Our client, a data centre developer/operator, with excellent financial backing, is looking for a design director.
They have confirmed sites across APAC, Europe and the US.
You will be in charge of design/engineering and working directly and reporting directly to the CEO.
Position Overview
The Design Director functions effectively as the Head of Engineering for the data center platform. This role leads the overarching engineering and architectural design strategy for next-generation, high-performance, and sustainable facilities across the APAC region.
This role launches as a high-impact Individual Contributor (IC), requiring a leader who is ideally strong across both electrical and mechanical systems (with the natural understanding that your core background will be stronger in one discipline). As the regional infrastructure platform scales, you will pivot from a hands-on technical authority into a organizational leader responsible for building, hiring, and managing a dedicated engineering and design team to support long-term company growth.
Key Responsibilities
- Engineering Headship & Strategy: Act as the ultimate technical authority and Head of Engineering for the regional platform, standardizing design guidelines across all new and existing facilities.
- Dual-System Technical Oversight: Review, challenge, and approve end-to-end design blueprints across both critical electrical distribution systems (high-voltage power paths, substations, UPS) and mechanical cooling systems (chilled water systems, liquid cooling, high-density airflow containment).
- Team Scaling & Management: Function initially as a solo technical force, with the explicit mandate to map out engineering resource needs, recruit, and structurally manage a growing regional team of specialists as the company portfolio expands.
- Vendor & Consultant Management: Source, evaluate, and manage multi-disciplinary engineering consultants, architectural firms, and market vendors globally to ensure third-party engineering outputs align with company frameworks.
- Quality & Commissioning: Oversee full-scale installation inspections and direct site commissioning pipelines to guarantee first-pass engineering success and strict compliance with global safety standards.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner directly with the VP of Facilities, Project Management Office (PMO), and Sales Engineering teams to bridge facility concepts smoothly into commercial real estate handovers.\
Required Skills & Experience
- Experience: 10+ years of proven engineering and project management experience explicitly focused within mission-critical data center infrastructures.
- Technical Balance: Proven ability to oversee and integrate complex electrical and mechanical engineering pipelines. You must demonstrate strong working competency in both disciplines, even if your foundational background slants naturally toward one side.
- Hands-On Core: Deep background in project installation inspections, component-level schematic reviews, and complex data center commissioning lifecycles.
- Team Growth Capabilities: Demonstrable experience (or strong readiness) to pivot from an individual contributor to a people manager, with the ability to define team hiring roadmaps, source talent, and manage technical workflows.
- Regional Capability: Experience managing design requirements and standard regulatory frameworks across APAC markets (e.g., Singapore, South Korea, Japan) is highly desirable.
Educational Requirements
- Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a heavily related mission-critical engineering field.
- Professional Engineer (PE) license or equivalent professional certification is highly preferred.
