Senior Manager, Data Center Operations

Preferred Skills / Certifications

• Experience in mission-critical environments such as hyperscale data centers, utilities, industrial operations, healthcare, telecom, semiconductor, manufacturing, or large-scale facilities.
• Experience managing vendors supporting facilities operations, maintenance services, electrical systems, mechanical systems, commissioning, construction support, critical infrastructure, or technical service delivery.
• Familiarity with structured supplier governance models, supplier segmentation, performance scorecards, benchmarking, cost reduction, service-level management, and corrective action planning.
• Experience supporting or leading vendor audits, compliance reviews, safety documentation reviews, insurance tracking, contract renewals, service transitions, or supplier remediation plans.
• Experience building or scaling vendor management processes, dashboards, operating rhythms, and governance standards across multiple sites or regions.
• Knowledge of procurement systems, contract lifecycle management tools, reporting platforms, CMMS systems, ticketing tools, workflow platforms, or enterprise planning systems is a plus.
• Supply chain, procurement, facilities management, contract management, vendor management, project management, or safety-related certifications are a plus.

Physical Demands / Work Environment

• Supports mission-critical data center environments where execution quality, responsiveness, safety, and operational discipline are essential.
• Regular attendance and occasional travel are required to support team leadership, vendor governance, site engagement, supplier reviews, escalation management, and performance oversight.
• Tasks must be performed safely, with or without reasonable accommodation, to support the continuous health of site operations and vendor-delivered services.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Vendor Specialists, Vendor Managers, or related vendor-facing professionals supporting data center facilities operations.
• Own vendor management execution across assigned sites, regions, services, or programs, ensuring vendor performance aligns with uptime, safety, quality, compliance, financial, and operational expectations.
• Establish and maintain vendor governance practices, including performance reviews, escalation paths, operating rhythms, reporting standards, issue management processes, and accountability mechanisms.
• Oversee end-to-end vendor lifecycle activities, including selection support, onboarding, contract implementation, performance tracking, renewal support, issue resolution, compliance follow-up, and service transitions.
• Partner with Procurement, Finance, Legal, Compliance, Site Operations, Facilities, Engineering, and Safety teams to ensure vendor contracts and service scopes are operationally executable and commercially sound.
• Drive vendor performance against SLAs, KPIs, safety standards, compliance requirements, quality expectations, and delivery commitments; ensure corrective actions are tracked through closure.
• Lead escalation management for recurring, systemic, or high-risk vendor issues that may affect service continuity, operational reliability, safety, cost, or compliance.
• Provide clear, data-backed reporting to site, regional, functional, and senior leadership on vendor performance, risks, trends, gaps, and improvement plans.
• Support vendor risk assessments, business continuity planning, contingency strategies, and mitigation plans for critical service providers.
• Ensure required vendor documentation, contracts, certifications, insurance, compliance records, safety artifacts, and performance records are complete, current, and audit-ready.
• Identify structural performance gaps, commercial risks, process inefficiencies, and service delivery concerns; lead initiatives to improve vendor reliability, consistency, scalability, and accountability.
• Support vendor strategy, consolidation, benchmarking, cost optimization, supplier segmentation, and governance model improvements in partnership with Procurement and business stakeholders.
• Lead or support vendor transitions, scope expansions, remediation plans, service changes, and performance interventions across critical facilities services.
• Develop and maintain systems, dashboards, trackers, and reporting mechanisms that provide accurate visibility into vendor performance, compliance status, contract obligations, service issues, and operational risk.
• Reinforce Oracle standards for safety, operational discipline, ethical vendor engagement, communication quality, and accountability across internal teams and external suppliers.
• Build strong working relationships with strategic vendors while maintaining appropriate commercial discipline, performance expectations, and escalation boundaries.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• 5-7+ years of experience in vendor management, supplier management, facilities operations, procurement, contract management, supply chain, data center operations, construction operations, industrial services, or related operational environments.
• 3+ years of people management or team leadership experience, including coaching, prioritization, performance management, and organizational development.
• Experience managing critical vendors, service providers, or outsourced partners in data centers, facilities, utilities, manufacturing, logistics, telecom, construction, healthcare, or other regulated or uptime-sensitive environments.
• Strong understanding of vendor governance, supplier performance management, contract execution, escalation management, and operational risk mitigation.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives involving Operations, Facilities, Engineering, Procurement, Finance, Legal, Compliance, Safety, and external vendors.
• Strong contract and commercial awareness, including experience interpreting service scopes, performance obligations, pricing structures, change orders, renewals, and vendor accountability mechanisms.
• Working knowledge of safety, compliance, audit readiness, business continuity, and risk-management practices in operational or mission-critical environments.
• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, Facilities Management, Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience also valued.