| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Information Technology |
| Level | Manager |
| Reports to | Head of IT Infrastructure |
| Direct reports | Infrastructure Engineer, Storage Engineer, Network Engineer |
| Experience | 10 to 15 years in data centre or critical facility operations, with 4 or more years managing a shift team |
Data Centre Manager job description template
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Job title: Data Centre Manager
Department: Information Technology
Reports to: Head of IT Infrastructure
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Data Centre Manager runs the physical facility that houses a company's or its clients' servers, storage and network equipment. They are responsible for power, cooling, fire safety, physical security, rack space and the round-the-clock team that keeps it all running, along with the vendors who maintain UPS systems, DG sets and precision air conditioning. The role sits in IT infrastructure at banks, colocation providers, IT services firms and large enterprises. A good Data Centre Manager delivers years without an unplanned outage and passes every audit walkthrough.
Key responsibilities
- Plan the 24x7 roster so every shift has trained staff for power, cooling and hands-on IT work.
- Monitor power, cooling, temperature, humidity and leak detection through the building management system and act on alarms.
- Manage capacity for rack space, power per rack, cooling and cabling, and forecast when expansion will be needed.
- Schedule and supervise preventive maintenance of UPS, batteries, DG sets, PAC units, fire suppression and access control with AMC vendors.
- Control physical access through visitor logs, escorts, biometric doors and CCTV review, and investigate every exception.
- Approve and supervise installation, moves and removal of equipment, keeping the asset register and rack diagrams accurate.
- Run change control for facility work so maintenance never removes power or cooling redundancy without approval.
- Lead the response to power failures or cooling loss, and run scheduled DG load tests and failover drills.
- Prepare evidence on physical security and environmental controls for ISO 27001, SOC 2, client and regulator audits.
- Track power usage effectiveness and energy cost, and propose improvements such as hot and cold aisle containment.
Requirements
- B.E. or B.Tech in Electrical, Electronics or Computer Science, or a diploma with long data centre experience
- CDCP or CDCS data centre certification is an advantage
- ITIL Foundation is an advantage
- 10 to 15 years in data centre or critical facility operations, with 4 or more years managing a shift team
KRAs and KPIs for a Data Centre Manager
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Facility uptime | Zero unplanned outages of power or cooling to production or customer racks |
| Preventive maintenance | Every scheduled PM activity for UPS, DG, PAC and fire systems completed on its due date |
| Capacity | Space, power and cooling forecasts updated monthly, keeping at least 6 months of headroom |
| Physical security | No unauthorized access incidents, with every access log reviewed weekly |
| Energy efficiency | Power usage effectiveness at or below the target set for the year |
| Audit readiness | No major physical or environmental control findings in external audits |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Building management system (BMS), DCIM software, UPS and PDU monitoring consoles, Biometric access control and CCTV, ServiceNow or a ticketing tool, Excel capacity models.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Head of IT Infrastructure, IT Head
Interview questions for a Data Centre Manager
- Grid power fails and one DG set does not start. Walk me through the next ten minutes.
- A client wants to add GPU servers to two racks. How do you check power and cooling?
- What does a proper UPS battery maintenance plan include?
- How do you control access for a vendor engineer who arrives at 2 am for an emergency fix?
- How would you test cooling redundancy without putting production at risk?
- Tell me about a physical security audit finding and how you closed it.
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What does a data centre manager do?
A data centre manager runs a facility that houses servers and network equipment. They manage power, cooling, fire safety, physical security and space, supervise maintenance by UPS, DG and air conditioning vendors, lead the 24x7 operations team and handle facility incidents. They also prepare the site for audits and plan capacity for growth.
What qualifications are needed for a data centre manager?
Most data centre managers in India hold an engineering degree in electrical, electronics or computer science, though some rise from a diploma after long facility experience. Certifications such as CDCP or CDCS are valued, and ITIL helps with change and incident work. Hands-on experience with UPS, DG sets and precision cooling is essential.
Is a data centre manager an IT role or a facilities role?
It is both. The job needs electrical and mechanical knowledge to run power and cooling, and IT knowledge to manage racks, cabling, equipment moves and change control. Most companies place the role under IT infrastructure, while colocation providers treat it as their core operations role.