Data Centre Operations Manager in Newport

Contract for an experienced Data Centre Operations Manager to join a project working on a large global financial services client project. End-to-end ownership of the safe, secure and reliable operation of companies data centre facilities and critical infrastructure, keeping the platforms behind its global financial services running without interruption. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who has run mission-critical environments, delivered complex projects inside live sites, and can move comfortably between the plant room, the project table and the boardroom. Over the contract you'll stabilise and strengthen operations, lead change and migration activity, and leave behind clear standards, governance and a capable team.

Key responsibilities

• Data centre and critical facility operations
• Own day-to-day operation, availability and performance of data centre facilities, including power, cooling, fire, controls, BMS/EMS and base-building systems.
• Maintain target uptime through disciplined change control, risk assessment and method-of-procedure review for all critical works.
• Manage capacity across power, cooling and whitespace, forecasting demand and flagging constraints early.
• Oversee preventative and reactive maintenance programs, defect management and lifecycle planning for mission-critical equipment.
• Own and enforce data centre standards covering whitespace, containment, structured cabling, IT deployment and decommissioning.
• Incident management and resilience
• Lead 24x7 incident response for facility events, coordinating technical teams, vendors and stakeholders through to resolution and root-cause review.
• Strengthen business continuity and resilience planning, including testing of failover, generator and UPS systems.
• Apply ITIL-aligned incident, problem and change management practices across the facility environment.
• Projects, migrations and change
• Plan and deliver infrastructure projects inside live operational environments, including fit-outs, power and cooling upgrades, relocations and decommissioning.
• Provide technical and strategic advice on data centre migrations and consolidation, balancing delivery timelines with operational risk.
• Support commissioning and handover of new capacity, ensuring sites are operationally ready before go-live.
• Vendors, commercials and governance
• Manage facility maintenance contractors, colocation providers and specialist vendors against clear SLAs, KPIs and governance rhythms.
• Develop and own OPEX and CAPEX forecasts, budget tracking and business cases for investment.
• Produce regular reporting and present to senior leadership on operational performance, risk, safety and strategic initiatives.
• Safety, security and compliance
• Champion a safety-first culture and manage WH&S obligations across all site activities, including electrical safety and contractor permits.
• Oversee physical security controls, access management and audit readiness in line with financial services regulatory and information security requirements.
• Leadership and stakeholders
• Lead, coach and develop internal staff and contractor teams, building capability that lasts beyond the contract term.
• Work across a matrix of technology, risk, property and business stakeholders to keep operational goals aligned.

About you

Essential

• Significant experience (8+ years) in data centre operations, with at least 5 years in a management role across enterprise, colocation or hyperscale environments.
• Strong working knowledge of critical facility systems: HV/LV electrical, UPS, generators, mechanical cooling, fire suppression and BMS/EMS.
• Proven track record delivering construction, fit-out or migration projects within live sites without impact to availability.
• Experience setting and managing SLAs, KPIs and contractor panels, with sound commercial and budget management skills.
• Hands-on incident leadership, with the ability to stay calm and decisive under pressure.
• Confident communicator, comfortable presenting to executives, customers and technical teams.
• Solid understanding of H&S legislation and safe work practices in critical environments.

Desirable

• Tertiary qualification in IT, engineering or business; an MBA or equivalent is well regarded.
• Industry certifications such as DCPRO Critical Operations Professional or Data Centre Design.
• High voltage operations and switching training.
• ITIL certification or strong experience applying ITIL processes.
• Experience with DCIM tooling and data analytics or dashboarding (for example, Power BI).
• Background in cyber security, risk management or regulated industries such as financial services or Defence.
• Experience in a large, matrixed organisation spanning multiple sites or regions.