Data Centre Manager in Southampton

The Data Centre Manager (DCM) is responsible for the overall operation, performance, and leadership of Pulsant's data centre in Fareham, ensuring a safe, resilient and efficient 24x7 environment. The role supports whitespace capacity and works closely with Technical and Mechanical Leads to ensure effective maintenance and optimisation of mechanical infrastructure. With a team of 8 direct reports, the DCM leads operational support, remote hands service delivery, client relationships, and continuous improvement across the site.

Key responsibilities:

• Leadership & governance
• Own and lead end-to-end data centre operations ensuring continuous service availability.
• Manage people resourcing, shift patterns and escalation processes and lead and develop the on-site team as well as managing vendors and contractors.
• Maintain training programmes for the operations team including scenario-based and emergency training exercises.
• Lead incident, problem and change management processes and ensure compliance with health, safety and security procedures.
• Drive performance improvements using data insights through maintaining documentation and risk registers and collating operational data for reporting cycles.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory standards.
• Manage budgets and cost control.
• Collaborate with regional and national Data Centre Managers and share best practice and align.
• Mechanical Infrastructure, Maintenance and capacity planning
• Work with Mechanical and Technical Leads to ensure maintenance delivery and oversee PPM programmes and contractor performance.
• Support delivery of large mechanical engineering projects ensuring optimal cooling and environmental system performance.
• Manage and optimise whitespace, power and cooling capacity, delivering client and internal projects within the whitespace.
• Plan and coordinate installations, moves and changes and support capacity planning and forecasting.
• Client Management and project delivery
• Build strong working relationships with clients, leading on service reviews and performance updates.
• Oversee delivery of remote hands services and identify and support service growth opportunities.
• Support and manage delivery of operational and client projects, coordinating across engineering and operational teams to ensure minimal operational risk during delivery.

What / who we're looking for:

• Data Centre industry experience, with strong technical understanding of data centre infrastructure, including both M+E and whitespace (e.g. data halls).
• Experience of both 'hard' and 'soft' facility management (FM).
• Client-facing experience, with strong commercial awareness (and ideally experience hosting site tours).
• People management experience.
• Knowledge of relevant UK regulations (such as H&S legislation, ISO 27001, ISO 14000, PCI).
• Currently hold or able to obtain (eligible for) Security Clearance.
• Full UK driving licence and access to own vehicle.

If you're excited about this opportunity but don't meet every requirement listed above, we still encourage you to apply. We value transferable experience and potential - and you might be exactly who we're looking for!

Pulsant offers:

• A supportive work environment with a focus on career growth, learning and development, work life balance and well-being.
• A friendly, family-like atmosphere where almost half of the team have been with Pulsant for 5+ years.
• Benefits include 5% pension contributions, private healthcare, life assurance, cycle to work scheme, EV scheme, free breakfast and snacks, monthly pizza lunch, Udemy license and more.
• Leave benefits - in addition to annual leave you get a birthday day off, annual wellbeing day and 2 x charity days per year.