Chief Operating Officer, NA

About the position

The Chief Operating Officer, NA will play a critical role in our organization, leading operational excellence and customer service across the North America data center fleet. This role will provide technical expertise and leadership to influence design, construction and commissioning, and will be directly responsible for quality, reliability and efficiency of the operating portfolio. They will be responsible for the NA operations budget and will implement strategies to optimize costs. They will establish vendor relationships and strategic partnerships to enhance operations. They will be highly customer facing, experienced negotiating SLAs, and adept at driving strategic initiatives in conjunction with customers. They will be an executive leader, respected and regarded for their technical acumen and leadership ability, with a track record of developing operations talent in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for the oversight of our North American Data Center Operations.
• Establish, manage and report on operations KPIs to executive leadership and the NA board of directors.
• Report on all operations matters including operational risks and incidents to customers, executive leadership and NA board of directors.
• Develop and implement strategies to enhance operational performance and reliability across all data center campuses, driving continuous improvement initiatives and maintaining high standards of operational excellence.
• Ensure availability and capacity targets are achieved and maintained for data centers and technical infrastructure for all Vantage Data Center facilities.
• Oversee a diverse and skilled team consisting of Vice President, Senior Directors, Directors, Managers, and individual contributors, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture.
• Partner with HR to enhance talent development programs and growth pathways for Operations staff.
• Manage the operations budget, identify and implement cost optimization programs and strategies.
• Create and run annual operating expense budgets and capital expenditures, monitoring and updating monthly forecasts to meet and exceed financial targets.
• Leads nationwide data center operations of the 24x7 data center environment.
• Hold teams accountable for preventive and corrective maintenance of facility equipment, both critical and non-critical.
• Protect and improve the value of assets, ensuring that building machinery and systems meet or exceed their expected life.
• Provide technical leadership and direction in engineering design and operational aspects of the base building systems.
• Oversee the management of unplanned emergency events and ensure robust risk mitigation strategies are in place.
• Ensure that major projects performed at the campuses are properly planned, completed, and closed out in accordance with the best current practices in our industry.
• Develop and maintain elite customer service for all the company's customers.
• Ensure customers are satisfied and any issues with their services are resolved quickly and efficiently.
• Partner with the Reliability Engineering team to identify and remediate risks and ensure successful commissioning activities.
• Collaborate closely with Design, Engineering, and Construction teams to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of new facilities.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with vendors and service providers, negotiating contracts and agreements.
• Implement key initiatives and process improvements to drive desired outcomes across the organization.
• Responsible for all key performance indicators reporting internally to the Site Operations team and to the executive team.
• Organize administrative functions related to site operations, such as work orders, maintenance activities, budgets, and ordering supplies.
• Creates and delivers presentations to leadership team, company meetings, and conferences.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Engineering, Computer Science, Business Administration, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum of 15 years of experience leading large (250+) technical teams in a facility/plant engineering and maintenance environment.
• Minimum of 10 years of direct managerial experience with strong interpersonal skills.
• Proven track record of leading large-scale, multi-site operations in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Must have prior demonstrable experience in delivering large initiatives through cross functional collaboration.
• Strong understanding of data center infrastructure, reliability engineering, security, and customer experience management.
• Excellent strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Proven capabilities in developing teams, coaching, and skill mentoring.
• Excellent team management and leadership skills, customer/business support experience with highly technical, engineering-oriented organizations/environments.
• Ability to develop and communicate relevant department metrics, SLA and performance reports to executive management.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Proficiency in MS Office, Outlook, Word, Excel, and building automation systems.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Life and AD&D insurance
• Short and long-term disability coverage
• Paid time off
• Employee assistance program
• Participation in a 401k program that includes company match
• Additional voluntary benefits