Senior Manager, Physical Infrastructure Engineering

digitalocean98; Sandston (VA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

DigitalOcean is seeking a Senior Manager of Physical Infrastructure Engineering to lead electrical, mechanical, and controls/automation teams responsible for data center infrastructure globally. You will own engineering standards, supervision of buildouts, and vendor relationships, ensuring reliable operation of AI/GPU cooling and power systems.

You will manage a diverse engineering group, drive root-cause analysis, and implement governance for changes across sites.

Qualifications

• BS in Electrical/Mechanical/Chemical engineering or equivalent.
• 10+ years in mission-critical engineering incl. data center infra.
• 5+ years leading engineering teams.
• 5+ years managing outsourced engineering teams.
• Hands-on experience with liquid cooling, UPS, gens, switchgear, controls/automation platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead multidisciplinary team for electrical, mechanical, controls infra and construction.
• Develop and own engineering standards for AI/GPU data centers, including cooling and power.
• Serve as technical authority for infrastructure issues across Site Ops and Design & Deployment.
• Provide engineering due diligence on new facilities before signing.
• Own vendor/OEM infra engineering relationships and drive root-cause analysis.
• Sign off on infrastructure specifications, documentation, and change governance.
• Collaborate with Site Ops, Deployment, Construction, and Design to ensure practical standards.
• Track reliability metrics and prioritize engineering investment.

Skills

Electrical engineering

Mechanical engineering

Leadership

Outsourcing management

Controls/automation

Education

BS in Electrical/Mechanical/Chemical Engineering

Tools

Liquid cooling systems

CDUs

UPS

Generators

Switchgear

Job description

Dive in and do the best work of your career at DigitalOcean. Journey alongside a strong community of top talent who are relentless in their drive to build the simplest scalable cloud. If you have a growth mindset, naturally like to think big and bold, and are energized by the fast-paced environment of a true industry disruptor, you'll find your place here. We value winning together-while learning, having fun, and making a profound difference for the dreamers and builders in the world.

We are looking for a Senior Manager of Physical Infrastructure Engineering who is passionate about the electrical, mechanical, and controls engineering that keeps leading-edge AI/GPU infrastructure running reliably at scale.

As Senior Manager of Physical Infrastructure Engineering, you will lead a multidisciplinary engineering team - electrical, mechanical, controls/automation, and infrastructure engineering and construction - responsible for the standards, specifications, and technical decisions that every new build, retrofit, and deployment across DigitalOcean's global footprint must meet. You are the technical authority for data center infrastructure: Design & Deployment executes floor layouts and installs against your team's standards; you own the standards themselves, the engineering judgment behind them, and the reliability outcomes that follow. This role reports directly to the VP of Data Center Operations & Engineering.

What You'll Do:

Lead and grow a multidisciplinary team covering electrical, mechanical, controls/automation, and data center infrastructure engineering and construction.

Develop and own engineering standards and specifications for AI/GPU data centers, including liquid cooling (CDU sizing, secondary loop design, leak detection), power distribution, and controls/automation.

Serve as the technical authority and final engineering escalation point for infrastructure issues that Site Operations and Design & Deployment cannot resolve at their level.

Provide engineering due diligence on new colocation and build-to-suit facilities before signing - power capacity, cooling topology, electrical infrastructure condition, and expansion feasibility.

Own vendor and OEM infrastructure engineering relationships (e.g., CDU, UPS, generator, and switchgear manufacturers) - drive root-cause engagements when infrastructure fails, and hold vendors accountable for design defects, not just field service.

Lead or sponsor root-cause analysis for infrastructure-driven incidents, and own the resulting engineering corrective actions through to verified completion, not just documentation.

Own infrastructure specifications, technical documentation, and change governance - nothing changes at the infrastructure layer without engineering sign-off.

Partner with Site Operations, Deployment, Construction, and Design organizations to ensure engineering standards are practical to build and operate, not just technically correct on paper.

Track and report on infrastructure reliability metrics across the fleet, and prioritize engineering investment against the highest-risk, highest-recurrence failure modes.

Lead compliance review of infrastructure standards against relevant codes and safety requirements (e.g., NFPA 70E, electrical code, two-person energized work rules) in partnership with Legal and EHS.

Build and maintain an audit process for reviewing existing sites against current engineering standards, and prioritize remediation of out-of-compliance assets.

Manage outsourced engineering talent where required to keep up with workload.

Develop engineering and construction talent on your team and build a succession plan for key technical authority roles.

Travel: Expect 20-30% travel for new-site due diligence, commissioning support, and vendor/OEM engineering reviews.

Key Metrics:

• Reduction in infrastructure-driven incidents and repeat failure modes (risk-to-reoccur trending down, not flat).
• Standardization coverage - percentage of fleet reviewed and brought into compliance with current engineering standards.
• Time-to-root-cause and time-to-corrective-action on infrastructure engineering escalations.
• Reliable engineering support of new-site expansion (due diligence turnaround time, defect-free commissioning).
• Scalability of the engineering organization relative to footprint growth.

What You'll Add to DigitalOcean:

• BS in Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, or related Engineering discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years in mission-critical engineering, including direct experience with data center infrastructure.
• 5+ years leading engineering teams, including hiring, developing, and retaining senior technical talent.
• 5+ years experience managing outsourced engineering teams.
• Deep hands-on experience with liquid cooling systems (chillers, heat exchangers, pumps, CDUs, secondary loop design, leak detection and mitigation), UPS, generators, switchgear, and controls/automation platforms.
• Experience running or dire