Design Manager - Data Centres

COWI; Kristiansand; Hybrid; NOK 950,000 - 1,250,000; Full time

Job summary

COWI seeks a Design Manager to lead the design and technical delivery of data centre projects across Norway and beyond. You will coordinate electrical, mechanical, structural, and architectural interfaces, ensuring coherent, cost-effective solutions that meet client requirements.

You will work with multidisciplinary teams across multiple offices, driving design quality and stakeholder alignment while supporting business growth in the data centre sector.

Qualifications

• Direct experience from the design and delivery of data centre projects.
• Educational background in electrical, mechanical, civil or related engineering.
• Experience leading and coordinating multidisciplinary design teams.
• Experience across different design and delivery phases of large-scale engineering projects.
• Strong stakeholder management and customer-facing experience.
• Good understanding of the commercial aspects of project delivery.
• Professional proficiency in English.

Responsibilities

• Lead the overall design management and technical delivery of data centre projects, ensuring quality and consistency across disciplines.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary design teams and manage technical interfaces between electrical, mechanical, structural, architectural and other disciplines.
• Work closely with customers to understand project requirements and support technical decision-making throughout the project.
• Manage the design process from early concept and feasibility through detailed design, tender and construction phases.
• Identify and manage technical risks, dependencies and design changes throughout project delivery.
• Support effective collaboration across project teams, COWI offices and external partners.
• Contribute to client engagement, proposal development and the continued development of COWI's data centre business.

Skills

Multidisciplinary design

Stakeholder management

English proficiency

Data centre design

Leadership

Education

Engineering degree

Job description

Design Manager – Data Centres
Permanent
Bergen, Bodø, Drammen, Fredrikstad, Hamar, Haugesund, Kristiansand, Oslo, Stavanger, Trondheim and Tromsø
Hybrid

Do you have experience delivering complex data centre projects? Are you skilled at leading multidisciplinary design teams and coordinating technical delivery across disciplines? Then you may be the Design Manager we are looking for.

Data centres are a growing focus area for COWI, and we are strengthening our capabilities to support clients in the development and delivery of large-scale, mission-critical facilities.

As Design Manager, you will take a leading role in the design and technical delivery of data centre projects. Working across disciplines and offices, you will coordinate the overall design process, align technical interfaces and ensure that customer requirements are translated into well-coordinated solutions.

You will join a growing data centre environment in COWI and work alongside specialists across engineering, architecture and sustainability. The role offers the opportunity to work on major projects across Norway, Scandinavia and internationally, while contributing to the development and delivery of our data centre projects.

Your key responsibilities will be to:

• Lead the overall design management and technical delivery of data centre projects, ensuring quality and consistency across disciplines.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary design teams and manage technical interfaces between electrical, mechanical, structural, architectural and other disciplines.
• Work closely with customers to understand project requirements and support technical decision-making throughout the project.
• Manage the design process from early concept and feasibility through detailed design, tender and construction phases.
• Identify and manage technical risks, dependencies and design changes throughout project delivery.
• Support effective collaboration across project teams, COWI offices and external partners.
• Contribute to client engagement, proposal development and the continued development of COWI's data centre business.

Your skills. Our team. Together we design the future.

You have solid experience in design management and enjoy bringing different disciplines together around a common project goal. You are comfortable working in technically demanding projects with multiple interfaces, stakeholders and priorities, and you communicate clearly with both customers and engineering teams.

To succeed in this role, you will have:

• Direct experience from the design and delivery of data centre projects.
• A relevant educational background in engineering, such as electrical, mechanical, civil or a related discipline.
• Experience leading and coordinating multidisciplinary design teams.
• Experience working across different design and delivery phases of large-scale engineering projects.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and experience working directly with customers.
• A good understanding of the commercial aspects of project delivery.
• Professional proficiency in English.

Experience from an engineering consultancy, contractor, developer, operator or client organisation within the data centre sector would be relevant to the role.

Some projects may be subject to specific security requirements, and the ability to obtain relevant security clearance may be required.

Work location

The role can be based in any of our offices in Norway. This includes: Bergen, Bodø, Drammen, Fredrikstad, Hamar, Haugesund, Kristiansand, Oslo, Stavanger, Trondheim and Tromsø.

We work across disciplines, offices and borders, and many of our data centre projects involve teams from several locations.

A place to work and so much more

At COWI, we work together with our customers to shape a sustainable and liveable world. We do it by applying our knowledge and curiosity – and sometimes even our courage – to create the solutions the world needs today to enable a better tomorrow. We support our customers’ transition towards increased sustainability. We strive to lead by example by embedding environmental management, social responsibility and good governance into our business practices and the options we provide to our customers.

We value differences and development and cultivate an environment of belonging and having fun. Because that is what brings out the best in you, at work and at home. With offices primarily located in Scandinavia, the UK, North America and India, we are currently more than 7,500 people who bring their expertise in engineering, architecture, energy and environment into play.

Diversity is fundamental to COWI, inclusion is key

We are committed to creating a respectful and fair work environment where all employees have a sense of belonging and equitable opportunities to thrive and grow. We ensure that our leaders are role models for inclusive leadership by cultivating a culture where diverse perspectives and thoughts are seen as strengths. And we take diversity and inclusion into account in all relevant decisions and processes and when setting teams and fora. We do it because it is part of our values and because it is simply the right thing to do.

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