*** Open to relocation
*** Strong international travel eligibility required due to frequent travel
We are seeking an experienced Data Centre Design Director to lead the design and delivery of complex, large-scale data centre projects in Dubai. The ideal candidate will have a strong Mechanical or Electrical Engineering educational background, combined with extensive hands-on experience managing and delivering multiple data centre projects.
This is a senior leadership position requiring deep technical knowledge, strong project management capabilities, and proven experience leading multidisciplinary teams across RIBA Stages 0–7.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the design and technical delivery of multiple data centre projects simultaneously.
- Manage projects across RIBA Stages 0–7, from strategic definition and concept through detailed design, construction, commissioning, handover, and close-out.
- Provide technical and strategic leadership throughout the project lifecycle.
- Lead multidisciplinary teams across mechanical, electrical, architectural, structural, and specialist engineering disciplines.
- Oversee the development and coordination of critical MEP systems, including power, cooling, HVAC, electrical distribution, backup power, and associated infrastructure.
- Ensure designs meet client requirements, technical standards, statutory regulations, and data centre performance and resilience requirements.
- Act as a senior technical and strategic point of contact for clients, consultants, contractors, and other stakeholders.
- Manage design programmes, resources, budgets, risks, deliverables, and project milestones.
- Review and approve technical designs, specifications, calculations, drawings, and construction documentation.
- Identify and resolve technical and design coordination issues throughout the project lifecycle.
- Support procurement, tendering, construction, testing, commissioning, and handover activities.
- Ensure quality, technical compliance, constructability, and design integrity across all project stages.
- Lead, mentor, and develop technical and design teams.
- Support business development, client presentations, technical proposals, and the growth of the company's data centre portfolio.
Requirements
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a closely related engineering discipline – mandatory.
- Professional engineering qualification or chartership is highly desirable.
- Proven senior-level experience in data centre design and project management.
- Demonstrable experience managing and delivering multiple data centre projects, ideally across different project sizes and stages.
- Strong practical knowledge and experience across RIBA Stages 0–7.
- Extensive experience with MEP systems within mission-critical/data centre environments.
- Strong understanding of data centre electrical and mechanical infrastructure, including power distribution, cooling systems, HVAC, UPS, generators, redundancy, resilience, and critical infrastructure.
- Proven experience leading multidisciplinary engineering and design teams.
- Strong project management skills covering programme, budget, resources, risk, quality, and delivery.
- Excellent client-facing, stakeholder management, and communication skills.
- Ability to provide senior technical direction while maintaining a strong commercial and project-delivery focus.
