Data Center Lead: 24/7 Reliability & Modernization

Elia Group; Brussel Hoofdstad; On-site; EUR 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company car

Mobility budget

Shares in Elia

Job summary

Elia Group is seeking an experienced Data Center Manager to oversee the reliability and evolution of our Belgian data centers. You will ensure 24/7 operations, align IT, Facilities and external partners, and drive projects across governance, budgeting and capacity planning.

In this role you will lead a team, manage vendor relationships and implement best practices for high-availability infrastructure, contributing to a resilient energy backbone for Belgium and Europe.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in IT, Engineering or a related field.
• Minimum 5 years of experience managing critical data centre infrastructure in a high-availability environment.
• Strong knowledge of power infrastructure (UPS, generators), cooling systems and modern data centre technologies.
• Experience with disaster recovery, business continuity, redundancy and resilience strategies.
• Proven track record in vendor management, contract negotiations and European tenders/RFP processes.
• Familiarity with mission-critical 24/7 operational environments where service continuity is essential.
• Strong analytical, planning and stakeholder management skills, with experience in capacity planning and risk management.
• Hands-on leader who takes ownership, drives accountability and can work both independently and collaboratively.
• Fluent in English and Dutch or French, with a good command of the other national language. German is a plus.
• Valid driving licence and willingness to travel within Belgium when required.

Responsibilities

• Lead operation, performance and continuous improvement of Elia’s Belgian data centres, ensuring maximum availability and resilience.
• Act as the key interface between IT, Facilities, Critical Infrastructure teams, management stakeholders and external service providers.
• Define and oversee governance, maintenance, monitoring, budgeting and capacity planning activities.
• Drive data centre projects from business case and requirements definition through tendering, implementation and service delivery.
• Manage colocation environments, vendor relationships, contracts, SLA/SLO performance and strategic partnerships.
• Design and evolve data centre solutions for Elia’s critical infrastructure, including substation environments.
• Define, implement and test high-availability, redundancy, resilience and disaster recovery strategies.
• Organise and coordinate regular continuity and recovery tests to ensure operational readiness.
• Lead and develop the Data Center team, ensuring reliable 24/7 operations in a mission-critical environment.

Skills

Data center management

Vendor management

Disaster recovery

24/7 operations

Capacity planning

Stakeholder management

Team leadership

English

Dutch

French

German (plus)

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in IT/Engineering

Job description

Elia Group is seeking an experienced Data Center Manager to oversee the reliability and evolution of our Belgian data centers. You will ensure 24/7 operations, align IT, Facilities and external partners, and drive projects across governance, budgeting and capacity planning.

In this role you will lead a team, manage vendor relationships and implement best practices for high-availability infrastructure, contributing to a resilient energy backbone for Belgium and Europe.