Data Center Business Systems Architect

Prime Data Centers develops, acquires, and operates data centers for some of the world's largest enterprises. A private firm owned by a group controlling $6 billion in assets, with a 15-year tenure in technology and real estate development, Prime provides customers with ownership options and dynamic leasing models, defining a true corporate partnership.

About the role

We are seeking an experienced, player-coach IT Operations Manager to lead the day-to-day delivery of IT services across our corporate office and growing data center portfolio. Reporting to the VP of IT & Cybersecurity, you will own run-the-business IT operations — service delivery, infrastructure health, patching, backups, and network availability — while leading and developing a team of systems, network, and helpdesk professionals. This is a hands-on leadership role: you will remain technically engaged in the environment, act as the senior escalation point, and take an active on-site role in the design, installation, and commissioning of IT infrastructure for new data center sites, with additional sites expected in the future. You will be a key partner in scaling the IT organization as the company grows.

Responsibilities

• Team Leadership: Lead, coach, and develop the IT Operations team (systems administration, network administration, and helpdesk), including 1:1s, performance management, growth plans, and hiring against the approved phased headcount plan.
• Service Delivery & ITSM: Own IT service delivery outcomes in ITSM — SLA performance, queue health, escalation paths, customer satisfaction, and operational reporting to leadership.
• Player-Coach Engineering: Remain hands-on across the core stack — Windows / Linux Servers, virtual environments and backup servers, Microsoft 365 (Entra ID, Exchange Online, Intune, SharePoint Online, etc.), Grafana, and enterprise networking — serving as the team's senior technical escalation point.
• Site Deployment & Commissioning: Travel 30–40% to lead the IT scope of new data center site deployments: rack and network design coordination, structured cabling oversight, server and network commissioning, and go-live support in partnership with construction and critical operations teams.
• Infrastructure Lifecycle: Own the patching and vulnerability remediation program for servers and critical endpoints, backup integrity and restore testing, storage and NAS health, capacity planning, and hardware/software asset lifecycle and procurement.
• Monitoring & Observability: Partner with IT & Cybersecurity leadership on the Grafana observability build — consolidating logs and telemetry from critical IT systems and Building Management System (BMS) sources — and manage maintenance windows and on-call coverage.
• Security & Compliance Partnership: Enforce security baselines and configuration standards; support investigation workflows for alerts escalated by SOC Team; provide evidence and control support to the Compliance Manager for ISO 27001:2022, SOC 2, and PCI DSS audits.
• Vendor & Budget Management: Manage IT vendors, service contracts, licensing, and renewals; provide input to annual opex/capex budgeting and track spend against plan.
• Process & Documentation: Establish and maintain runbooks, configuration standards, change management discipline, and documentation so the environment is supportable beyond any single individual.

Requirements

• Required Experience: 5–8 years of progressive IT infrastructure and operations experience, including 2+ years directly managing or leading technical staff (systems administrators, network administrators, or support technicians).
• Technical Depth: Demonstrated hands-on depth in Windows & Linux Server administration, Microsoft 365 tenant administration, virtualization (VMware, Hyper-V, or Proxmox VE), and backup/recovery operations.
• Networking: Solid enterprise networking fundamentals (routing, switching, VLANs, firewalls, wireless) with the ability to guide and quality-check network administration work.
• Service Management: Experience running or materially improving an ITSM practice — SLAs, escalation management, and service reporting (Service Now, Zendesk, or similar ITSM or comparable platforms).
• Multi-Site & Data Center: Experience supporting multi-site infrastructure; direct exposure to data center environments, site buildouts, commissioning, or construction-adjacent IT delivery strongly preferred.
• Security & Compliance: Working knowledge of security and compliance operations — patching and vulnerability management discipline, access reviews, and audit support for frameworks such as ISO 27001:2022, SOC 2, or PCI DSS.
• Flexibility & Mobility: Ability and willingness to travel 30–40% to regional and new-build sites; valid driver's license required.
• Leadership & Communication: Clear communicator who can translate technical status into business terms for executive stakeholders, with strong organizational discipline and a coaching mindset.

Qualifications

• Certifications such as ITIL 4 Foundation, CompTIA Security+ or Network+, CCNA, Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102), or PMP.
• Experience in mission-critical, colocation, hyperscale, or other 24/7 uptime-driven environments.
• Exposure to international or multi-entity IT operations.

Physical Requirements

• Heavy Lifting: Ability to lift, carry, and move IT hardware — including servers, switches, UPS batteries, and NAS units — weighing up to 50 lbs during site deployments.
• Mobility & Dexterity: Ability to bend, kneel, crouch, and reach to inspect racks, trace cabling, and support hardware installation during commissioning work.
• Prolonged Positioning: Ability to stand or walk for extended periods on active construction and data center sites.

Benefits

• Competitive salary range of $125k with an annual performance bonus program
• 401k fully vested upon enrollment, up to a 4% employer match
• 100% employee premiums paid by employer for medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability
• Paid Time Off + Sick time