Critical Facilities Manager-Data Center

ABM industries; Whitney (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

ABM Industries is seeking a Critical Facility Manager to lead 24/7 data center operations, overseeing electrical, mechanical, controls, and vendor-supported systems. You will coordinate with client teams, onsite staff, and subcontractors to ensure uptime, safety, and compliance with SOPs and change-control processes.

This role emphasizes startup readiness, IST support, and continuous improvement in performance metrics.

Qualifications

• 7–10 years in mission-critical facilities or data center ops.
• Experience with hyperscale or large-scale data centers.
• Experience leading 24/7 technical teams.
• Knowledge of switchgear, UPS, generators, ATS/STS.
• Familiar with chillers, CRAH/CRAC units, pumps, BAS/BMS.
• Experience with SOPs, MOPs, EOPs, incident response, risk mitigation.
• Ability to read one-lines, P&IDs, sequences of operation.

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day leadership of mission-critical facility operations.
• Serve as primary on-site liaison with the client and manage communication.
• Support startup, IST, turnover, and go-live prep.
• Ensure work follows SOPs, MOPs, EOPs and safety procedures.
• Maintain uptime, reliability, and regulatory compliance.
• Oversee critical infrastructure and BAS/BMS controls.
• Manage CMMS, maintenance history, and vendor coordination.
• Drive continuous improvement in uptime and client satisfaction.

Skills

Facility leadership

24/7 operations

Vendor coordination

Operational excellence

Client liaison

Safety & compliance

Data center ops

Tools

CMMS

BMS/SCADA

Job description

Overview

The Critical Facility Manager (CFM) is responsible for the overall leadership, operation, and performance of mission-critical facility services supporting a 24/7 data center environment. This role provides on-site leadership for operations teams, ensures compliance with contractual and client requirements, and oversees the safe, reliable operation of mechanical, electrical, controls, and vendor-supported systems.

The CFM serves as the primary on-site operational point of contact for the client and coordinates across internal teams, technicians, vendors, OEMs, and subcontractors to maintain uptime, safety, procedural discipline, and operational excellence. This role is especially important during site startup, integrated systems testing (IST), commissioning support, turnover, and transition into steady-state operations.

ABM offers a comprehensive benefits package. For information about ABM's benefits, visit ABM

ABM Benefits Information

Responsibilities

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day leadership and oversight of mission-critical facility operations, including electrical, mechanical, HVAC, controls, life safety, and vendor-supported services.
• Serve as the primary on-site operational liaison with the client, managing communication, expectations, issue resolution, performance metrics, and service delivery.
• Support site startup, commissioning readiness, integrated systems testing (IST), operational turnover, and go-live preparation.
• Ensure all work is performed in strict accordance with approved SOPs, MOPs, EOPs, safety procedures, change-control requirements, and client expectations.
• Maintain a zero-impact culture focused on uptime, reliability, protection of critical loads, risk mitigation, and procedural compliance.
• Oversee operation of critical infrastructure, including utility service, switchgear, UPS systems, generators, ATS/STS equipment, electrical distribution, chillers, CRAH/CRAC units, pumps, cooling systems, and BAS/BMS controls.
• Monitor facility systems, KPIs/CPIs, SLAs, alarms, maintenance performance, and operational trends to ensure compliance and continuous improvement.
• Lead incident response, escalation, client communication, post-incident review, root cause analysis, and corrective action tracking.
• Review, approve, and coordinate planned maintenance, switching activities, outage-related procedures, vendor work, and high-risk activities.
• Oversee staffing, scheduling, onboarding, training, performance management, and technical development of on-site facility personnel.
• Partner with recruiting and leadership teams to support selection and onboarding of site leads and critical facilities technicians.
• Manage CMMS utilization, including work order accuracy, preventive maintenance compliance, asset documentation, labor reporting, and maintenance history.
• Coordinate third-party vendors, OEMs, and subcontractors performing on-site services.
• Support budget management, cost control, invoice review, change order coordination, and contract-related administration.
• Promote and enforce safety, environmental, regulatory, and site-specific requirements, including participation in audits and inspections.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on uptime, reliability, efficiency, safety, documentation quality, and client satisfaction.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Minimum 7-10 years of experience in mission-critical facilities, data center operations, critical environments, or closely related infrastructure operations.
• Direct experience supporting hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, or large-scale data center environments strongly preferred.
• Prior experience leading technical teams in a 24/7 critical facility environment.
• Demonstrated knowledge of critical electrical infrastructure, including switchgear, UPS systems, generators, ATS/STS equipment, electrical distribution, and emergency power operations.
• Demonstrated knowledge of critical mechanical infrastructure, including chillers, CRAH/CRAC units, pumps, cooling systems, airflow management, BAS/BMS controls, and redundancy strategies.
• Experience with SOPs, MOPs, EOPs, change control, incident response, root cause analysis, and risk mitigation in a critical environment.
• Ability to read and interpret technical documentation, one-lines, P&IDs, sequences of operation, equipment manuals, maintenance procedures, and commissioning documents.
• Strong understanding of uptime expectations, SLA/CPI performance requirements, client reporting, and operational