Multi-Site Data Center Operations Manager

Position Summary

The Multi-Site Data Center Operations Manager leads Lightedge’s DCOPS technicians and daily operations across assigned third-party colocation sites. Based in Lewisville, Texas or St. Louis, MO this working manager combines direct, hands-on operational support with remote leadership of small teams or individual technicians in remote locations. The role travels regularly to provide onsite oversight, coaching, project support, and operational consistency.

The manager is accountable for Lightedge’s rack-level operations, customer deployment support, staffing, service quality, and incident response. The third-party colocation providers own and maintain facility infrastructure, including building electrical distribution, UPS systems, generators, cooling, and fire/life safety systems. This role coordinates with those providers regarding service delivery, planned maintenance, access, and incidents affecting Lightedge operations.

Key Responsibilities

Multi-Site Team Leadership

• Manage DCOPS technicians across assigned sites, including locations staffed by a single technician; establish clear responsibilities, priorities, and performance expectations.
• Coach and develop employees through regular individual meetings, onsite visits, skills assessments, cross-training, and performance reviews; support recruiting and onboarding.
• Build staffing, scheduling, and coverage plans for normal operations, vacations, absences, projects, and incidents; coordinate backup support and provider remote-hands services where needed.
• Plan regular site visits based on operational needs, staffing, risk, and project activity; maintain effective communication and accountability between visits.
• Capacity planning, power/space utilization, and coordination across multiple teams.

Rack-Level Operations and Customer Support

• Oversee and perform authorized installation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and removal of servers, network devices, storage equipment, rack PDUs, and associated cabling.
• Coordinate rack layouts, equipment placement, cable management, labeling, asset inventory, and rack power and airflow practices within provider requirements and approved capacity limits.
• Work with project managers, systems engineers, network teams, and customers to deliver deployments, migrations, upgrades, and decommissions accurately and on schedule.
• Prioritize tickets and work orders; verify completion, documentation, and service quality, including work performed by provider remote-hands personnel.

Incident Response, On-Call, and Change Management

• Participate as an active member of technician on-call rotation, including after-hours, weekend, and holiday response as scheduled; provide hands-on onsite support when required.
• Coordinate operational incident response across assigned sites, including escalation, troubleshooting, provider engagement, stakeholder updates, and service restoration.
• Review and approve operational changes within assigned authority; ensure clear methods of procedure, risk assessments, rollback plans, and compliance with change management requirements.
• Document incidents, support root-cause reviews, and track corrective actions to completion; maintain current runbooks and escalation contacts.

Colocation Provider Coordination and Operational Controls

• Serve as Lightedge’s primary operational contact for assigned colocation providers; coordinate access, deliveries, remote hands, maintenance notifications, and service escalations.
• Review provider maintenance notices and assess potential effects on Lightedge services; coordinate internal readiness and follow up on provider incidents or service concerns.
• Conduct site and rack inspections for organization, cabling, asset accuracy, access compliance, and adherence to procedures; maintain records supporting audits and customer requirements.
• Maintain consistent operating procedures across sites; monitor ticket performance, deployment quality, incident trends, staffing coverage, and corrective actions.
• Manage assigned operational budgets and expenses, including travel, supplies, and remote-hands services; identify practical cost and efficiency improvements.
• Perform other duties consistent with the scope of the role.

Required Qualifications

• 6-8 years of relevant data center operations, colocation, or IT infrastructure experience, including experience leading technicians or operational teams.
• Demonstrated ability to manage distributed staff, prioritize work across multiple locations, and support sites with limited local staffing.
• Hands-on experience with server and network hardware, rack PDUs, structured cabling, equipment installations, inventory controls, and hardware troubleshooting.
• Working knowledge of A/B rack power, rack capacity, airflow, physical access controls, and colocation operations sufficient to recognize issues and coordinate provider response.
• Experience with ticketing systems, operational documentation, change management, incident response, and customer-facing service delivery.
• Strong communication, organization, and judgment; ability to work independently and lead teams through time-sensitive operational issues.
• Ability to work onsite in Lewisville, travel regularly to assigned locations, and fulfill scheduled on-call and after-hours responsibilities.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience managing multiple colocation sites and third-party providers; experience with remote-hands services, customer deployments, and compliance audits. An associate’s or bachelor’s degree in information technology, computer systems, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience, is preferred. Relevant technical or IT service management certifications are a plus.