Lead Principal Data Center Facilities Engineer in Melbourne

Serves as the engineering Subject Matter Expert (SME) for all data center delivery processes related to maintenance and repair of critical infrastructure from liquid to chip. Leads and executes the needed efforts related to change management, administration, and performing maintenance and repair in mission-critical environments. Focus on representing needs of consultation for deployment for new delivery/capacity.

Operates with the highest autonomy to drive reliability, safety, compliance, and efficiency across global sites, setting standards and governance for design, operations, maintenance, commissioning, and change management. Serves as the principal engineering escalation point for novel and complex issues spanning electrical, mechanical, and controls systems; formulates advanced, scalable solutions that reduce risk and elevate service uptime, cost efficiency, and operational maturity.

Influences multi-year planning and portfolio decisions across design, construction, commissioning, and operations; harmonises practices across regions and vendors, and represents the function in executive discussions and post-incident reviews.

Key Responsibilities

• Critical Environment Maintenance Support: Define and govern enterprise standards for preventive and predictive maintenance across electrical, mechanical, liquid to chip, and life-safety systems; ensure consistent execution and documentation across all sites. Lead advanced diagnostics for systemic reliability issues; drive remediation programs that eliminate recurring failure modes and materially improve site availability and energy efficiency. Set performance targets and reliability KPIs; establish dashboards and audits to validate adherence to SLAs and regulatory requirements.
• Incident Management and Operation Improvement: Lead high-severity incident response across regions; coordinate rapid stabilization, stakeholder communications, and executive updates; ensure durable corrective and preventive actions are implemented at scale. Institutionalise standardized root cause analysis (RCA) methodologies and CAPA governance; track cross-site action closure and effectiveness. Develop and maintain enterprise emergency operations plans; run simulation exercises and implement continuous improvements based on lessons learned.
• Site Commissioning and Build: Lead technical oversight for site assessments, design reviews, uptime requirements, commissioning strategy, and integrated systems testing on high-priority builds and retrofits. Approve commissioning documentation and acceptance criteria; validate performance against design intent, reliability targets, and maintainability standards before handover. Drive cross-functional alignment (design, construction, commissioning, operations) to integrate new systems with existing infrastructure and tooling.
• Data Center Operations Management: Serve as principal SME for complex and novel scenarios in operations of mission-critical systems (power, cooling, BAS, fire/life safety); lead CAB process for change management and operational readiness for upgrades and expansion. Govern operational procedures, MOP/SOP/EOP standards, and access controls; ensure safe work practices and audit readiness across all facilities. Align operations with capacity, performance, and sustainability objectives; oversee optimization initiatives that reduce PUE, improve utilisation, and control operating costs.
• Engineering Design, Leadership, and Governance: Define and maintain best-in-class policies, technical standards, and playbooks; chair engineering review boards and the process for high-risk changes. Provide senior engineering guidance for complex design challenges, lifecycle strategies, and modernization roadmaps (e.g., controls upgrades, UPS/generator strategies, cooling transformations). Prepare and review technical reports and business cases that guide investment decisions and long-horizon planning.
• Training and Knowledge Sharing: Define competency standards and training curricula for facilities teams and partners; mentor senior engineers and lead cross-site knowledge-sharing forums. Develop and deliver advanced training on complex systems, incident response, and change management; certify proficiency for high-risk procedures. Publish lessons learned and best practices from RCAs, commissioning, and optimization programs to uplift global operational maturity.
• Colocation Vendor Management: Spearhead collaboration with design, facility engineering, and operations teams to validate designs, influence decision-making, and ensure tenant improvement works alignment with operations objectives. Set organisational vendor strategy and performance expectations; oversee selection, onboarding, and governance for colocation partners and critical service providers. Ensure contract compliance, safety adherence, and availability of critical spares, consumables, and fuel; direct the most complex escalations and joint remediation for systemic issues. Use performance analytics and SLAs to drive continuous improvement and cost optimization with vendors across the organisation.

Core Responsibilities

• Collaboration & Partnership: Influences cross-functional leaders and external stakeholders to gain alignment on strategic objectives. Fosters partnerships with key business leaders, stakeholders, and/or customers, identifying opportunities for expanding partnerships and promoting long-term organisational success. Champions transparency and inclusivity by actively seeking, listening to, and incorporating diverse perspectives.
• Continuous Improvement: Drives implementation of ideas that increase the efficiency and effectiveness of processes, protocols, and workflows across the department. Seeks and integrates diverse feedback on approaches and methods for continued improvement to enhance efficiencies and ensure changes align with organisational goals.
• Planning & Execution: Manages and provides direction on timelines and budgets for critical high-impact projects, ensuring timely completion and adherence to requirements. Anticipates and plans for shifts in resources or timelines based on changing business priorities, ensuring optimal outcomes.
• Problem Solving: Leads specialized, advanced problem-solving efforts, serving as an escalation point for highly complex issues. Guides others to leverage innovative data-driven techniques to address ambiguous or novel issues, identify root causes, and implement solutions that prevent future issues.
• Continuous Learning: Leverages deep industry knowledge and expertise within a specialty area to serve as a thought leader within the organisation. Maintains and evolves expertise in relevant areas by proactively monitoring emerging trends, technologies, and industry standards, ensuring the organisation remains current with best practices. Champions continuous learning, promoting professional development across teams. Applies new knowledge to drive advancement and mentors others to do the same.