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

This role 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. To perform these duties, you must be able to frequently walk, stand, and move through operational and office environments, with occasional visits to industrial, construction, or active data center site areas. These 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.