Chief Data Center Engineer

Chief Data Center Engineer
Location: Dallas, TX
Type: Direct Hire

•Target annual compensation package: $600, 000–$850, 000
•100% company-paid benefits
•Relocation assistance available for non-local candidates
•Available equity buyout program

Overview

We are seeking a Chief Data Center Engineer to serve as the senior technical authority for a rapidly scaling GPUaaS / CaaS infrastructure company operating at the forefront of high-performance computing, AI infrastructure, and next-generation cloud platforms.

This company is building and scaling advanced compute environments designed to support GPU-intensive workloads, AI/ML platforms, high-density infrastructure, and mission-critical customer deployments. As demand for GPU capacity, high-performance compute, and cloud infrastructure continues to accelerate, the organization is investing heavily in the engineering leadership, technical standards, and infrastructure platforms required to support aggressive growth.

The Chief Data Center Engineer will own the technical direction, engineering standards, infrastructure design philosophy, and lifecycle performance of large-scale data center environments. This is a strategic, hands-on technical leadership role focused on engineering rigor, scalability, resiliency, operational readiness, and repeatable infrastructure delivery.

This is not a purely executive oversight position. The ideal candidate is a true player-coach engineering leader who can operate at both the systems architecture level and the detailed technical level. This person must be technically credible across electrical, mechanical, cooling, controls, commissioning, resiliency, and operations, while also being able to influence executive stakeholders and guide multidisciplinary teams through complex infrastructure decisions.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Engineering Authority

•Serve as the senior engineering authority for large-scale GPUaaS / CaaS data center infrastructure programs
•Lead technical decision-making across planning, design, construction, commissioning, turnover, operations, resiliency, and lifecycle optimization
•Establish engineering standards, technical baselines, infrastructure design governance, and repeatable delivery frameworks
•Drive technical consistency across electrical, mechanical, cooling, controls, automation, and resiliency disciplines
•Act as the escalation point for complex design issues, infrastructure constraints, system tradeoffs, technical risks, and operational readiness concerns
•Provide hands-on technical guidance to internal engineering teams, consultants, EPCM partners, OEMs, vendors, and third-party technical advisors

High-Density Compute Infrastructure Design

•Ensure facility designs support GPU-intensive workloads, high-density compute environments, resilient power architectures, advanced cooling strategies, and long-term operational sustainability
•Lead multidisciplinary engineering reviews focused on integration, scalability, maintainability, performance, safety, reliability, and operational efficiency
•Evaluate emerging infrastructure technologies across liquid cooling, power distribution, controls integration, automation, resiliency, and energy optimization
•Develop technical standards for power architecture, cooling systems, controls integration, system redundancy, equipment selection, and lifecycle reliability
•Partner with engineering consultants, EPCM firms, OEMs, utilities, vendors, and technical partners to validate solutions and resolve design challenges
•Ensure infrastructure decisions align with business growth, customer delivery requirements, platform performance, schedule demands, and long-term reliability goals

Engineering Process & Program Execution

•Own engineering process execution and drive technical delivery across fast-moving infrastructure development programs
•Align engineering teams around schedule, quality, technical readiness, milestone commitments, commissioning requirements, and operational handoff
•Lead engineering change management, technical risk mitigation, design reviews, QA/QC processes, and lifecycle governance
•Develop and monitor KPIs tied to reliability, efficiency, engineering quality, maintainability, system performance, commissioning readiness, and operational outcomes
•Maintain strong documentation standards across design decisions, technical requirements, commissioning inputs, lessons learned, and infrastructure governance
•Build repeatable engineering practices that support rapid scale, multi-site deployment, and long-term platform standardization

Cross-Functional Leadership

•Partner closely with operations, construction, procurement, commissioning, finance, vendors, consultants, utilities, and executive leadership
•Translate complex engineering issues into clear recommendations for business leaders, investors, operators, and non-technical stakeholders
•Serve as the systems-level leader connecting decisions across power, cooling, controls, construction, commissioning, operations, and customer delivery
•Support hiring, mentoring, training, and development of engineering talent across the organization
•Promote a culture of engineering excellence, accountability, documentation discipline, safety, operational readiness, and continuous improvement
•Help the organization scale from high-growth execution into a repeatable, standardized, world-class infrastructure delivery model

Required Qualifications

•Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline
•10+ years of experience in mission-critical data center engineering, infrastructure design, technical operations, or large-scale facility engineering
•Experience supporting hyperscale, colocation, cloud, enterprise, high-density, HPC, AI, GPU, or compute-intensive data center environments
•Strong understanding of data center power distribution, cooling systems, resiliency, controls, commissioning, operational readiness, and lifecycle reliability
•Broad technical fluency across mechanical, electrical, cooling, controls, and infrastructure systems
•Proven ability to lead engineering programs across the full lifecycle, from concept and design through construction, commissioning, turnover, operations, and optimization
•Experience developing engineering standards, technical design governance, risk mitigation processes, and infrastructure documentation
•Strong communication skills with the ability to influence technical teams, business stakeholders, vendors, consultants, and executive leadership
•Demonstrated systems-level thinking with the ability to understand how facility disciplines interact across complex infrastructure programs

Preferred Background

•Prior experience as a Chief Engineer, Principal Engineer, Director of Engineering, Data Center Design Engineering Leader, or equivalent senior technical infrastructure leader
•Experience with GPUaaS, CaaS, high-density compute, AI infrastructure, HPC, cloud infrastructure, or advanced technical facilities
•Background in hyperscale, large colocation, mission-critical facilities, cloud infrastructure, or data center engineering consulting environments
•Experience with liquid cooling, direct-to-chip cooling, advanced power systems, controls integration, automation, or large-scale resiliency architecture
•Track record of leading engineering teams through rapid infrastructure scaling, standardization, or multi-site deployment initiatives
•Experience supporting 24/7 mission-critical operations where uptime, safety, performance, and speed of execution are critical