Senior Physical Security Systems Architect - EMEA in London

About Vantage Data Centers

Vantage Data Centers powers, cools, protects and connects the technology of the world’s well-known hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprises. Developing and operating across North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific, Vantage has evolved data center design in innovative ways to deliver dramatic gains in reliability, efficiency and sustainability in flexible environments that can scale as quickly as the market demands.

About Vantage Data Centres

Vantage Data Centres designs, builds and operates resilient, sustainable digital infrastructure for the world’s leading technology companies with a relentless focus on our customers’ experience. Our vision is to be the leading hyperscale data centre provider globally, making a positive and sustainable impact in the communities in which we operate. Our core values are Trust, Accountability, Respect and Agility.

Mission Critical Engineering (MCE) Team

As integral part of the EMEA CTO Group, the core objective of the MCE team is to drive design excellence, innovation, standardization, and continuous improvement to enable the delivery of cost-effective and high-quality infrastructure, delivered safely and always on time. Striving for operational excellence, we specialize in pioneering technical design solutions to meet the evolving needs of our customers.

Position Overview

As Senior Security Design Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the security systems and design of digital infrastructure. Operating at program level, you will provide technical leadership and support to project & design engineers, lead on all physical security technology elements of product development and equipment standardization and directly support corporate functions and new site development. You will be the foremost authority in security engineering, providing thought leadership and innovative solutions from emerging industry trends and best practices.

Skills, Experience and Knowledge

The ideal candidate shall possess a minimum of eight years’ experience in designing physical security solutions, at least four years preferably spent working within data centre or mission-critical environments. A thorough understanding of physical security design concepts and relevant regulations governing the built environment is essential. The position requires the ability to coordinate security design activities with multiple MCE engineering disciplines including Mechanical, Electrical, ICT, Automation, Civil, Structural & Architecture engineers. Managing design through gated design processes is essential for this role.

• Key areas of expertise shall cover the design and management of electronic systems and infrastructure including:
• Structured Cabling
• Fibre Optic Networks
• IT/IP network systems integration
• Access Control
• Video Surveillance
• Perimeter Intrusion Detection
• Intercom
• Physical Security Information Management

A thorough understanding of Physical Security ratings and solutions is necessary including:

• Electronic locking
• Walling
• Glazing
• Doors
• Barriers
• Fencing

Candidates are expected to demonstrate confidence, organisational ability, attention to detail, and resilience, enabling them to operate effectively within ever-changing regulatory and technological contexts. Therefore, additional skills include:

• The ability to communicate complex technical topics clearly to stakeholders
• Proficient with MS Office applications, AutoCAD and Bluebeam for producing overlay drawings, schematics, and markups.
• Knowledge of BIM and ACC processes.
• Ability to prioritise own workload, solve problems, and maintain technical ownership of tasks.
• Solid understanding of Health and Safety legislation.

Key Responsibilities

The Senior Security Design Engineer is responsible for leading and coordinating the technical delivery of physical security design for Vantage data centres throughout the EMEA region. Primary responsibilities include:

• Manage the technical security design process across multiple EMEA data centres.
• Collaborate with external design consultants and project management teams to ensure security design solutions meet project and customer requirements.
• Engineering support to site selection, new site development and project initiation.
• Provide engineering inputs and review of early-stage planning, Campus Master-Planning and Test-Fit Designs to assure validity of business objectives and design assumptions for site acquisition and investment decision making.
• Represent Vantage Data Centres as a technical authority with hyperscale customers, investors, and other corporate stakeholders.
• Creation and evaluation of high value engineering and innovation ideas, and provide recommendations based on business-related cost-benefit analyses.
• Proactively engage with internal and external partners, to identify and exploit lessons to implement good ideas and resolve recurring issues.
• Lead technical workshops to determine project-specific requirements.
• Reviewing and validating consultant designs to ensure compliance and quality.
• Acting as the primary contact for technical security design queries.
• Keeping abreast of developments in physical security technologies and industry trends.

Additional duties involve:

• Providing technical guidance during tendering and bid review processes.
• Participating in design reviews and site inspections.
• Ensuring all work is compliant with employer requirements, security standards, and project criteria.
• Coordinating with consultants, integrators, manufacturers, and contractors.
• Supporting project teams through planning, design, construction, commissioning, and handover phases.
• Maintaining consistent standards of technical quality, design uniformity, and operational value.

Personal Attributes and Competencies

The role demands the following attributes:

• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Proactive communication to ensure timely updates with stakeholders.
• Ability to work collaboratively and build effective relationships within teams.
• Exceptional organisational and administrative skills.
• Leadership skills to motivate and direct external consultancy teams.
• A focused and professional approach to managing requests efficiently.
• High motivation and commitment to achieving both individual and organisational objectives.
• Willingness to engage in continuous learning and professional development.
• Keeping up to date with physical security technology and industry developments and trends.
• Availability to travel across the EMEA region for up to 25% of the time.

Qualifications and Technical Credentials

A degree in an engineering discipline – such as Computer Science, Electronic Engineering or a combination of education and relevant experience. Professional certifications that are advantageous for this role include:

• PSP (Physical Security Professional)
• CPP (Certified Protection Professional)
• Manufacturer or platform certifications in access control and video management systems (e.g., Lenel, Genetec, Milestone, AMAG)
• Health and safety or commissioning qualifications (e.g NEBOSH, ITIL)