Senior Critical Operations Manager – Data Center Campus
Location: Melbourne (On-site)
Employment Type: Full-time, Perm
Our client is a leading global data center developer and operator, with 4.0+GW of capacity built or under development, with an additional 6.0+GW of planned and potential development worldwide. They are actively expanding across APAC with Melbourne being one of the key focus. They are seeking Senior Critical Operations Manager to join their expanding team. Reporting to the Site Director, you will have end-to-end accountability for the day-to-day performance, safety, and reliability of all mission-critical infrastructure.
You will lead the Critical Operations Manager, Assistant Critical Operations Manager, and the Facilities Management team—including the 24/7 workforce—to ensure consistent, safe, and resilient operation of all mechanical, electrical, fire life safety, and control systems. This is a senior leadership role for an experienced operator who can set the standard for excellence across all shifts.
Responsibilities
Critical Operations Leadership
· Set the operational tone for the campus and embed a safety-first culture across all shifts, contractors, and stakeholders.
· Provide day-to-day leadership to the Critical Operations Manager, Assistant Critical Operations Manager, FM, and 24/7 technical teams.
· Ensure uninterrupted service and compliance with all SLAs, certifications, and legislative requirements.
Incident, Risk & Change Governance
· Lead incident management end-to-end, including escalation, risk-based decision-making, and customer/executive communications.
· Own the quality of PIR/RCA outputs through to corrective action closure.
· Maintain the site risk register and govern change control for all planned works and live-site interventions.
Maintenance & Planned Works
· Oversee maintenance planning and execution, including review and approval of MOPs, SOPs, EOPs, permit-to-work processes, isolations/LOTO, and vendor method statements.
· Own scheduling and prioritization of planned works, resolving conflicts across customer commitments and operational constraints.
Contractor & Vendor Management
· Provide governance and quality oversight of contractor and vendor activities.
· Ensure service partners remain aligned to operational standards, scope, and KPIs.
Operational Readiness & Continuous Improvement
· Uplift and maintain operational processes, procedures, and document control to drive standardization and audit readiness.
· Ensure operational readiness requirements are met for new systems, upgrades, and transitions.
· Provide oversight of operational projects impacting live operations.
Customer Engagement
· Act as a senior operational contact for customers, hosting forums, presenting updates, and maintaining confidence during incidents.
· Ensure clear, timely, and accurate communication across internal stakeholders, customers, and leadership.
People & Culture
· Set clear expectations and performance standards for the operations leadership team and 24/7 workforce.
· Coach, mentor, and develop team capability across all shifts, including succession planning and training coverage.
· Drive effective cross-shift communication and structured handovers.
Requirements:
You are a seasoned mission-critical operations leader with 7–10 years of experience in data centers or equivalent critical environments (pharmaceuticals, aviation, power generation, industrial utilities). You have owned 24/7 environments and understand what it takes to maintain 100% uptime.
· Bachelor's degree or above in Electrical/ Mechanical Engineering or related disciplines.
· Technical Depth: Strong understanding of electrical, mechanical, fire life safety, and control systems in critical facilities.
· Incident Leadership: Proven track record leading incidents and delivering high-quality PIR/RCA outcomes.
· Governance Expertise: Deep experience across maintenance planning, change control, permit-to-work, and risk assessments.
· Customer Focus: Confident presenting operational updates to customers and managing planned works communications.
· Vendor Management: Strong capability managing contractor performance against KPIs and SLAs.
· Systems Proficiency: Competent with CMMS, monitoring platforms, and incident/change/problem management systems.
· Communication: Advanced written and verbal skills suitable for executive and customer audiences.
· Resilience: Comfortable in fast-paced, high-pressure environments with shifting priorities.
· Significant leadership experience managing multidisciplinary technical teams in 24/7 mission-critical environments.
· Demonstrated track record managing incidents, risks, maintenance, and planned works in live environments.
· Proficiency in operational reporting, stakeholder communication, and customer engagement.
· Strong working knowledge of CMMS and incident/change management systems.
· High competency with Microsoft 365.