Data Center Operations Manager

At Verda, we're building a full-stack AI cloud, covering everything from data centers and hardware to our own cloud platform that the world's leading AI teams use to do serious AI work.

We strive to make a positive mark on the world through the infrastructure we build and give leading teams a service they can truly depend on. Headquartered in Helsinki, we operate globally with offices in London and San Francisco.

Join Verda while it’s still being built - not once it’s finished.

Why Verda

• Cash and equity compensation along with local benefits.

• 40+ nationalities, with 6 different ones on the management team.

• A real chance to make an impact and work alongside world class engineers, researchers, and partners across the global AI ecosystem.

Practicalities

• Location: Helsinki, Finland, with regular presence across Verda’s data center sites

• Employment: Full time, Permanent

• Work model: Hybrid with some travel between sites.

• Reports to: Head of DC Operations

About the role

As Regional DC Operations Manager for Finland, you’ll be accountable for how our data centers run day to day: uptime, incident response, safety and the people who keep the sites running around the clock. You’ll lead the Data Center Operations Team Lead and the Site Critical Facilities Manager, work closely with our colocation and facilities partners, and prepare operations for our expansions.

You’ll be the first to hold this role in Finland, which means you get to decide what great looks like for data center operations here. As we grow, you’ll build the team, the processes and the partnerships that keep our sites running around the clock. You’ll spend your time coaching your leads, setting standards and keeping our partners accountable. And you’ll still be on site regularly, because the best operations leaders stay close to the work.

Team size: 2 direct reports, and up to 13 technicians and 2 critical facilities engineers across the wider team.

Your responsibilities

• Operational performance and uptime: Own SLAs, incident and problem management, and post-incident reviews across our colocation sites and our owned site.

• Team leadership and staffing: Lead the Team Lead and Site Critical Facilities Manager. Own the shift plan, hiring, training and competence development for our technicians and critical facilities engineers.

• Vendor and colo-provider governance: Oversee our outsourced facilities contract and our colocation providers, including escalations and commercial reviews.

• EHS and compliance: Set the safety culture, enforce permit-to-work, run investigations and audits, and act as the senior contact for authorities.

• Growth and operational readiness: Prepare operations for buildout, including handovers from the deployment team, procedures, budget and forecasting.

Your key competencies

• Proven leadership of live data center operations, including incident command, SLA ownership and post-incident reviews

• Experience leading a 24/7 operations team in a live data center or comparable mission-critical environment

• Experience managing managers or leads, and shift-based technician teams (rosters, competence, performance)

• Experience governing contractors and providers against SLAs, with commercial and escalation discipline

• A strong safety mindset, including permit-to-work and EHS audits

• Professional working proficiency in English

Nice to have

• Finnish language skills

• Experience ramping up a new or owned facility

• Experience running high-density AI/GPU environments

• A technical degree (e.g. engineering) or equivalent experience

• Certifications such as ITIL, Uptime Institute, CDCP/CDFOM, NEBOSH/IOSH, first aid, or the Finnish occupational safety card

What's next

We're building fast and this role needs the right person behind it. There's no artificial deadline, but when we find who we're looking for, we move. If this sounds like your next move, apply now.

Please submit your application through our Careers page. We don't accept applications sent by email.