Head of Data Center Practice - Global Markets
Location: India OR Singapore,
Function: Data Center Infrastructure, Engineering & Managed Services for Global Markets.
About the Role
Sutherland is looking for a highly experienced, entrepreneurial leader to establish, build, and scale its Data Center Practice across the United States.
This is a strategic leadership role for someone who combines deep technical and operational expertise in data center infrastructure with the commercial acumen to build a profitable, growing business. The individual will own the practice end to end—from market strategy, solution development, and business development to engineering, deployment, operations, maintenance, and decommissioning.
The ideal candidate has hands-on experience across the data center lifecycle, including hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, and AI infrastructure environments. They understand traditional data center infrastructure as well as evolving technologies such as GPU clusters, high-density compute, liquid cooling, and next-generation AI infrastructure.
The successful candidate will build the team, ecosystem, delivery capabilities, operating model, and customer relationships required to position Sutherland as a trusted end-to-end data center infrastructure services partner.
Key Responsibilities
1. Build and Lead the Data Center Practice
- Develop and execute the US Data Center Practice strategy, defining target markets, service offerings, investment priorities, and a scalable growth roadmap.
- Build the practice from the ground up, including technical leadership, engineering, project management, field operations, quality assurance, and managed services capabilities.
- Establish the delivery organization, operating model, processes, governance, and performance metrics required to execute complex customer engagements.
- Build strategic relationships with data center operators, hyperscalers, colocation providers, OEMs, equipment manufacturers, engineering firms, contractors, and specialist service providers.
- Own practice performance, including revenue growth, pipeline, bookings, gross margin, delivery performance, customer satisfaction, and profitability.
2. End-to-End Data Center Lifecycle Expertise
Lead and develop capabilities across the complete data center lifecycle, including:
- Planning and readiness: Site readiness assessments, infrastructure surveys, deployment planning, capacity planning, implementation schedules, and risk assessments.
- Installation and deployment: Rack installation, server and network hardware deployment, power distribution, structured cabling, fiber installation, labeling, connectivity, and infrastructure integration.
- Commissioning and validation: Installation verification, connectivity testing, power and thermal validation, documentation, acceptance testing, and operational handover.
- Operations and maintenance: Preventive and corrective maintenance, break-fix services, hardware replacement, infrastructure monitoring, incident management, root-cause analysis, and service-level management.
- Expansion and modernization: Capacity expansion, hardware refreshes, infrastructure upgrades, migrations, reconfiguration, and technology transitions.
- Decommissioning and asset lifecycle management: Safe equipment removal, asset tracking, data-bearing equipment handling, redeployment, recycling, disposal, and audit-ready documentation.
The practice leader must understand how to integrate these services into repeatable, commercially viable offerings for enterprise and hyperscale customers.
3. Advanced and Emerging Data Center Technologies
- Develop solutions for rapidly evolving AI and high-performance computing infrastructure, including GPU deployments and high-density compute environments.
- Understand the implications of increased rack power density, thermal loads, and next-generation cooling requirements.
- Build capabilities around liquid cooling, including direct-to-chip and other applicable cooling architectures, cooling distribution infrastructure, and associated deployment and maintenance requirements.
- Develop expertise in power and thermal infrastructure, including UPS systems, power distribution, cooling systems, monitoring, and environmental controls.
- Evaluate emerging technologies, industry standards, automation opportunities, and new service models to keep Sutherland competitive.
- Translate evolving technical requirements into practical, scalable, customer-ready solutions, supported by qualified engineering and technology partners.
4. Solution Development and Technical Pre-Sales
- Partner with sales and account leadership to identify opportunities, shape customer requirements, and develop differentiated solutions.
- Lead technical discovery, infrastructure assessments, solution architecture, statements of work, proposals, RFP/RFI responses, and solution presentations.
- Develop standard service offerings, implementation methodologies, pricing models, staffing approaches, and delivery playbooks.
- Build solutions that combine Sutherland’s delivery capabilities with specialist partners and OEM ecosystems where required.
- Assess feasibility, delivery risks, resource requirements, service levels, and commercial assumptions before committing to customer engagements.
