VP, Data Centre Operations EMEA

Confidential; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential is seeking a senior leader to own and drive Data Center Operations for the EMEA region, including 24x7 uptime, safety, and customer-focused performance. You will shape regional plans from corporate strategy and represent EMEA with executives, the board, and investors.

You will partner with the NAM VP and Development/Ops Engineering to embed operational requirements, lead incident response, and manage OpEx/CapEx while expanding new sites and capabilities across multiple countries.

Qualifications

• Senior operations leadership in colocation, hyperscale, or mission-critical multi-site environments.
• Experience delivering new site launches, operational startups, or capacity expansion programs.
• Deep understanding of critical environment operations (electrical, mechanical, cooling, controls) and commissioning.
• Strong commercial and financial capability, including OpEx/CapEx budgeting.
• Experience developing technical training programs and building site team capability.

Responsibilities

• Lead Operations across the EMEA region as the senior operational leader and translate strategy into regional plans.
• Represent EMEA Operations with Executive Leadership, the Board, investors, and key customers.
• Coordinate with VP Operations NAM to align standards and share learnings.
• Own 24x7 critical operations across EMEA sites with uptime, safety and SLA accountability.
• Govern operational standards, SOPs/MOPs/EOPs, and KPIs across sites.
• Lead incident management, RCA, and disaster recovery; ensure business continuity.
• Champion safety programs and regulatory, environmental, H&S, and certifications.
• Own and optimize OpEx across the region; plan CapEx and capacity forecasting.
• Lead new site startup readiness, staffing, onboarding, and GNOC integration.
• Drive technical training region-wide and ensure teams stay certified and current.
• Maintain executive relationships with key customers and oversee escalations.
• Oversee supplier management and adoption of automation and digital monitoring tools.
• Coach and develop regional leaders; foster high performance and accountability.
• Travel internationally ~30%.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Incident management

Budgeting

People development

Job description

• Lead Operations across the EMEA region as its senior operational leader; translate corporate strategy into regional plans and represent EMEA Operations with Executive Leadership, the Board, investors, and key customers.
• Liaise regularly with the VP Operations NAM counterpart to align standards, share incident learnings and best practice, and ensure a consistent global operating model for customers.
• Liaise with Development (design & construction) and Operations Engineering (standards, field engineering, commissioning) to embed operational requirements in new designs and retrofits and ensure clean commissioning and handover.

Critical Data Center Operations – EMEA Sites

• Own 24x7 critical operations across current EMEA sites, with accountability for uptime, availability, safety, and SLA performance, including critical environment management (electrical, mechanical, cooling, controls) and lifecycle management of critical assets.
• Implement and govern operational standards, SOPs/MOPs/EOPs, maintenance and change management frameworks, and KPIs (uptime, SLA, MTTR, energy, safety, staffing, customer experience) across all EMEA sites.
• Lead incident management, escalation, and RCA with timely, transparent customer communication; ensure business continuity and disaster recovery processes are maintained and tested; partner with the GNOC for 24x7 monitoring and service continuity.
• Champion the global safety program and ensure compliance with regulatory, environmental, H&S, and certification requirements (ISO, SOC, customer-specific) across the region.
• Own and optimize OpEx across the region.

New Site Startup & Hiring – EMEA

• Lead operational readiness and startup for new EMEA sites as they come onstream, from design review and commissioning support through to steady-state operations.
• Define staffing models; recruit, onboard, and train site leadership and critical facilities teams ahead of service commencement; establish SOPs, maintenance regimes, spares, vendor and utility contracts, and GNOC integration for each new facility.

Technical Training

• Drive technical training across the region, ensuring site teams are trained, certified, and current on critical systems, procedures, and safety practices.
• Provide guidance on the direction and content of training collateral, partnering with Operations Engineering to keep programs aligned with standards and evolving technology.
• Own executive relationships with key EMEA customers; oversee escalations and ensure SLAs and contractual commitments are consistently achieved, with transparent reporting and service reviews.
• Lead regional OpEx and CapEx planning, forecasting, and cost control; partner with Finance on cost modelling for new sites and expansions; oversee long-term capacity planning across power, space, cooling, and staffing.
• Manage strategic supplier and vendor relationships and drive adoption of automation and digital tools to improve monitoring, maintenance, and efficiency.
• Lead, coach, and develop operational leaders and teams; build succession plans and foster a high-performance culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications:

• Proven senior operations leadership in colocation, hyperscale, or mission-critical multi-site environments, with accountability for uptime, safety, customer service, and financial performance.
• Demonstrated success delivering new site launches, operational startup, or capacity expansion programs across multiple locations.
• Deep understanding of critical environment operations (electrical, mechanical, cooling, controls), maintenance regimes, and commissioning.
• Strong commercial and financial capability, including managing significant OpEx and CapEx budgets and long-term capacity planning.
• Experience developing technical training programs and building site team capability.
• Customer-focused mindset with experience managing escalations, service delivery, and executive stakeholder relationships.
• Proven ability to recruit, lead, and develop high-performing teams across geographies, with honesty and integrity and excellent communication and influencing skills.

Role involves international travel (approximately 30%).