Manager, Chief Engineer, EMEA

Please note: Fluency in Polish is an essential requirement for this position.

Site Operations Department

The Site Operations Department is responsible for the overall health of all mechanical and electrical systems, building maintenance, and performance of all data modules in our data centers. The team is staffed 24 x 7 onsite with Critical Facility Technicians (CFTs) on each shift. This team is the face of Vantage to our customers and the first line of defence regarding the uptime of our campus as well as the performance of our customer installations. Using a Critical Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to plan and track work needed, the Site Operations department performs all preventative and corrective maintenance. Our culture expects and rewards team performance that engages directly with the customers and the facility infrastructure. This is a team that does most of the actual work versus calling upon vendors. As a result, we provide superior service that is faster and more cost effective.

Position Overview

The Manager, Chief Engineer is responsible for leading the Critical Facilities Operations Team and ensuring the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of all mission critical infrastructure systems within the data center. Reporting to the Director of Operations, this role provides technical leadership, operational oversight, and people management for the Critical Facilities Technician (CFT) organization. The successful candidate will own the maintenance strategy, operational readiness, and long-term reliability of electrical, mechanical, cooling, life safety, and monitoring systems. This position is responsible for driving operational excellence through effective maintenance programs, incident management, contractor oversight, project execution, risk mitigation, and continuous improvement initiatives. While this position includes direct people management responsibilities, the primary expectation is that of a technical leader and subject matter expert. The ideal candidate possesses extensive hands-on experience operating and maintaining critical infrastructure and can effectively guide technicians through complex operational challenges while serving as a technical escalation point during critical events.

Essential Job Functions

• Lead and manage the Critical Facilities Operations Team responsible for operating, maintaining, and supporting mission critical infrastructure and day-to-day facility operations.
• Ensure the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of all electrical, mechanical, cooling, fire protection, and monitoring systems.
• Drive a culture of operational excellence, accountability, safety, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance activities are planned, executed, and completed in accordance with established standards and procedures.
• Develop team capabilities through coaching, mentoring, training, performance management, and succession planning.

Duties

• Maintain operational readiness and reliability of all critical infrastructure systems.
• Identify system performance deficiencies, initiate corrective actions, and respond effectively to operational and emergency situations.
• Serve as the primary technical escalation point for complex electrical and mechanical infrastructure issues.
• Foster a high-performance, team-oriented environment through coaching, employee development, and regular feedback.
• Manage contracted service work, including scope development, bid evaluation, contractor selection, contract administration, and performance management.
• Train, coach, and develop Critical Facilities Technicians (CFTs) on operational procedures, maintenance practices, technical competencies, and safety requirements.
• Direct and maintain site-specific preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, and work order programs.
• Develop, review, and enforce SOPs, MOPs, and EOPs to support safe and reliable operations.
• Lead root cause investigations and author After Action Reports (AARs) and Root Cause Analyses (RCAs) following incidents and operational events.
• Oversee facility projects, infrastructure upgrades, and capital improvement initiatives, ensuring quality execution, budget adherence, and timely completion.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on reliability, efficiency, sustainability, and risk reduction.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable safety, environmental, regulatory, and company requirements.
• Support business continuity objectives by identifying operational risks and implementing mitigation strategies.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Facilities Engineering, or a related technical field or equivalent experience.
• Extensive experience operating and maintaining mission critical infrastructure within data centers, industrial facilities, or similar critical environments.
• Expert knowledge of electrical distribution systems, UPS systems, generators, switchgear, HVAC systems, chilled water systems, fire protection systems, and Building Management Systems (BMS).
• Demonstrated experience leading maintenance, operations, or critical facilities teams in a mission critical environment.
• Proven ability to coach, develop, and manage employee performance while building high-performing teams.
• Strong understanding of preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance methodologies and asset lifecycle management.
• Ability to evaluate system performance using operational data and reliability metrics and implement improvements that increase availability, efficiency, and equipment reliability.
• Experience leading operational incident response activities and conducting Root Cause Analyses (RCA).
• Knowledge of risk management, business continuity principles, and reliability-centered maintenance practices.
• Experience managing contractors, vendors, and service agreements within a mission critical environment.
• Ability to prepare, manage, and control operational and capital budgets.
• Strong organizational, problem-solving, decision-making, and prioritization skills.
• Demonstrated commitment to safety leadership, EHS compliance, Permit-to-Work (PTW), and Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) programs.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively at all organizational levels.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, CMMS platforms and Building Management Systems (BMS).
• Fluency in Polish and English, both written and spoken.
• Ability to participate in an on-call rotation and respond to critical facility incidents as required.