Data Center Chief Engineer - Cape Town Operations Lead

Amazon Web Services (AWS); Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Amazon Data Services South Africa (Pty) Ltd in Cape Town seeks a Chief Engineer to oversee electrical, mechanical, and fire/life safety systems in our data centers. You will manage daily operations, lead maintenance programs, and collaborate with internal and external teams to ensure 100% availability and rapid incident response.

The role requires extensive experience in data-center engineering or operations, plus strong leadership, safety compliance, and project management skills.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of vendor management experience.
• 4+ years in a data center or other critical environment.
• 5+ years of data center engineering or operations experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the day-to-day operations and maintenance of mechanical and electrical equipment in data centers.
• Operate independently with limited direct management.
• Assist in the design and build out of new facilities.
• Act as an escalation point for all facilities-related issues within the data center region and work OT hours as needed to support site stability.
• Perform root cause analysis of equipment failures.
• Troubleshoot and report facility and data center-level events within internal SLA.
• Create and deploy new standard practices for Engineering Operations Technicians, Chief Engineers, and vendor support teams.
• Provide training and guidance to Engineering Operations Technicians and assisting in recruiting efforts for the same.
• Ensure all safety procedures are adhered to by vendor and Amazon staff.
• Utilize internal Change Management Systems to manage building workflows.
• MV/LV Isolation to facilitate MV maintenance.
• Provide metric availability reporting on a weekly basis.
• Communicate complex technical information to a non-technical audience.

Skills

Vendor management

Data center experience

Engineering operations

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Job description

Amazon Data Services South Africa (Pty) Ltd in Cape Town seeks a Chief Engineer to oversee electrical, mechanical, and fire/life safety systems in our data centers. You will manage daily operations, lead maintenance programs, and collaborate with internal and external teams to ensure 100% availability and rapid incident response.

The role requires extensive experience in data-center engineering or operations, plus strong leadership, safety compliance, and project management skills.