Head of Data Center Design

About the role

We are hiring a Head of Data Center Design for our client — a company building a large-scale AI data center (with a planned capacity of 300 MW) in Poland, on a site currently undergoing active reconstruction into modern technological infrastructure. The first phase, with a capacity of 50 MW, is planned to go live this year.

Role description

The Head of Data Center Design owns the overall technical design and architecture of the company's data centers, from initial site feasibility through approved engineering drawings. This role defines the technical vision — modular POD architecture, cooling strategy (including DLC), power topology, and reliability targets — and ensures that every design decision, from equipment selection to construction execution, stays aligned with that vision and meets company requirements. This is a hands-on technical authority role — the person must personally own decisions on power, cooling/DLC, and overall critical-infrastructure architecture, not just manage the design process.

Responsibilities

• Own the overall technical design and architecture of the data centers

• Define and maintain the Basis of Design: modular POD architecture, cooling strategy, power topology, fire suppression, networking

• Set design standards for IT deployment (rack layout, containerization, CDU placement)

• Lead design reviews and approve engineering drawings across disciplines (electrical, mechanical, structural, fire, networking)

• Own PUE, capacity, and reliability targets at the design stage

• Coordinate with equipment and technology partners on specs and integration requirements

• Work with implementation teams to ensure construction execution matches approved design intent

• Evaluate and approve design changes for technical impact (cooling, power, capacity, redundancy)

• Lead site selection technical criteria and feasibility studies (power availability, grid connection, cooling options)

Required experience

• 5+ years of experience in hyperscale/modern data center design, with direct, current or recent ownership of multidisciplinary DC design across mechanical, cooling/DLC, and high-density GPU infrastructure — 3+ years in a design leadership role

• Demonstrated ownership of Basis of Design documentation for large-scale, modern data center facilities

• Strong hands-on technical expertise in power topology and cooling strategy, including DLC — this must be personal technical authority, not delegated/coordinated through others

• Experience with high-density GPU/HPC compute environments and modular/POD-based deployment architectures

• Track record of leading multidisciplinary design reviews and approving engineering drawings across trades

• English proficiency sufficient for international technical documentation and stakeholder communication

Nice to Have

• Tier III/IV certification (Uptime Institute), or direct experience with certification processes

• Experience with NVIDIA GB200/GB300 or equivalent high-density GPU cluster infrastructure

• Background spanning both design and construction execution phases

• Experience with EU regulatory frameworks for power, environmental, and building compliance

• Fire suppression and structural loading design experience (beyond coordination level)