VP, Data Centre Operations EMEA

Regional Leadership

• Lead Operations across the EMEA region as its senior operational leader; translate corporate strategy into regional plans and represent EMEA Operations with Executive Leadership, the Board, investors, and key customers.
• Liaise regularly with the VP Operations NAM counterpart to align standards, share incident learnings and best practice, and ensure a consistent global operating model for customers.
• Liaise with Development (design & construction) and Operations Engineering (standards, field engineering, commissioning) to embed operational requirements in new designs and retrofits and ensure clean commissioning and handover.

Critical Data Center Operations – EMEA Sites

• Own 24×7 critical operations across current EMEA sites, with accountability for uptime, availability, safety, and SLA performance, including critical environment management (electrical, mechanical, cooling, controls) and lifecycle management of critical assets.
• Implement and govern operational standards, SOPs/MOPs/EOPs, maintenance and change management frameworks, and KPIs (uptime, SLA, MTTR, energy, safety, staffing, customer experience) across all EMEA sites.
• Lead incident management, escalation, and RCA with timely, transparent customer communication; ensure business continuity and disaster recovery processes are maintained and tested; partner with the GNOC for 24×7 monitoring and service continuity.
• Champion the global safety program and ensure compliance with regulatory, environmental, H&S, and certification requirements (ISO, SOC, customer-specific) across the region.
• Own and optimize OpEx across the region.

New Site Startup & Hiring – EMEA

• Lead operational readiness and startup for new EMEA sites as they come onstream, from design review and commissioning support through to steady-state operations.
• Define staffing models; recruit, onboard, and train site leadership and critical facilities teams ahead of service commencement; establish SOPs, maintenance regimes, spares, vendor and utility contracts, and GNOC integration for each new facility.

Technical Training

• Drive technical training across the region, ensuring site teams are trained, certified, and current on critical systems, procedures, and safety practices.
• Provide guidance on the direction and content of training collateral, partnering with Operations Engineering to keep programs aligned with standards and evolving technology.

Customer, Financial & People

• Own executive relationships with key EMEA customers; oversee escalations and ensure SLAs and contractual commitments are consistently achieved, with transparent reporting and service reviews.
• Lead regional OpEx and CapEx planning, forecasting, and cost control; partner with Finance on cost modelling for new sites and expansions; oversee long-term capacity planning across power, space, cooling, and staffing.
• Manage strategic supplier and vendor relationships and drive adoption of automation and digital tools to improve monitoring, maintenance, and efficiency.
• Lead, coach, and develop operational leaders and teams; build succession plans and foster a high-performance culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications:

• Proven senior operations leadership in colocation, hyperscale, or mission-critical multi-site environments, with accountability for uptime, safety, customer service, and financial performance.
• Demonstrated success delivering new site launches, operational startup, or capacity expansion programs across multiple locations.
• Deep understanding of critical environment operations (electrical, mechanical, cooling, controls), maintenance regimes, and commissioning.
• Strong commercial and financial capability, including managing significant OpEx and CapEx budgets and long-term capacity planning.
• Experience developing technical training programs and building site team capability.
• Customer-focused mindset with experience managing escalations, service delivery, and executive stakeholder relationships.
• Proven ability to recruit, lead, and develop high-performing teams across geographies, with honesty and integrity and excellent communication and influencing skills.

Role involves international travel (approximately 30%).

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