Data Center Logistics Lead

Milestone Technologies is a global IT managed services firm that partners with organizations to scale their technology, infrastructure, and services to drive specific business outcomes such as digital transformation, innovation, and operational agility. With over 25 years of experience, Milestone supports category-defining enterprise clients and specializes in solutions across Application Services and Consulting, Digital Product Engineering, Digital Workplace Services, Private Cloud Services, AI/Automation, and ServiceNow. The company fosters a collaborative, inclusive, and employee-first culture, empowering professionals to deliver transformational benefits to IT through best practices, continuous improvement, and intelligent automation. Milestone serves over 200 companies worldwide with more than 3,000 employees.

About the Role

The Data Center Logistics Team Lead manages data center logistics operations across assigned client sites, buildings, shifts, or service areas. This role owns operational performance, service delivery, safety compliance, team leadership, inventory control, client engagement, and continuous improvement for logistics services supporting data center operations. The Team Lead leads supervisors, leads, specialists, and associates while partnering with client stakeholders, service delivery leadership, vendors, and cross-functional teams to ensure safe, accurate, timely, and compliant execution of inbound, outbound, deployment, inventory, and material movement services.

This role operates within an active data center construction and deployment environment, which may include construction zones, loading docks, staging areas, equipment pathways, partially completed data halls, and areas with ongoing trade activity. Work conditions may involve exposure to moving equipment, construction materials, uneven surfaces, elevated noise levels, and other construction-related hazards. Strict adherence to site safety rules, posted signage, access restrictions, and direction from safety personnel is required. Employees must remain aware of their surroundings, use designated walkways, and report unsafe conditions immediately.

Responsibilities

• Manage end-to-end logistics operations for assigned data center site, campus, region, or service area, including inbound receiving, outbound shipping, inventory control, rack deployment support, warehouse operations, staging, internal transport, cycle counts, and service request fulfillment.
• Lead, coach, develop, and performance-manage logistics leads, specialists, and associates.
• Establish daily, weekly, and monthly priorities aligned with client requirements, service level agreements (SLAs), and operational KPIs.
• Ensure safe movement of all parts, materials, racks, equipment, and inventory into, out of, and around client data centers.
• Own operational performance metrics, including inventory accuracy, cycle count completion, shipment timeliness, receiving accuracy, backlog, safety performance, and service quality.
• Maintain inventory control standards, ensuring accurate system transactions, audit readiness, and documentation compliance.
• Review and resolve escalations related to shortages, damaged materials, shipment discrepancies, capacity constraints, system issues, vendor delays, and service-impacting blockers.
• Partner with client data center operations, construction, facilities, procurement, security, finance, transportation, and deployment teams.
• Manage staffing plans, schedules, shift coverage, workload balancing, and resource allocation.
• Develop and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Work Instructions, training plans, and process control documentation.
• Drive root cause analysis and corrective actions for inventory variances, safety incidents, missed SLAs, and process failures.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency, quality, safety, cost control, and customer satisfaction.
• Support business reviews, client reporting, operational dashboards, and leadership updates.
• Ensure compliance with client policies, company standards, regulatory requirements, security protocols, and safety procedures.
• Manage vendor interactions, carrier coordination, material planning, and service execution.
• Support new site launches, expansions, transitions, rack deployment programs, and special projects.
• Foster a culture of accountability, urgency, collaboration, open communication, respect, and operational excellence.

Requirements

• High School Diploma, GED, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of experience in logistics, warehouse operations, supply chain, inventory control, data center operations, IT service delivery, or a related field.
• 2+ years of experience leading teams in a supervisory or management capacity.
• Demonstrated experience managing operational KPIs, service levels, staffing, escalations, and process compliance.
• Strong knowledge of warehouse operations, inventory management, shipping, receiving, asset control, and material handling practices.
• Experience with inventory management systems, ticketing systems, asset management platforms, WMS, ERP, or similar operational tools.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, especially Excel, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Teams.
• Excellent written, verbal, and client-facing communication skills.
• Proven ability to build relationships with client stakeholders, vendors, leadership, and cross-functional teams.
• Ability to make timely decisions, prioritize competing demands, and manage operations under pressure.
• Experience developing or enforcing SOPs, Work Instructions, training procedures, and safety standards.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and root cause analysis skills.
• Ability to lead in a fast-paced, changing, high-security operational environment.
• Ability to safely access warehouse and data center environments, including extended walking and standing as required.
• Ability to pass required background checks, motor vehicle record checks, or site-specific screenings where applicable.

Qualifications (Preferred)

• Bachelor’s degree in Logistics, Supply Chain, Business, Operations Management, Information Technology, or a related field.
• 7+ years of logistics, supply chain, data center, technical warehousing, or IT hardware operations experience.
• 3+ years of direct people management experience.
• Experience managing logistics operations in a hyperscale data center, cloud infrastructure, colocation, or high-security technical environment.
• Experience with new site launches, greenfield deployments, rack deployment programs, OFCI material flows, construction logistics, or large-scale infrastructure projects.
• Certifications in logistics, supply chain, project management, Lean, Six Sigma, safety, or inventory management.
• Experience managing cycle count programs, physical inventories, audits, and compliance reporting.
• Experience with budget awareness, labor planning, vendor management, and operational forecasting.
• Familiarity with service delivery frameworks, SLA management, and executive-level reporting.

Work Environment

Physical Environment: Work is performed in onsite data center and warehouse environments, including secure data halls, loading docks, staging areas, inventory control rooms, deployment areas, and administrative spaces. Regular walking of operational areas is required to verify safety, service execution, inventory controls, and team performance.

Safety Standards: Accountable for promoting and enforcing a safety-first culture. Must ensure compliance with site safety procedures, PPE requirements, material handling standards, equipment certification, incident reporting, corrective actions, and client-specific safety programs.

Required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Must be worn at all times in designated construction or deployment areas and may include:

• Hard hat
• Steel-toed safety boots
• High-visibility vest or approved high-visibility clothing
• Safety eyewear/eye protection
• Work gloves

Shift Expectations: Must support operational coverage across assigned shifts and respond to escalations outside standard business hours. Flexibility may be required for nights, weekends, holidays, major deployments, physical inventories, client audits, emergency shipments, and launch activities.

Dress Code/PPE: Must comply with site dress code and PPE requirements, including safety footwear, high-visibility vest, gloves, hard hat, eye protection, hearing protection, ESD protection, or other client-required PPE.

Security Requirements: Responsible for ensuring team adherence to data center security policies, including access control, badge usage, escort procedures, visitor/vendor access, restricted areas, chain of custody, confidentiality, and incident escalation. Background checks, client security approval, and site-specific training may be required.

Unique Working Conditions: Operates in a high-security, high-availability environment where logistics errors can impact deployment timelines, client operations, inventory integrity, and service performance. The role requires balancing hands-on operational visibility with leadership responsibilities, client engagement, process ownership, and rapid issue resolution.

Travel Requirements: Ability and willingness to travel up to 25% to support assigned sites, client meetings, business reviews, launch activities, training, audits, escalations, or special projects.