VP, Data Center Operations - North America

Job Description:

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We are supporting a fast-growing data center developer with the appointment of a Vice President of Data Center Operations – North America.

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This is a senior leadership position responsible for overseeing operations and operational compliance across the company’s growing North American data center portfolio.

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The VP will be responsible for building and leading a high-reliability operations organization, ensuring consistent performance across safety, availability, compliance, customer commitments, operational efficiency and financial performance.

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Working closely with development, engineering, construction, commissioning, commercial, procurement and security teams, this individual will also play a key role in bringing new campuses online and transitioning projects successfully from construction through commissioning and into steady-state operations.

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Key Responsibilities:

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Regional Operations & Performance:

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• Lead data center operations across the North American portfolio.
• Take ownership of regional operational performance, including availability, customer SLAs, safety, reliability, compliance, cost management and financial performance.
• Act as the senior escalation point for major operational incidents and critical events.
• Ensure operational consistency and readiness across both existing and newly developed campuses.
• Maintain compliance with relevant environmental, health & safety, certification and regulatory requirements.

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Build a High-Reliability Operations Organization:

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• Build and lead a high-performing North American operations function capable of supporting significant portfolio growth.
• Establish a culture centred around safety, reliability, accountability, operational resilience and continuous improvement.
• Recruit, develop and retain regional and site operations leaders alongside technical teams.
• Establish clear responsibilities, performance expectations and escalation processes.
• Develop succession plans and leadership pipelines as the portfolio continues to scale.

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Operating Standards & Systems:

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• Implement consistent operating standards, processes, governance and reporting across the North American portfolio.
• Establish standards covering maintenance, operational readiness, incident response, business continuity, certifications and customer reporting.
• Implement vendor and OEM frameworks covering asset lifecycle management, spare-parts strategies and service partner models.
• Support the deployment of operational technology, monitoring platforms, predictive maintenance, automation and KPI reporting.
• Ensure new campuses are fully documented, operationally ready and audit-ready from day one.

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Development, Construction & Commissioning:

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Partner closely with development, engineering, construction and commissioning teams throughout the full project lifecycle, providing operational input into:

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• Site selection, due diligence and campus planning.
• Facility design, operability and maintainability.
• Construction, commissioning and operational handover.
• Equipment requirements and OEM/vendor agreements.
• Customer SLAs, onboarding, reporting and audit requirements.

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The VP will lead operational readiness, mobilization and start-up activities for new campuses, ensuring the required teams, procedures, systems, vendors and certifications are in place ahead of commercial operations.

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Customer & Stakeholder Management:

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• Serve as a senior operations contact for hyperscale, cloud and AI customers across North America.
• Build strong relationships with customers, regulators, vendors and strategic partners.
• Lead customer operational reviews, incident communications, audit support and service-performance discussions.
• Represent North American operations in senior leadership and customer forums.

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Operational Excellence:

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• Drive improvements across facility performance, energy and water efficiency, reliability, resilience and operating costs.
• Establish and monitor regional KPIs to identify risks and opportunities for improvement.
• Balance operational reliability and customer service with sustainability, risk management and financial performance.

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Target Experience:

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We are looking to speak with senior operations leaders who can demonstrate:

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• 15+ years of experience across data center operations, mission-critical infrastructure, energy, utilities, telecommunications or a closely related environment.
• Significant leadership experience overseeing multi-site mission-critical operations.
• A track record of building and scaling regional operations organizations.
• Experience implementing enterprise or global operating standards across a North American portfolio.
• Strong knowledge of critical infrastructure, maintenance, commissioning, operational readiness, incident management, safety and regulatory compliance.
• Experience supporting hyperscale, cloud, AI or similarly sophisticated data center customers.
• Accountability for operational performance, customer SLAs, budgets and financial results.
• Experience transitioning major data center or infrastructure projects from construction and commissioning into live operations.
• Experience leading geographically dispersed teams within a fast-growing organization.
• Willingness to travel regularly across North America.

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The Opportunity:

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This is an opportunity to take a senior leadership role within a growing data center developer and have significant influence over how its North American operations platform is built and scaled.

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The successful individual will join at a stage where the portfolio is expanding, giving them the opportunity to establish the operating organization, standards and leadership structure required to support future campus growth.