Data Center Practice Lead

Data Center Practice Lead

The  Data Center Practice Lead is responsible for owning and scaling a core technical service line within the organization. This leader defines practice strategy, builds market-ready services, drives pre-sales excellence, and oversees delivery governance to ensure high performance, consistent quality, and exceptional customer satisfaction.

The ideal candidate brings deep hands-on expertise in enterprise and hyperscale data center design and operations —including rack layout design, cooling optimized placements, managing large scale rack/stack and move executions, physical cabling, Optical fiber cabling, Patch panel management, cable audits etc.
 

This role collaborates closely with Sales, Solutions Architecture, Delivery, PMO, Talent Acquisition, and Executive Leadership to accelerate growth across regions and clients.

Responsibilities

Service Line Ownership & Strategy

• Own the long-term strategy, roadmap, and vision for  Data Center services.

• Develop scalable service offerings (NOC, DC Operations, Cabling and network gear deployment, Smart Hands, Monitoring  etc.).

• Perform market and competitive research to stay ahead of technology trends

• Build pricing models, delivery frameworks, and cost structures.

• Define success metrics, SLAs/SLOs, KPIs, and performance standards.

• Partner with leadership on P&L management, margin optimization, and growth strategies.

• Identify and evaluate strategic technology partners, platforms, and tools.

Solutions & Pre-Sales Support

• Act as the primary SME for Data Center solutions.

• Support RFP/RFI/RFQ processes with architecture inputs, SOW creation, and LOE estimates.

• Lead customer discovery workshops and technical deep dives.

• Validate proposed solutions for scalability, security, cost efficiency, and operational readiness.

• Collaborate with Sales and Service Delivery Managers to shape account strategies and technical roadmaps.

• Present complex solutions to executive stakeholders in clear business terms.

• Define talent profiles, skill matrices, and resource plans to support new service opportunities.

Delivery Governance & Quality

• Create and maintain delivery playbooks, SOPs, runbooks, escalation matrices, and operational workflows.

• Partner with Delivery leaders to drive operational excellence across all engagements.

• Ensure strict adherence to SLA/SLI commitments, MTTR/MTTA targets, and QoS metrics.

• Oversee technical escalations; guide teams through RCA and service improvement initiatives.

• Champion continuous improvement, automation, and tooling enhancements.

• Standardize best practices across global regions (Americas, APAC, EMEA).

• Participate in QBRs/MORs to provide technical oversight and future-state guidance for strategic customers.

Required Technical Expertise

• 10+ years designing, deploying, and supporting enterprise or hyperscale data centers.

• Deep understanding of physical network architecture: routing, switching, firewalls, optical transport, load balancing, wireless, and site interconnect.

• Experience with data center physical infrastructure (rack/stack, structured cabling, power/cooling, IDF/MDF layouts, fiber plants).

• Familiarity with monitoring and observability platforms, automation frameworks, CMDB, and ITSM processes.

• Strong knowledge of NOC operations: incident lifecycle, SLO/SLA management, MTTA/MTTR optimization, noise reduction, and escalation models.

• Experience with multisite, globally distributed network design and operations.

• Cloud network integration (AWS, GCP, Azure) experience is a plus, Certifications from vendors like Cisco, Arista are a plus.

Leadership & Business Skills

• Proven experience leading a technical practice or large service line.

• Strong pre-sales, client-facing, and executive communication skills.

• Ability to guide cross-functional teams across architecture, delivery, PMO, and operations.

• Expertise in developing structured processes, documentation, and operational playbooks.

• Strong business and financial acumen: margin management, labor models, utilization, and resource planning.

• Ability to coach and mentor technical teams; build capability and career pathways.

Salary Range

$132,240.00 - $208,800.00 USD (Salary)

• Please note that the salary information provided herein is base pay only (gross); it does not include other forms of compensation which may or may not apply to this specific position, namely, performance-based bonuses, benefits-related payments, or other general incentives - none of which are guaranteed, may be subject to specific eligibility requirements, and are wholly within the discretion of Astreya to remit.
• Further, the salary information noted above is a range that consists of a minimum and maximum rate of pay for this specific position. Where an applicant or employee is placed on this range will depend and be contingent on objective, documented work-related considerations like education, experience, certifications, licenses, preferred qualifications, among other factors.

Astreya offers comprehensive benefits to all Regular, Full-Time Employees, including:

• Medical provided through UHC (PPO, HSA, Surest options) / Medical provided through Kaiser (HMO option only) for California employees only

• Dental provided through UHC

• Nationwide Vision provided by UHC

• Flexible Spending Account for Health & Dependent Care

• Pre-Tax Account for Commuter Benefit/Parking & Transit (location-specific)

• Continuing Education and Professional Development via various integrated platforms, e.g. Udemy and Coursera

• Corporate Wellness Program provided by Goomi Group

• Employee Assistance Program

• Wellness Days

  401k Plan

• Basic and Supplemental Life Insurance

• Short Term & Long Term Disability

• Critical Illness, Critical Hospital, and Voluntary Accident Insurance

• Tuition Reimbursement (available 6 months after start date, capped)

• Paid Time Off (accrued and prorated, maximum of 120 hours annually)

• Paid Holidays

• Any other statutory leaves, paid time, or other ancillary benefits required under state and federal law