Design Director

About CloudHQ: CloudHQ is a global leader in hyperscale data centre solutions, delivering secure, high-performance, and resilient facilities for many of the world’s largest technology companies. As we expand our global footprint, we are strengthening our Design & Engineering organisation to ensure CloudHQ’s technical standards, design quality, and lifecycle performance remain industry-leading.

Role Overview: The Design/Technical Director will lead all aspects of architectural, civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical design for CloudHQ’s hyperscale data centre developments across multiple regions.

• Defining and governing CloudHQ’s Basis of Design (BoD)
• Managing and directing external design consultants
• Ensuring design consistency, quality, cost-efficiency, constructability, and scalability
• Providing cross-functional leadership from site due diligence and concept design through to construction
• Partnering closely with wider Development team, Site Selection, Construction, Operations, and commercial teams to deliver technically robust designs that meet client requirements and CloudHQ standards.

The Technical Director acts as CloudHQ’s technical design authority, ensuring every facility is engineered to support reliability, performance, and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own and continuously evolve CloudHQ’s global Basis of Design, engineering guidelines, standard details, and specifications in conjunction with global design leads.
• Lead multidisciplinary design teams (MEP, structural, civil, architectural, fire/life safety) across RIBA stage 1 to 4 design phases.
• Review all design packages to ensure compliance with CloudHQ standards, local codes, sustainability requirements, and hyperscale customer specifications.
• Support CloudHQ Construction teams to ensure alignment with the Basis of Design
• Direct consultant teams and challenge design decisions to optimise cost, constructability, efficiency, and performance.
• Ensure standardisation across regions while allowing for local code adaptation and site-specific constraints.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Work closely with Development teams during land acquisition, feasibility analysis, and site evaluation to identify design risks and technical constraints early.
• Partner with Construction teams to validate constructability, sequencing, engineering interfaces, and delivery risks.
• Collaborate with Operations to incorporate maintainability, resilience, and future scalability requirements into all designs.
• Engage with commercial teams during customer solutioning, supporting technical clarifications and design-related inputs.

Design Quality, Risk & Compliance Management:

• Implement design governance processes ensuring accuracy, coordination, and timely delivery of all consultant submissions.
• Identify and mitigate design risks during all project phases.
• Drive quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) across every design package.
• Validate MEP redundancy strategies, power distribution architecture, cooling topologies, and life-safety systems.
• Ensure designs adhere to relevant international standards, environmental requirements, and local permitting guidelines.

Technical Innovation & Continuous Improvement:

• Evaluate emerging technologies and integrate best-practice design innovations into CloudHQ’s standards.
• Explore modularisation, prefabrication, and design-for-manufacture opportunities to improve schedule, quality, and cost.
• Develop scalable design templates for multi-phase campuses and high-density deployments.
• Benchmark industry trends to ensure CloudHQ design remains competitive and future-proof.
• Select, manage, and direct external design consultancies, ensuring accountability and performance.
• Review and approve consultant proposals, scopes of work, and deliverables.
• Participate in design-related negotiations with contractors, equipment vendors, and partners.
• Act as the primary design escalation point for CloudHQ leadership and project teams.

Required Experience & Qualifications:

• Master’s (Preferred) / Bachelors (Acceptable) degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Structural, Architectural Engineering or related field.
• 10+ years of design leadership experience within data centres, mission-critical facilities, or large-scale industrial/infrastructure projects.
• Strong knowledge of LV/MV power distribution, UPS/generator topology, cooling systems, building architecture, fire protection, and structural design for hyperscale environments.
• Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary design teams across multiple projects and geographies.
• Proven experience governing and coordinating design consultants and contractors.
• Strong understanding of constructability, commissioning interfaces, permitting, and international design standards.
• Ability to challenge assumptions constructively and provide innovative, cost-effective technical solutions.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills with the ability to influence across functional and regional boundaries.
• The ability to travel across our EMEA sites.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in hyperscale data centre design for major cloud or colocation operators.
• Chartered / Professional Engineer (CEng, PE), or equivalent professional accreditation.
• Experience with modular construction, prefabrication, and factory-built MEP systems.
• Familiarity with ASHRAE, NFPA, IEEE, IEC, EN standards, and Uptime classifications.
• International project delivery experience in EMEA.

Why Join CloudHQ:

• Shape the next generation of hyperscale design standards across global markets.
• Lead technically challenging, high-impact projects with massive scale.
• Collaborate with top engineering and construction partners worldwide.
• Work in a high-growth, innovation-driven environment with significant career progression opportunities.

Disclaimer: To be eligible, you’ll need to be based in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, or Luxembourg. The role will also involve regular travel across our sites in EMEA.