Senior Manager, Physical Infrastructure Engineering

DigitalOcean • Richmond, VA

3d • 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 across its global footprint. The role owns the standards, specifications, technical decisions, and reliability outcomes that govern new builds, retrofits, and deployments. Design & Deployment executes floor layouts and installations to these standards, while this role owns the standards and the engineering judgment behind them.

The Senior Manager serves as the technical authority for data center infrastructure, including AI/GPU infrastructure, and reports directly to the VP of Data Center Operations & Engineering. The role also provides engineering due diligence for prospective facilities, leads infrastructure incident investigations and corrective actions, manages vendor and OEM engineering relationships, and partners with operations, deployment, construction, design, Legal, and EHS teams. The position is remote and expects 20–30% travel for 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 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, leak detection, and mitigation; UPS; generators; switchgear; and controls/automation platforms.
• Experience conducting or directly supporting root-cause analyses 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 colocation or build-to-suit data center 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.
• Conduct engineering due diligence on prospective colocation and build-to-suit facilities, assessing 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 resulting 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 fleet infrastructure reliability metrics and prioritize engineering investment against high-risk and recurring failure modes.
• Lead compliance reviews of infrastructure standards against applicable 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 address workload.
• 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.
• May be eligible for a new hire equity grant, subject to plan terms and local eligibility.
• In participating countries, employees may have the opportunity to participate in the Employee Stock Purchase Program.
• 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.

What This Job Offers

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