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Nederland
Remote only
This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Regional Director of Operations based in Netherlands.
As Regional Director of Operations, you will oversee the technical and operational performance of a portfolio of AI data centre facilities across EMEA.
You will provide strategic leadership across site operations, infrastructure, logistics, assets, inventory, and service delivery.
The role combines senior people leadership with hands-on responsibility for safety, security, availability, efficiency, and operational excellence.
You will manage critical vendors, subcontractors, customer relationships, and internal stakeholders while ensuring stringent service commitments are met.
The position requires strong technical judgment across data centre facilities, IT infrastructure, and other business-critical environments.
You will also drive process consistency, risk reduction, energy efficiency, and continuous improvement across a rapidly scaling regional operation.
This is a remote leadership opportunity suited to an experienced operations professional who thrives in high-accountability, fast-changing environments.
Provide strategic direction across EMEA site management, facility and IT infrastructure, logistics, asset and inventory, and service operations.
Lead and develop the regional operations organization, including Data Centre, Logistics, and Asset & Inventory leadership.
Build organizational capability and establish consistent operational standards, processes, and procedures across the portfolio.
Maintain accountability for the four core operational priorities: safety, security, service availability, and efficiency.
Review and approve high-risk activities, including power outages, major project works, capacity upgrades, customer fit-outs, deployments, and equipment refreshes.
Ensure facilities remain compliant with applicable local and regional regulations, safety requirements, standards, and contractual obligations.
Establish and monitor operational KPIs to assess regional performance, service health, risk, and continuous improvement.
Support site teams in delivering reliable operations and minimizing downtime through effective risk assessment, planning, and mitigation.
Manage critical incidents, escalations, faults, change processes, and post-incident reviews across business-critical environments.
Manage senior relationships with key third-party providers, including colocation providers, IT integrators, OEMs, and subcontractors.
Ensure service providers and operations teams are equipped to meet customer contractual SLAs and service expectations.
Identify and resolve operational bottlenecks while embedding productivity and efficiency into day-to-day processes.
Drive energy-efficiency initiatives and contribute to improvements in data centre design and operational practices.
Own the mitigation and reduction of operational risks recorded in regional risk registers and contribute to reducing technical debt.
Sponsor regional projects and initiatives while supporting other functions in achieving broader organizational objectives.
Represent operations in relevant external forums, including environmental agencies and authorities having jurisdiction.
Act as a senior escalation point for operational teams, providing guidance, coaching, and support during complex situations.
Build strong relationships with customers, vendors, technology providers, and internal leadership across EMEA.
Promote a culture of accountability, teamwork, trust, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.
Extensive professional experience in data centre facilities, IT infrastructure, or another highly critical operational environment such as nuclear, aerospace, petrochemical, or pharmaceutical settings.
Demonstrated experience leading data centre operations, IT infrastructure, or operations engineering teams.
Proven ability to establish, implement, and manage operational processes within live, business-critical environments.
Extensive real-time incident and fault management experience, including business continuity, risk management, change control, and post-incident analysis.
Strong experience managing third-party suppliers against demanding service-level agreements.
Strong technical understanding of electrical systems, mechanical cooling, fire and life safety, IT/OT systems, or data centre compute, storage, and network infrastructure.
Strong project management capabilities and the ability to coordinate multiple complex initiatives simultaneously.
Electrical or mechanical qualification, ideally at degree level or equivalent professional experience, or an IT qualification at degree level or equivalent experience.
Relevant professional membership, such as IET, IMechE, or CIBSE, is advantageous.
Relevant IT, data centre, or AI infrastructure certifications, including those associated with major technology providers, are beneficial.
Strong understanding of health and safety, ISO standards, regulatory requirements, and compliance within data centre environments.
Comprehensive understanding of customer installations and the contractual frameworks supporting data centre services.
Ability to lead or contribute effectively to incident investigations, post-incident reviews, and formal incident reporting.
Good working knowledge of Microsoft 365 and common operational business tools.
Experience working with multiple internal and external stakeholder groups across geographically distributed environments.
Strong leadership and people-management capabilities, with a focus on building capable, accountable, and engaged teams.
Calm and decisive approach under pressure, with the ability to provide confidence and direction during incidents and operational challenges.
Strong ownership mindset, personal accountability, attention to detail, and high standards of execution.
Adaptability and efficiency when priorities, requirements, and operating conditions change.
Proactive approach to identifying potential issues and addressing them before they become operational risks.
Strong sense of urgency and persistence when driving complex issues through to resolution.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Willingness and ability to work effectively across the EMEA region and with diverse stakeholders.
Competitive compensation package, with the stated range for the role of approximately €216,000–€257,000, depending on qualifications, experience, location, and market considerations.
Eligibility for discretionary performance-related bonus compensation.
Equity participation, providing an opportunity to share in long-term company value creation.
Retirement or pension contributions.
Comprehensive health, wellbeing, and insurance benefits, subject to location and local regulations.
Generous annual vacation allowance.
Fully remote working arrangement within eligible European locations.
Opportunity to lead operations across a rapidly expanding AI infrastructure environment.
Exposure to complex, large-scale data centre operations and critical infrastructure challenges.
Opportunity to build and develop a regional operations organization while contributing to operational standards and long-term infrastructure strategy.
Supportive environment focused on trust, professional growth, impact, and sustainable work-life balance.
Pre-employment screening may apply, including right-to-work, employment-history, and criminal-record checks where permitted by applicable law.