Senior Manager Datacenter Engineering

DigitalOcean • San Francisco, CA

5d • Remote

About The Position

DigitalOcean is seeking a Senior Manager of Physical Infrastructure Engineering to lead the multidisciplinary engineering team responsible for electrical, mechanical, controls/automation, and data center infrastructure and construction engineering. The role owns the standards, specifications, engineering judgment, and technical decisions applied to new builds, retrofits, and deployments across DigitalOcean’s global footprint, with a focus on reliable AI/GPU infrastructure at scale. Design & Deployment teams execute layouts and installations against the standards set by this team.

The position serves as the technical authority and final engineering escalation point for infrastructure issues, and is responsible for engineering due diligence on prospective colocation and build-to-suit facilities. The role also owns vendor and OEM engineering relationships, infrastructure incident root-cause analysis and corrective actions, technical documentation and change governance, fleet reliability metrics, compliance reviews, and audits of existing sites. It partners with Site Operations, Deployment, Construction, Design, Legal, and EHS, and develops engineering and construction talent and succession plans. The role reports directly to the VP of Data Center Operations & Engineering and involves 20–30% travel for new-site due diligence, commissioning support, and vendor/OEM engineering reviews.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science in Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, or a related Engineering discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of experience in mission-critical engineering, including direct experience with data center infrastructure.
• 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, 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 support 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, reviewing 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 analyses for infrastructure-driven incidents and own resulting engineering corrective actions through verified completion.
• 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 fleet infrastructure reliability metrics 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 noncompliant 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.
• Support new-site due diligence, commissioning, and vendor/OEM engineering reviews, with 20–30% travel expected.

Benefits

• Annual bonus plan eligibility for this non-sales role, subject to plan terms and local eligibility.
• May be eligible for a new-hire equity grant, subject to plan terms and local eligibility.
• Reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and education, subject to company policy.
• Benefits may include flexible time off, local team meetups, and mental health and well-being support; benefits and eligibility vary by location.
• Eligible employees may have the opportunity to participate in the Employee Stock Purchase Program in participating countries.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior