Data Center Shift Lead — 24/7 Critical Ops

STACK Infrastructure; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

STACK Infrastructure in Melbourne is seeking a Senior Data Center Specialist - Shift Lead to command the 24/7 Critical Operations team, guiding Senior and Regular Critical Operations Technicians and ensuring safe, reliable operation of electrical, mechanical, and life-safety systems.

You’ll apply high-level technical judgement, manage incidents, coordinate with vendors, and drive improvements to SOPs, logs, and preventive maintenance while upholding STACK’s uptime commitments.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in Data Centres or Mission Critical facilities.
• Expertise in operating power and cooling systems.
• Strong command of safety, risk assessments and compliance.

Responsibilities

• Lead the on-shift team and provide advanced technical oversight of critical plant.
• Maintain real-time awareness of electrical and mechanical systems via BMS/EPMS.
• Act as the senior escalation point for technicians.
• Provide real-time guidance, diagnostic support and risk evaluation during events.
• Coordinate vendors during shift and verify system configuration after maintenance.
• Review risk assessments, switching plans and commissioning documentation.
• Drive improvements to SOPs, handovers and alarm handling processes.
• Represent Operations during customer visits, audits and ongoing technical discussions.

Skills

Data Centre Operations

Critical Power Systems

UPS & Generators

Safety & Compliance

Incident Response

Team Leadership

Stakeholder Communication

Tools

BMS/EPMS

Job description

What if your next role put you in the driver’s seat on shift, leading the technical team that protects a Mission Critical Data Centre?

Company Overview

STACK Infrastructure builds, owns, and operates hyperscale and colocation data centers that power the world’s most ambitious technology companies. With a rapidly expanding footprint across APAC, STACK combines deep development expertise, flexible capital, and operational discipline to deliver critical digital infrastructure at scale.

Our clients include the largest hyperscale cloud platforms. We are building a regional platform defined by speed of delivery, power reliability, and long-term partnership — and we are assembling the team to lead that effort.

Summary/Objective

The Senior Data Center Specialist - Shift Lead (SDCS Shift Lead) is the most senior on-shift technical authority and shift lead within the 24/7 Critical Operations team. This role leads a team of Senior Critical Operations Technicians and Critical Operations Technicians, providing deep technical expertise, operational assurance, leadership in incident response and oversight of plant stability across all electrical, mechanical, controls and life-safety systems.

The SDCS Shift Lead applies high-level technical judgement, disciplined risk management, real-time plant monitoring and structured fault response. The role leads and validates the quality of work completed by Senior Critical Operations Technicians and Critical Operations Technicians, enforces authorised operating boundaries and ensures critical infrastructure is operated safely, accurately and consistently.

The SDCS Shift Lead acts as the on-shift team lead and senior technical point of contact for the Critical Operations Supervisors, Senior Critical Operations Technicians and Critical Operations Technicians, providing high-quality escalation context, analysis and operational recommendations.

This role directly supports STACK’s commitment to 100% uptime and a concierge-level customer service experience, ensuring risk is proactively managed, planned works are executed safely, and customer communications are clear, timely and professional.

Key Responsibilities

As the senior technical authority on shift, you’ll combine advanced technical capability with team leadership to maintain safe, stable and reliable operation across STACK’s critical infrastructure.

You’ll:

• Lead the on-shift team and provide advanced technical oversight of critical plant.
• Maintain real-time awareness of electrical, mechanical and controls systems through BMS/EPMS and field observations.
• Act as the senior technical escalation point for Senior Critical Operations Technicians and Critical Operations Technicians.
• Provide real-time guidance, diagnostic support and risk evaluation during operational events.
• Lead or support first-response incident actions, including stabilisation, containment and technical communication.
• Perform advanced diagnostics across telemetry, protection responses, redundancy changes and thermal behaviours.
• Verify operational readiness following maintenance, resets, system changes and commissioning activities.
• Provide technical direction during planned maintenance, shutdowns, functional testing and energisation activities.
• Review risk assessments, switching plans, permits, isolations/LOTO and return-to-service documentation within authorised scope.
• Conduct enhanced rounds focused on redundancy, automation, generator/UPS coordination, thermal stability and plant performance.
• Coordinate vendors during shift and verify correct system configuration following maintenance.
• Identify recurring faults, capacity constraints, systemic risks and design issues and escalate appropriately.
• Improve SOPs, MOPs, EOPs, shift logs, CMMS data quality, handovers and alarm-handling processes.
• Support reliability investigations, post-event reviews and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Represent Critical Operations during customer visits, tours, audits and technical discussions.

This role provides advanced operational expertise, oversight and technical authority. It does not perform licensed electrical, mechanical or refrigeration work. All trade-restricted work is completed by appropriately licensed personnel or specialist contractors.

What You’ll Bring

You’ll be a technically strong and confident operational leader who can make sound decisions under pressure, communicate clearly and guide others through complex Mission Critical events.

Your experience may come from Data Centres or other Mission Critical environments, including utilities, hospitals, Defence or industrial facilities.

You’ll bring:

• Extensive experience in Data Centres or comparable Mission Critical facilities.
• Demonstrated expertise operating and monitoring critical power and cooling systems.
• Strong knowledge of UPS, generators, switchgear, PDUs/PMMs, ATS/STS, CRAC/CRAH, FWU/CDU, chilled water, pumps, controls and fire systems.
• Strong experience inspecting, triaging and stabilising critical plant during abnormal conditions.
• Experience reviewing MOPs, SOPs, EOPs, risk assessments, switching plans and commissioning documentation.
• Ability to interpret single-line diagrams, network diagrams, automation logic, chilled-water schematics and OEM manuals.
• Strong knowledge of permit-to-work processes, isolations/LOTO and operational risk frameworks.
• Proficiency with BMS/EPMS, CMMS and operational data platforms.
• Strong coaching and technical mentoring capability.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for incidents, reporting and customer briefings.
• A calm, authoritative presence during alarms, escalations and operational events.
• Strong coordination skills across technicians, vendors, Security, Projects and Facilities.
• A continuous improvement mindset focused on safety, reliability and operational excellence.
• Ability to meet site authorisation, onboarding, safety and compliance requirements.
• Physical capability to perform inspections, rounds and emergency response tasks.
• Legal entitlement to work in Australia and ability to meet Data Centre security requirements.
• Availability to work a rotating 24/7 shift roster, including nights, weekends and public holidays.

Work Environment / Conditions

The role supports a 24/7 rotating shift environment, including nights, weekends and public holidays as operationally required.

Work occurs across Data Halls, plant rooms, electrical/mechanical spaces and external plant areas, with PPE required under site policy.

Participation in emergency response, readiness exercises and incident management activities is required.

Minimal travel is expected, although occasional travel between local STACK facilities may be required based on operational needs.

Equal Opportunity Employer

STACK provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, colour, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, redundancy, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.