Head of Data Centre in Frankfurt am Main

If you’ve been delivering data centres for a few years and keep thinking you could run the whole thing better yourself, this one’s worth a read.

Partnering family owned engineering and consulting group with around 3,700 people in more than 45 offices worldwide. Their background is energy and infrastructure: power, grid connections and big international projects. They’re now setting up a dedicated data centre business in Germany and want someone to build it from scratch and lead it.

If you’ve worked on a FLAP-D project recently, you’ll know why that makes sense. These days the hard part of most new builds is the power rather than the building. That means grid connection queues, MV/HV infrastructure, PPAs, BESS, backup generation and the heat reuse rules under the EnEfG. This business already does that work day in, day out. What they don’t have is a data centre specialist to lead it.

What’s in it for you

• It’s yours to build. The strategy, the services, who you hire and how the team’s set up are all your call.
• You’ll go from running projects to running a business: winning work, driving growth and having a real say in where it goes.
• You’ll also lead the group’s international Data Centre Competence Centre, so your remit doesn’t stop at the German border.
• You can be based in Frankfurt or Munich, and working hours and location are flexible. They care about results, not how many hours you spend at your desk.
• It’s family-owned, so there aren’t many layers between you and the people who sign things off.
• You get the freedom of a startup without worrying whether payroll clears.
• If the business grows, so does your role. Nobody’s putting a ceiling on it.
• The package: salary dependent on experience plus profit share, 30 days’ holiday plus Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve off, flexitime, a decent training budget, Jobticket paid, bike leasing and a choice of health and wellbeing benefits. 91% of their German staff rate it a Great Place to Work, which is more than most can say.

What you’d actually be doing

• Building the data centre business: market strategy, business development, bids, and relationships with hyperscale, colo and enterprise clients
• Hiring and leading the team in Germany
• Leading the technical side: high-availability power (MV/LV, UPS, 2N/N+1), grid integration, cooling, energy efficiency, EN 50600 and German regulations
• Taking overall responsibility for projects from feasibility and grid applications through to commissioning, across EPC and HOAI phases
• Keeping on top of cost, programme, procurement, subcontractors and stakeholders, including DSOs, TSOs and local authorities

What they’re looking for

• A degree in Electrical Engineering, Energy Engineering, Building Services (Versorgungs- oder Gebäudetechnik) or a related discipline
• At least 8 years’ experience in the planning, design and delivery of data centre projects, including a proven record in a leadership role
• Proven experience of taking complex data centre projects from concept through to commissioning
• In depth expertise in data centre electrical infrastructure and high-availability power systems (MV/LV, UPS, generation, 2N/N+1 redundancy)
• Sound knowledge of the relevant standards and regulations, including EN 50600 and German regulatory requirements
• A strong grasp of energy efficiency and sustainable data centre design (PUE, WUE, heat reuse, high-density cooling)
• Proven experience in risk analysis, value engineering and technical optimisation
• Strong skills in project control, technical documentation and organisational development
• Experience leading teams and managing senior stakeholders, including clients, authorities and grid operators
• Negotiation level German and English
• Experience setting up a new business unit, service line or market
• A background in grid connection, HV or renewable energy projects
• Experience working within the HOAI framework

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