Brown University

Job Description:

Assistant Director, Data Center Facilities

Office of Information Technology

This role entails supervising a team responsible for maintaining several OIT Data Center Facilities, including locations at 115 Waterman St, 180 George St, 121 South Main St, Friedman Hall , OSHEAN Data Center in Springfield Mass and additional facilities as necessary. The primary focus involves overseeing tasks such as receiving, placing, installing, removing, maintaining and coordinating equipment related activities and resources within these Data Centers. Close collaboration with OIT technical teams is vital to ensure the effective fulfillment of their needs and timelines. Additionally, this role involves aiding in work planning and prioritization to meet deadlines consistently.

Key responsibilities include directing staff in monitoring and documenting the facility's physical layout and environmental aspects, as well as directing and assisting staff with equipment racking and stacking. Furthermore, close coordination with Facilities Management and Vendors for electrical, mechanical, HVAC, and other systems is necessary.

The Assistant Director is expected to cultivate a culture of continuous improvement and explore opportunities to automate repetitive tasks. They should also be ready to offer secondary support across all areas. Team members in the data center will undergo cross-training for various tasks, including wiring, racking & stacking, monitoring, and managing automated systems.

The Assistant Director is responsible for coordinating the team's rotation for 24-hour on-call incident management and serving as the primary responder for team escalations.

Please note while this position is eligible for remote work, the incumbent will be required to work on campus frequently based on operational needs.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree preferred
• Higher education experience preferred
• 5-10 years managing datacenter operations and datacenter facility
• Supervisory experience required
• Power and cooling management in a High-Performance Computing environment experience is essential
• Experience leading small projects required

Technical Skills Required:

• Strong understanding of HVAC/data center cooling systems (CRAC/CRAH units, in-row cooling, rear-door heat exchangers, chilled water systems).
• Knowledge of power distribution (PDUs, RPPs, UPS, dual power feeds, generator systems).
• Experience with environmental monitoring platforms (temperature, humidity, leak detection, airflow).
• Expertise in rack/stack design and layouts (hot aisle/cold aisle, containment strategies, rack elevations).
• Knowledge of Sunbird or other DCIM (Data Center Infrastructure Management) platforms
• Knowledge of Hot/Cold aisle containment engineering
• Experience managing vendors for:
  • Electrical/cooling upgrades
  • Cabling projects
  • Data center expansions and colocation services

Technical Skills Preferred:

• Experience with physical security technologies
  • Badge systems
  • Key/lock systems (e.g., Traka key cabinets)
  • NIST Audit requirements
• Familiarity with high-speed networking standards:
  • 10/25/40/100GbE
  • QSFP/SFP transceiver standards
  • Fiber types (OM3/OM4/OS2)
• Experience facilitating requests and tasks across technical teams
• Demonstrated customer service skills
• Demonstrated organizational skills
• Ability to adapt to a dynamically changing environment
• Demonstrate a service excellence focus
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Experience to effectively lead departmental collaboration
• Demonstrated organizational skills

Successful completion of a criminal background check and education verification is required

Benefits of Working at Brown:

Information on the Benefits of Working at Brown can be found here.

Recruiting Start Date:

2025-12-17

Job Posting Title:

Assistant Director, Data Center Facilities

Department:

Office of Information Technology

Grade:

Grade 11

Worker Type:

Employee

Worker Sub-Type:

Regular

Time Type:

Full time

Scheduled Weekly Hours:

37.5

Position Work Location:

Remote

Submission Guidelines:

Please note that in order to be considered an applicant for any staff position at Brown University you must submit an application form for each position for which you believe you are qualified. Applications are not kept on file for future positions. Please include a cover letter and resume with each position application.

This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

Still Have Questions?

If you have any questions you may contact employment@brown.edu.

Brown is an E-Verify Employer.

EEO Statement:

Brown University provides equal opportunity and prohibits discrimination, harassment and retaliation based upon a person’s race, color, religion, sex, age, national or ethnic origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or any other characteristic protected under applicable law, in the administration of its policies, programs, and activities. The University recognizes and rewards individuals on the basis of qualifications and performance. The University maintains certain affirmative action programs in compliance with applicable law.

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