Assistant Director, Data Center Facilities

Assistant Director, Data Center Facilities

Brown University – Office of Information Technology.

Assistant Director, Data Center Facilities role entails supervising a team responsible for maintaining several OIT Data Center Facilities, including locations at 115 Waterman St, 180 George St, 121 South Main St, Friedman Hall, OSHEAN Data Center in Springfield, Mass and additional facilities as necessary. The primary focus involves overseeing tasks such as receiving, placing, installing, removing, maintaining and coordinating equipment‑related activities and resources within these Data Centers.

Close collaboration with OIT technical teams is vital to ensure the effective fulfillment of their needs and timelines. Additionally, this role involves aiding in work planning and prioritization to meet deadlines consistently.

Key responsibilities include directing staff in monitoring and documenting the facility’s physical layout and environmental aspects, directing and assisting staff with equipment racking and stacking, coordinating with Facilities Management and Vendors for electrical, mechanical, HVAC, and other systems, and cultivating a culture of continuous improvement and automation. The Assistant Director is responsible for coordinating the team’s rotation for 24‑hour on‑call incident management and serving as the primary responder for team escalations.

Please note that while this position is eligible for remote work, the incumbent will be required to work on campus frequently based on operational needs.

Preferred qualifications:

• 5‑10 years managing data center operations and data center facilities
• Supervisory experience required
• Power and cooling management in a High‑Performance Computing environment essential
• Experience leading small projects required

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree (preferred) – higher education experience preferred

Technical

Skills Required:

• Strong understanding of HVAC/data center cooling systems (CRAC/CRAH units, in‑row cooling, rear‑door heat exchangers, chilled water systems)
• Knowledge of power distribution (PDUs, RPPs, UPS, dual power feeds, generator systems)
• Experience with environmental monitoring platforms (temperature, humidity, leak detection, airflow)
• Expertise in rack/stack design and layouts (hot aisle/cold aisle, containment strategies, rack elevations)
• Knowledge of Sunbird or other DCIM platforms
• Knowledge of hot/cold aisle containment engineering
• Experience managing vendors for electrical/cooling upgrades, cabling projects, data center expansions and colocation services

Technical Skills Preferred:

• Experience with physical security technologies (badge systems, key/lock systems such as Traka key cabinets, NIST audit requirements)
• Familiarity with high‑speed networking standards (10/25/40/100 GbE, QSFP/SFP transceiver standards, fiber types OM3/OM4/OS2)
• Experience facilitating requests and tasks across technical teams
• Demonstrated customer service, organizational and communication skills; ability to adapt to a dynamically changing environment; service excellence focus

Successful completion of a criminal background check and education verification is required.

Brown University is an E‑Verify Employer.

EEO Statement:

Brown University provides equal opportunity and prohibits discrimination, harassment and retaliation based upon a person’s race, color, religion, sex, age, national or ethnic origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or any other characteristic protected under applicable law, in the administration of its policies, programs, and activities. The University recognizes and rewards individuals on the basis of qualifications and performance.

The University maintains certain affirmative action programs in compliance with applicable law.