Job Type
Full-time
Description
About CloudHQ:
CloudHQ is a global leader in hyperscale data centre solutions, delivering secure, high-performance, and resilient facilities for many of the world’s largest technology companies. As we expand our global footprint, we are strengthening our Design & Engineering organisation to ensure CloudHQ’s technical standards, design quality, and lifecycle performance remain industry-leading.
The Design/Technical Director of Development, EMEA plays a pivotal leadership role within the Development team, acting as the owner of CloudHQ’s technical design vision across new developments, expansions, and global design standards.
Role Overview:
The Design/Technical Director will lead all aspects of architectural, civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical design for CloudHQ’s hyperscale data centre developments across multiple regions.
- Defining and governing CloudHQ’s Basis of Design (BoD)
- Managing and directing external design consultants
- Ensuring design consistency, quality, cost-efficiency, constructability, and scalability
- Providing cross-functional leadership from site due diligence and concept design through to construction
- Partnering closely with wider Development team, Site Selection, Construction, Operations, and commercial teams to deliver technically robust designs that meet client requirements and CloudHQ standards.
- The Technical Director acts as CloudHQ’s technical design authority, ensuring every facility is engineered to support reliability, performance, and operational excellence.
Key Responsibilities:
Design Leadership & Governance:
- Own and continuously evolve CloudHQ’s global Basis of Design, engineering guidelines, standard details, and specifications in conjunction with global design leads.
- Lead multidisciplinary design teams (MEP, structural, civil, architectural, fire/life safety) across RIBA stage 1 to 4 design phases.
- Review all design packages to ensure compliance with CloudHQ standards, local codes, sustainability requirements, and hyperscale customer specifications.
- Support CloudHQ Construction teams to ensure alignment with the Basis of Design
- Direct consultant teams and challenge design decisions to optimise cost, constructability, efficiency, and performance.
- Ensure standardisation across regions while allowing for local code adaptation and site-specific constraints.
Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Work closely with Development teams during land acquisition, feasibility analysis, and site evaluation to identify design risks and technical constraints early.
- Partner with Construction teams to validate constructability, sequencing, engineering interfaces, and delivery risks.
- Collaborate with Operations to incorporate maintainability, resilience, and future scalability requirements into all designs.
- Engage with commercial teams during customer solutioning, supporting technical clarifications and design-related inputs.
Design Quality, Risk & Compliance Management:
- Implement design governance processes ensuring accuracy, coordination, and timely delivery of all consultant submissions.
- Identify and mitigate design risks during all project phases.
- Drive quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) across every design package.
- Validate MEP redundancy strategies, power distribution architecture, cooling topologies, and life-safety systems.
- Ensure designs adhere to relevant international standards, environmental requirements, and local permitting guidelines.
Technical Innovation & Continuous Improvement:
- Evaluate emerging technologies and integrate best-practice design innovations into CloudHQ’s standards.
- Explore modularisation, prefabrication, and design-for-manufacture opportunities to improve schedule, quality, and cost.
- Develop scalable design templates for multi-phase campuses and high-density deployments.
- Benchmark industry trends to ensure CloudHQ design remains competitive and future-proof.
Consultant, Vendor & Stakeholder Management:
- Select, manage, and direct external design consultancies, ensuring accountability and performance.
- Review and approve consultant proposals, scopes of work, and deliverables.
- Participate in design-related negotiations with contractors, equipment vendors, and partners.
- Act as the primary design escalation point for CloudHQ leadership and project teams.
Required Experience & Qualifications:
- Master’s (Preferred) / Bachelors (Acceptable) degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Structural, Architectural Engineering or related field.
- 10+ years of design leadership experience within data centres, mission-critical facilities, or large-scale industrial/infrastructure projects.
- Strong knowledge of LV/MV power distribution, UPS/generator topology, cooling systems, building architecture, fire protection, and structural design for hyperscale environments.
- Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary design teams across multiple projects and geographies.
- Proven experience governing and coordinating design consultants and contractors.
- Strong understanding of constructability, commissioning interfaces, permitting, and international design standards.
- Ability to challenge assumptions constructively and provide innovative, cost-effective technical solutions.
- Excellent communication and leadership skills with the ability to influence across functional and regional boundaries.
- The ability to travel across our EMEA sites.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience in hyperscale data centre design for major cloud or colocation operators.
- Chartered / Professional Engineer (CEng, PE), or equivalent professional accreditation.
- Experience with modular construction, prefabrication, and factory-built MEP systems.
- Familiarity with ASHRAE, NFPA, IEEE, IEC, EN standards, and Uptime classifications.
- International project delivery experience in EMEA.
Why Join CloudHQ:
- Shape the next generation of hyperscale design standards across global markets.
- Lead technically challenging, high-impact projects with massive scale.
- Collaborate with top engineering and construction partners worldwide.
- Work in a high-growth, innovation-driven environment with significant career progression opportunities.
Disclaimer:
To be eligible, you’ll need to be based in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, or Luxembourg. The role will also involve regular travel across our sites in EMEA.