- Serve as the senior technical authority in customer discussions, executive briefings, solution workshops, and deal negotiations.
5. Business Development and Commercial Ownership
- Build and maintain a qualified pipeline of data center infrastructure opportunities across the United States.
- Work with sales teams to pursue new logos, expand existing accounts, establish strategic partnerships, and convert opportunities into long-term engagements.
- Identify opportunities across hyperscalers, cloud providers, colocation operators, technology companies, and large enterprises.
- Own the commercial model for the practice, including pricing, cost estimation, resource utilization, margin management, and delivery economics.
- Develop recurring revenue opportunities through managed services, maintenance contracts, lifecycle support, and multi-site infrastructure engagements.
- Build a strong partner ecosystem to extend capabilities, accelerate market entry, and support large or geographically distributed deployments.
6. Delivery Excellence, Quality Assurance and Safety
- Establish rigorous quality assurance and quality control standards across installation, cabling, equipment deployment, testing, commissioning, and maintenance.
- Implement standard operating procedures, checklists, acceptance criteria, documentation standards, and audit mechanisms.
- Drive consistent execution across sites, ensuring adherence to customer requirements, applicable codes, safety standards, and contractual service levels.
- Establish program governance, risk management, escalation processes, and performance reporting.
- Drive continuous improvement through root-cause analysis, defect prevention, productivity improvements, and lessons learned.
- Ensure appropriate controls for change management, access, asset handling, data security, and work performed in mission-critical environments.
7. Organization Building and Leadership
- Recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing team of engineers, technical architects, project managers, field technicians, quality specialists, and operations leaders.
- Develop workforce planning, certification, training, and capability-building programs to support growth.
- Establish relationships with subcontractors and regional delivery partners while maintaining consistent quality and accountability.
- Create a culture of safety, customer focus, technical excellence, ownership, and disciplined execution.
- Provide executive leadership with transparent reporting on pipeline, delivery performance, profitability, investments, risks, and growth opportunities.
Required Qualifications and Experience
- Typically 15+ years of relevant experience in data center infrastructure, critical facilities, deployment, engineering, operations, or infrastructure services, including substantial senior leadership responsibility.
- Demonstrated experience building, scaling, or leading a data center services business, practice, or multidisciplinary delivery organization.
- Strong end-to-end understanding of data center infrastructure, from installation and commissioning through ongoing operations, upgrades, and decommissioning.
- Practical knowledge of rack-and-stack, structured cabling, fiber connectivity, server and network deployments, power distribution, cooling, testing, and infrastructure integration.
- Experience supporting hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, cloud, or AI infrastructure environments.
- Understanding of modern GPU infrastructure, high-density racks, liquid cooling, and evolving power and thermal requirements.
- Demonstrated ability to develop customer solutions, lead technical pre-sales, contribute to winning proposals, and support complex commercial negotiations.
- Experience managing delivery teams, subcontractors, technology partners, project economics, quality, safety, and customer outcomes.
- Strong financial and business acumen, including revenue growth, pipeline development, pricing, margin management, and P&L accountability.
- Excellent executive communication, customer relationship management, and cross-functional leadership skills.
- Willingness to travel across the United States and to customer sites as business needs require.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience building services for hyperscalers, major cloud providers, colocation operators, or large enterprise data centers.
- Experience with GPU clusters, AI infrastructure, high-performance computing, and liquid-cooling deployments.
- Relevant industry certifications in data center infrastructure, project management, networking, electrical/mechanical systems, or facilities operations.
- Familiarity with ITIL, structured project governance, quality management systems, and relevant data center standards.
- Experience creating partner ecosystems and combining in-house capabilities with specialist engineering and field service providers.
What Success Looks Like
The successful leader will establish a differentiated US Data Center Practice with:
- A clearly defined portfolio of market-ready data center services.
- A credible technical and delivery organization with the right talent and partner ecosystem.
- A repeatable solutioning and go-to-market model.
- A growing pipeline of qualified opportunities and successful customer wins.
- Consistent delivery quality, safety, customer satisfaction, and operational performance.
- Sustainable revenue growth, healthy margins, and recurring managed services opportunities.