Data Center Architect

Job Title: Data Center Architect

Location: Brooklyn NY (Hybrid)

Duration: Long Term Contract

Data Center Architect Skills Requirements
1. Data Center Architecture & Technical Leadership

• Proven ability to serve as technical lead for enterprise-scale data center initiatives including design build migration and operational transition.
• Deep expertise in end-to-end data center architecture including:
  • Compute platforms (physical and virtual)
  • Storage and SAN architectures (including modern spine-leaf designs)
  • Network and WAN architectures
  • Backup and data protection solutions
  • Voice and supporting infrastructure
  • Physical data center facilities and plant design
• Demonstrated experience eliminatingsingle points of failureand modernizing legacy architectures.
• Ability to model and document architectures across compute storage backup network and physical facilities.

2. Data Center Modernization & Transformation

• Hands-on experience leading data center modernization efforts including:
  • Migration from legacy technologies (e.g. tape-based backup systems) to modern platforms such as Commvault and cloud-based storage (e.g. AWS).
  • UNIX platform migrations (e.g. Solaris to AIX or equivalent).
  • Transition to cloud-aligned and hybrid operating models.
• Strong understanding of cloud integration automation and DevOps-aligned infrastructure practices.
• Experience partnering with DevOps teams on observability automation and monitoring strategies.

3. Infrastructure Engineering & Facilities Design

• Expertise in physical data center design including:
  • Facility floor plans with rack layouts
  • Power cooling (BTU) weight load and space planning
  • Electrical grounding and cabling requirements
• Ability to define and document physical requirements for new data center facilities.
• Experience providing engineering data for:
  • Ladder racks
  • Fiber raceways
  • Structured cabling systems
  • Power distribution and grounding
• Proven ability to coordinate with vendors contractors and facilitiesteamsfor electrical power and cabling installations.

4. Project Leadership & Delivery

• Strong capability to lead all phases of a data center project including:
  • Business and technical requirements gathering
  • Architecture and design development
  • Proposal and RFP contribution
  • Financial forecasting and business case development
  • Installation configuration and commissioning
  • Production cutover and application/service migration
• Experience overseeing concurrent high-risk initiatives that cannot pause without significant operational impact.
• Ability to identify assess and communicate technical and operational risks.

5. Financial Planning & Business Acumen

• Proven experience developing:
  • Capital and operational expenditure (CapEx/OpEx) plans
  • Financial forecasts for data center infrastructure and CoLo space
  • Cost models for infrastructure services
• Ability to develop and present business cases solution overviews and data-driven recommendations to leadership.
• Strong analytical skills for evaluating design options and financial trade-offs.

6. Operations Readiness & Transition

• Strong understanding of data center operations including:
  • Transitioning services from build teams to run/operations teams
  • Operational readiness documentation and support models
  • Maintenance patching and lifecycle management
• Ability to ensure systems and environments are fully documented for operations best practices.
• Experience supporting operations through:
  • Strategic recommendations
  • Technical consulting
  • Identification and remediation of operational inefficiencies

7. Monitoring Observability & Automation

• Expertise in monitoring and observability platforms including application and infrastructure visibility tools (e.g. AppDynamics and Riverbed).
• Ability to design and expand monitoring solutions with a strong focus on automation and proactive operations.
• Experience defining metrics dashboards and alerting strategies aligned with operational and business needs.

8. Governance Compliance & Security

• Strong knowledge of security compliance and regulatory requirements applicable to enterprise data centers.
• Ability to ensure architectures and implementations meet quality compliance and audit standards.
• Experience developing and updating policies procedures and standards for data center operations.

9. Capacity Planning KPIs & Service Management

• Proven experience in:
  • Data center capacity planning and roadmap development
  • Defining and documenting KPIs and recommending SLAs
  • Supporting service performance management and continuous improvement
• Ability to translate business demand into scalable and sustainable infrastructure designs.

10. Communication Collaboration & Stakeholder Management

• Strong ability to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
• Demonstrated experience collaborating with:
  • Infrastructure application and operations teams
  • Vendors and service providers
  • Facilities and external contractors
• Ability to provide clear regular updates to management and executive stakeholders.

Recognized as a subject matter expert (SME)and trusted technical advisor.