Data Center Architect

Company Description
St. Jude is where those with a passion for making a difference come to break new ground. Located in Memphis Tennessee the mission of St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital is to advance cures and means of prevention for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. We are leading the way the world understands treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Job Overview
We are seeking a highly experienced Data Center Architect with a strong emphasis on design and planning. This critical role will be instrumental in shaping the future of our data center infrastructure ensuring its scalability efficiency and resilience. You will lead the development and implementation of our data center strategies from initial concept and design through to deployment and continuous optimization all while ensuring operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities:

• Conduct thorough needs assessments and capacity planning to ensure our data centers can effectively support current and future business demands.
• Research evaluate and recommend emerging data center technologies best practices and innovative solutions to enhance efficiency sustainability and performance.
• Collaborate closely with architects engineers and construction teams to ensure data center designs meet operational requirements industry standards (e.g. Uptime Institute tiers) and regulatory compliance.
• Work with design team on the selection of critical data center infrastructure components (e.g. UPS systems generators CRAC units switchgear racks cabling).
• Work closely with datacenter operations network and compute planning teams to align infrastructure deployments with power and space availability.
• Develop KPIs and dashboards for real-time visibility into capacity utilization and manage space and power capacity.
• Apply data analysis to inform strategic business decisions prioritizing operational trade-offs and capital spend.
• Collaborate with data engineering and tooling teams to drive automation initiatives to improve capacity planning and operational efficiencies.
• Analyze how datacenter infrastructure and design changes impact capacity and provide feedback to teams and to upper-level management.
• Develop and manage the data center budget for operational expenditures.
• Manage relationships with external vendors contractors and service providers involved in data center design construction and maintenance.
• Collaborate effectively with internal stakeholders including IT operations network engineering security facilities and finance teams to gather requirements and ensure alignment.
• Present design proposals project updates and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Ensure all data center designs and operations adhere to relevant industry standards regulations (e.g. HIPAA PCI DSS) and environmental guidelines.
• Develop and implement robust risk mitigation strategies for data center infrastructure and operations.

Minimum Education and/or Training:

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science Engineering business or related field of study required.
• Masters degree preferred.

Minimum Experience:

• Minimum requirement: 5 progressive years of IT industry experience in systems operations environment overseeing complex environment deployment and infrastructure management activities.
• Highly prefer 10 years of progressive experience in data center operations with at least 5 years in a leadership role specifically focused on data center design planning and construction.
• Experience in capacity planning for new products or geographic expansions.
• Strong proven experience in business stakeholder engagement and management.
• Some experience working relevant regulatory or statutory compliance requirements.
• Experience providing technical guidance and mentorship within Technology Infrastructure.
• Proven track record of successfully leading large-scale data center infrastructure projects from conception to completion.
• Deep understanding of data center critical infrastructure components (power cooling networking fire suppression security).
• Strong knowledge of data center design principles best practices and industry standards (e.g. Uptime Institute Tier classifications).
• Familiarity with DCIM (Datacenter Infrastructure Management) tools and automation frameworks preferred.
• Familiarity with various data center topologies and architectures.
• Excellent project management skills with the ability to manage multiple complex projects simultaneously.
• Strong analytical problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
• Exceptional communication interpersonal and presentation skills.
• Relevant certifications (e.g. CDFOM CDCP DCDP PMP DCDC ITIL) are highly desirable.
• Proven performance in earlier role/comparable role.

Licensure Registration and/or Certification Required by SJCRH Only:

• Relevant certifications (e.g. CDFOM CDCP DCDP PMP DCDC ITIL) are highly desirable.

Compensation

In recognition of certain U.S. state and municipal pay transparency laws St. Jude is including a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. This is an estimate offered in good faith and a specific salary offer takes into account factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets experience and training licensure and certifications and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the salary range and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current salary range is $104000 - $186160 per year for the role of Data Center Architect.

Explore our exceptional benefits!

No Search Firms

St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. Please do not call or email. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee or other representative at St. Jude via email the internet or in any form and/or method without a valid written search agreement in place and approved by HR will result in no fee being paid in the event the candidate is hired by St. Jude.