Data Centre and Field Engineering Manager in Rochdale

We are recruiting a Data Centre & Field Engineering Manager for a national network operator, leading the team responsible for the physical infrastructure the network runs on. That covers three things: the client's own data centre in the North West, the space they take in third‑party data centres, and equipment installed in hundreds of points of presence in telephone exchanges across the UK. In the exchanges, what they own is the rack and everything in it not the building. You’ll be accountable for the standard and performance of every one of those installations. Most of the work is delivered through your team and contracted partners, but this isn’t a role you can run from a spreadsheet. When something matters, you’ll be alongside the team doing it.

What you’ll own:

• The estate: The condition, standards and asset records for the client's equipment wherever it sits, from the data centre floor to a rack in an exchange in the middle of nowhere.
• The data centre: Day‑to‑day operation of the facility, keeping it available, safe and fit for the services running in it. It sits inside one of the client's own office buildings and shares power, cooling and fire systems with the rest of the site. A dedicated maintenance team looks after the building, but accountability for the critical infrastructure is yours; you define what it needs, agree how it's maintained, and hold that team and their contractors to it. You’ll also be the voice that makes sure building works and office priorities never put the data centre at risk.
• Field engineering: Directing and scheduling engineers and contractors across the UK, balancing planned work, installations and break/fix, and making the call when they compete.
• Third‑party contracts: Several field service arrangements covering break/fix, installations and additional engineering resource, plus colocation, data centre and maintenance providers. Setting expectations, running the reviews, controlling the spend, escalating when standards slip.
• Capacity and investment: Forecasting space, power and cooling across the estate so growth and refresh never get blocked. You’ll own the data centre budget, build the business cases for what the infrastructure needs, and then deliver the work once it’s approved.
• Health and safety: Safe working wherever people and contractors are on site - permits, contractor control, risk assessments, and the standards the business is audited against.
• The team: Senior field engineers, a data centre engineer and a resource and scheduling coordinator, with headcount growing. Part of the job is growing their capability beyond ticket handling. You’ll also support colocation customers and the remote hands service, working with Sales, Product and Service so that what gets sold is actually deliverable - and you’ll be the senior escalation point for site incidents, including out of hours.

What is required?

• Experience running a data centre or comparable critical infrastructure, including sites you aren’t based at.
• Working knowledge of data centre M&E - power distribution, UPS, generators, cooling, environmental monitoring - enough to specify what's needed and hold a maintenance team and its contractors to it.
• Experience directing field engineering across a wide geography: scheduling, dispatch, and prioritising competing demands.
• Managing third‑party service contracts, including maintenance regimes, service reviews and spend.
• Experience of unmanned or partner‑controlled sites such as exchanges and third‑party colocation.
• Comfort working through teams you don't manage, including facilities functions with priorities of their own.
• Business cases and budget management - and delivering the work once it's signed off.
• Health and safety in a technical environment, including permits to work and contractor control.
• A track record of developing operational processes and standards, and getting people to actually follow them.
• People management, with a record of developing engineers.
• Clear communication with customers and senior stakeholders alike.
• Full driving licence, with site travel and occasional out-of‑hours work.

Desirable: CDCMP, CDCDP or equivalent data centre certification, and/or an electrical qualification.