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: - 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.
*This is a hybrid role
#LI-Hybrid
