Physical Infrastructure Engineering to lead the electrical, mechanical, controls/automation, and data center infrastructure engineering and construction disciplines that support reliable AI/GPU infrastructure at scale. The role owns the engineering standards, specifications, and technical decisions that apply to new builds, retrofits, and deployments across DigitalOcean’s global footprint. Design & Deployment executes layouts and installations to those standards; this role owns the standards, engineering judgment, and associated reliability outcomes. The Senior Manager serves as the technical authority and final engineering escalation point for infrastructure issues, supports due diligence on potential colocation and build-to-suit facilities, and leads vendor/OEM engineering relationships and infrastructure incident root-cause analysis. The role also governs infrastructure specifications and changes, works with partner organizations to ensure standards are practical to build and operate, tracks fleet-wide reliability, reviews compliance, and oversees audits and remediation of existing sites. The position reports directly to the VP of Data Center Operations & Engineering and expects 20–30% travel for site due diligence, commissioning support, and vendor/OEM reviews.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, or a related Engineering discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
- 10+ years of experience in mission-critical engineering, including direct data center infrastructure experience.
- 5+ years leading engineering teams, including hiring, developing, and retaining senior technical talent.
- 5+ years of experience managing outsourced engineering teams.
- Deep hands-on experience with liquid cooling systems, including chillers, heat exchangers, pumps, CDUs, secondary loop design, and leak detection and mitigation; UPS; generators; switchgear; and controls/automation platforms.
- Experience running or directly supporting root-cause analysis with OEMs on infrastructure component failures and translating vendor findings into engineering decisions.
- Working knowledge of relevant electrical, mechanical, and safety codes, including NFPA 70E and local electrical code, and experience partnering with Legal/EHS on compliance reviews.
- Experience conducting technical due diligence on data center facilities, including colocation or build-to-suit facilities, before lease or construction commitment.
- Track record of building engineering standards that scale across multiple sites and hold up under rapid, concurrent expansion.
Responsibilities
- Lead and grow a multidisciplinary team covering electrical, mechanical, controls/automation, and data center infrastructure engineering and construction.
- Develop and own engineering standards and specifications for AI/GPU data centers, including liquid cooling, power distribution, and controls/automation.
- Serve as the technical authority and final engineering escalation point for infrastructure issues that Site Operations and Design & Deployment cannot resolve.
- Provide engineering due diligence on prospective colocation and build-to-suit facilities, including power capacity, cooling topology, electrical infrastructure condition, and expansion feasibility.
- Own vendor and OEM infrastructure engineering relationships; lead root-cause engagements when infrastructure fails and hold vendors accountable for design defects.
- Lead or sponsor root-cause analysis for infrastructure-driven incidents and ensure engineering corrective actions are completed and verified.
- Own infrastructure specifications, technical documentation, and change governance, requiring engineering sign-off for infrastructure-layer changes.
- Partner with Site Operations, Deployment, Construction, and Design to ensure engineering standards are practical to build and operate.
- Track and report infrastructure reliability metrics across the fleet, and prioritize engineering investment against high-risk and recurring failure modes.
- Lead compliance reviews of infrastructure standards against relevant codes and safety requirements in partnership with Legal and EHS.
- Build and maintain an audit process to review existing sites against current engineering standards and prioritize remediation of non-compliant assets.
- Manage outsourced engineering talent as needed to meet workload demands.
- Develop engineering and construction talent and build succession plans for key technical authority roles.
- Travel 20–30% for new-site due diligence, commissioning support, and vendor/OEM engineering reviews.
Benefits
- Annual bonus plan eligibility for non-sales roles, subject to plan terms and local eligibility; bonus amounts depend on company and individual performance.
- Potential eligibility for a new hire equity grant, subject to plan terms and local eligibility.
- Employee Stock Purchase Program opportunity in participating countries, subject to applicable plan terms.
- Reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and education, subject to company policy.
- Flexible time off may be included in benefits, with details varying by location.
- Local team meetups may be included in benefits, with details varying by location.
- Mental health and well-being support may be included in benefits, with details varying by location.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
