BS in Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, or related Engineering discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
10+ years in mission-critical engineering, specifically with data center infrastructure.
5+ years leading engineering teams, focusing on hiring and developing senior technical talent.
5+ years managing outsourced engineering teams.
Deep hands-on experience with liquid cooling systems, UPS, generators, switchgear, and controls/automation platforms.
Experience in root-cause analysis with OEMs on infrastructure failures.
Working knowledge of relevant electrical, mechanical, and safety codes.
Responsibilities
Lead and grow a multidisciplinary engineering team across various specialties.
Develop and own engineering standards for AI/GPU data centers, including cooling and power distribution.
Serve as the final engineering escalation point for unresolved infrastructure issues.
Conduct engineering due diligence on new facilities regarding power and cooling capacity.
Manage vendor relationships and drive accountability for design defects.
Lead root-cause analysis for infrastructure incidents and ensure corrective actions are implemented.
Track and report on infrastructure reliability metrics and prioritize engineering investments.
Benefits
Remote work flexibility.
Participation in DigitalOcean's annual bonus plan.
Potential eligibility for a new hire equity grant.
Opportunities for professional development and succession planning.
Full Job Description
We are looking for a Senior Manager of Physical Infrastructure Engineering who is passionate about the electrical, mechanical, and controls engineering that keeps leading-edge AI/GPU infrastructure running reliably at scale.
As Senior Manager of Physical Infrastructure Engineering, you will lead a multidisciplinary engineering team - electrical, mechanical, controls/automation, and infrastructure engineering and construction - responsible for the standards, specifications, and technical decisions that every new build, retrofit, and deployment across DigitalOcean's global footprint must meet. You are the technical authority for data center infrastructure: Design & Deployment executes floor layouts and installs against your team's standards; you own the standards themselves, the engineering judgment behind them, and the reliability outcomes that follow. This role reports directly to the VP of Data Center Operations & Engineering. What You'll Do:
Lead and grow a multidisciplinary team covering electrical, mechanical, controls/automation, and data center infrastructure engineering and construction.
Develop and own engineering standards and specifications for AI/GPU data centers, including liquid cooling (CDU sizing, secondary loop design, leak detection), power distribution, and controls/automation.
Serve as the technical authority and final engineering escalation point for infrastructure issues that Site Operations and Design & Deployment cannot resolve at their level.
Provide engineering due diligence on new colocation and build-to-suit facilities before signing - power capacity, cooling topology, electrical infrastructure condition, and expansion feasibility.
Own vendor and OEM infrastructure engineering relationships (e.g., CDU, UPS, generator, and switchgear manufacturers) - drive root-cause engagements when infrastructure fails, and hold vendors accountable for design defects, not just field service.
Lead or sponsor root-cause analysis for infrastructure-driven incidents, and own the resulting engineering corrective actions through to verified completion, not just documentation.
Own infrastructure specifications, technical documentation, and change governance - nothing changes at the infrastructure layer without engineering sign-off.
Partner with Site Operations, Deployment, Construction, and Design organizations to ensure engineering standards are practical to build and operate, not just technically correct on paper.
Track and report on infrastructure reliability metrics across the fleet, and prioritize engineering investment against the highest-risk, highest-recurrence failure modes.
Lead compliance review of infrastructure standards against relevant codes and safety requirements (e.g., NFPA 70E, electrical code, two-person energized work rules) in partnership with Legal and EHS.
Build and maintain an audit process for reviewing existing sites against current engineering standards, and prioritize remediation of out-of-compliance assets.
Manage outsourced engineering talent where required to keep up with workload
Develop engineering and construction talent on your team and build a succession plan for key technical authority roles
Travel: Expect 20-30% travel for new-site due diligence, commissioning support, and vendor/OEM engineering reviews.
Key Metrics:
Reduction in infrastructure-driven incidents and repeat failure modes (risk-to-reoccur trending down, not flat).
Standardization coverage - percentage of fleet reviewed and brought into compliance with current engineering standards.
Time-to-root-cause and time-to-corrective-action on infrastructure engineering escalations.
Reliable engineering support of new-site expansion (due diligence turnaround time, defect-free commissioning).
Scalability of the engineering organization relative to footprint growth.
What You'll Add to DigitalOcean:
BS in Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, or related Engineering discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
10+ years in mission-critical engineering, including direct experience with data center infrastructure.
5+ years leading engineering teams, including hiring, developing, and retaining senior technical talent.
5+ years experience managing outsourced engineering teams
Deep hands-on experience with liquid cooling systems (chillers, heat exchangers, pumps, CDUs, secondary loop design, leak detection and mitigation), UPS, generators, switchgear, and controls/automation platforms.
Experience running or directly supporting root-cause analysis with OEMs on infrastructure component failures, and translating vendor findings into engineering decisions (e.g., accept, mitigate, or mandate replacement).
Working knowledge of relevant electrical, mechanical, and safety codes (NFPA 70E, local electrical code) and experience partnering with Legal/EHS on compliance reviews.
Experience conducting technical due diligence on data center facilities (colocation or build-to-suit) prior to lease or construction commitment.
Track record of building engineering standards that scale across multiple sites and hold up under rapid, concurrent expansion.
Compensation Range:
$156,800 - $196,000
Non-sales roles: In addition to base salary, this role is eligible to participate in DigitalOcean's annual bonus plan and may be eligible for a new hire equity grant, subject to plan terms and local eligibility. Bonus amounts depend on company and individual performance.
Sales roles (sales compensation eligible): In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible to earn incentive compensation under the applicable sales compensation plan and may be eligible for a new hire equity grant, subject to plan terms and local eligibility.
