Operations & Lifecycle Replacement Manager in England

Technical Operations & Lifecycle Replacement Manager - Data Centres

Salary: Up to £105k

Bonus: 15%

Travel: Multi-site travel as required, fully covered

Benefits: 33 days annual leave, private medical, life assurance & comprehensive benefits package

The Opportunity

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Data Centre Engineering / Technical Operations professional to take ownership of lifecycle replacement strategy and major infrastructure renewal programmes across a portfolio of live, mission-critical facilities.

This is not a traditional Project Management position.

We are looking for an engineer who combines strong technical knowledge with the commercial and strategic capability to identify ageing, obsolete or high-risk infrastructure, develop the investment case and then lead the resulting replacement programme through design, procurement, construction, commissioning and operational handover.

You will play a key role in determining what needs replacing, why it needs replacing, when investment is required and how the work can be delivered safely without compromising live operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and develop a multi-year Lifecycle Replacement Programme, including priorities, budgets, risk and investment strategy.
• Assess asset condition, criticality, remaining life, obsolescence and operational risk across critical infrastructure.
• Develop robust CAPEX proposals, business cases and investment recommendations for senior stakeholders.
• Lead complex M&E replacement and upgrade programmes within live data centre environments.
• Provide technical oversight across HV/LV distribution, UPS, generators, switchgear, cooling systems, BMS/EPMS, controls and associated critical infrastructure.
• Develop detailed outage, isolation, temporary plant, contingency and rollback strategies to protect operational resilience.
• Manage consultants, contractors, OEMs and specialist suppliers from initial scope development through to completion.
• Lead procurement, tendering, commercial management, cost forecasting, change control and programme governance.
• Ensure FAT, SAT, commissioning, IST and operational readiness requirements are achieved.
• Coordinate effective handover into Operations, ensuring delivery of asset registers, drawings, O&M documentation, training, spares and maintenance requirements.
• Identify opportunities to improve energy efficiency, asset reliability, resilience and whole-life cost.
• Provide technical challenge and assurance to consultants, contractors and equipment manufacturers.
• Maintain a strong focus on safety, operational continuity, engineering standards and risk management throughout each programme.

What We're Looking For

The successful candidate will have a proven track record of Lifecycle Replacement / Asset Renewal delivery within data centres or another highly critical engineering environment.

You’ll ideally have:

• 5+ years' experience across Data Centre Engineering, Technical Operations, Asset Management, Lifecycle Replacement or Capital Projects.
• Demonstrable experience delivering asset lifecycle or replacement programmes rather than solely managing individual projects.
• Proven experience replacing or upgrading complex M&E infrastructure within live operational environments.
• Strong knowledge of critical electrical and mechanical infrastructure and resilience / redundancy principles.
• Experience developing condition-based investment strategies, CAPEX budgets and business cases.
• Strong commercial understanding, including procurement, tendering, contractor management, forecasting and change control.
• Experience taking projects from initial definition and design through procurement, construction, commissioning and operational handover.
• The technical credibility to challenge and influence consultants, contractors, OEMs and senior stakeholders.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to present technical and financial recommendations at senior level.
• An HNC/HND, degree or equivalent engineering qualification is desirable.
• Project, programme or asset management qualifications would also be advantageous.

Why Join?

This is a senior opportunity to take genuine ownership of critical infrastructure investment and lifecycle strategy across a high-value data centre environment.

Rather than simply managing projects once they have been approved, you’ll be involved from the beginning — identifying asset risk, establishing investment priorities, building the business case and ultimately delivering the replacement programme.

You’ll combine engineering, asset management, commercial strategy and major project delivery, with the opportunity to directly influence the reliability, resilience and long-term performance of mission-critical infrastructure.

If you’re a technically strong Data Centre Engineering, Technical Operations or Critical Infrastructure professional with genuine Lifecycle Replacement experience, we’d be interested in hearing from you.

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