Data Center Design Manager

Job Family Group:

Research & Technology Group

Job Description:

Key responsibilities

1. Pre-sales technical leadership and customer engagement

• Lead technical discovery with customers to define business objectives, IT load profiles, availability targets, deployment phasing, site constraints, operating philosophy, sustainability goals, budget parameters, and schedule expectations.

• Convert customer requirements into a clear basis of design, design criteria, scope matrix, assumptions, exclusions, interfaces, and acceptance requirements.

• Develop concept and reference architectures for greenfield, brownfield, retrofit, high-density, and liquid-cooled data center deployments.

• Present solution concepts, trade-offs, performance, risks, and value propositions to customer technical teams, consultants, procurement stakeholders, and executive decision-makers.

• Coordinate technical responses for RFIs, RFPs, tenders, design workshops, value engineering reviews, and customer clarification meetings.

2. Integrated mechanical and electrical design

• Own the integrated design intent across mechanical and electrical disciplines, ensuring system architecture, equipment selection, controls, interfaces, and redundancy strategy work as one coordinated solution.

• Mechanical scope includes cooling architecture, chilled-water or condenser-water systems, liquid cooling systems, CDUs, heat rejection, pumps, piping, hydraulic design, water treatment, ventilation, containment, controls, and heat-reuse interfaces where applicable.

• Electrical scope includes utility and medium-voltage interfaces, transformers, switchgear, UPS, generators, PDUs, busway, grounding, protection philosophy, power distribution, controls, metering, and integration with critical mechanical loads.

• Review load calculations, capacity models, single-line diagrams, schematics, equipment schedules, layouts, sequences of operation, control narratives, technical specifications, and bills of quantities.

• Ensure designs address reliability, maintainability, constructability, modularity, future expansion, energy and water efficiency, safe operation, and lifecycle cost.

3. Solution costing, quotation and commercial support

• Translate the approved technical concept into an executable scope of supply and services for estimating and quotation.

• Work with sales, finance, procurement, supply chain, legal, and project teams to develop cost inputs, vendor budgets, engineering hours, schedule assumptions, contingencies, and commercial qualifications.

• Validate that quotations align with the technical solution, customer deliverables, performance commitments, warranty position, interfaces, exclusions, and project risk profile.

• Lead technical bid evaluations and value engineering without compromising safety, resilience, performance, compliance, or customer outcomes.

• Support contract and change-order reviews by clarifying technical obligations, acceptance criteria, dependencies, and impact on cost and schedule.

4. System integrator and vendor integration

• Act as the primary technical coordinator with system integrators, design firms, OEMs, equipment vendors, contractors, controls providers, and commissioning agents.

• Establish a clear responsibility and interface matrix covering design ownership, equipment boundaries, data exchange, controls, power, piping, communications, testing, documentation, and warranty.

• Lead vendor design reviews, technical submittal reviews, deviation management, interface resolution, and integration workshops.

• Assess vendor capability, solution maturity, technical compliance, manufacturability, delivery risk, service coverage, and commissioning readiness.

• Drive standardization of preferred architectures, specifications, design modules, approved components, and repeatable integration methods.

5. Project execution and design governance

• Maintain technical ownership from order award through detailed engineering, procurement, construction support, testing, and final handover.

• Establish and manage the design programme, deliverables register, design review gates, decision log, risk register, action tracker, and technical change-control process.

• Coordinate multidisciplinary design reviews and resolve clashes, gaps, constructability issues, and late changes before they affect site execution.

• Provide technical support during procurement, factory testing, installation, site queries, non-conformance resolution, and system start-up.

• Ensure accurate and timely drawings, specifications, calculations, submittals, method statements, inspection and test plans, operating procedures, and as-built documentation.

6. Testing, commissioning and handover

• Define the commissioning strategy and acceptance framework from the design stage, including factory acceptance, site acceptance, pre-functional checks, functional performance testing, integrated systems testing, and reliability demonstrations.

• Coordinate vendors and contractors to develop commissioning scripts, test prerequisites, roles, evidence requirements, issue-management processes, and customer witness plans.

• Verify that controls sequences, alarms, interlocks, failover modes, redundancy, and performance meet the approved design intent.

• Lead technical closure of punch-list items, performance gaps, and documentation deficiencies before handover.

• Support operational readiness through training, spares recommendations, maintenance strategy, asset data, operating manuals, and lessons learned.

7. Safety, quality, compliance and risk

• Embed safety in design and ensure compliance with applicable codes, standards, customer requirements, internal engineering practices, and local authority requirements.

• Lead technical risk reviews, design assurance, hazard identification, failure-mode reviews, and mitigation planning appropriate to project complexity.

• Maintain design quality through independent checks, document control, configuration management, design freeze discipline, and formal approval gates.

• Escalate material technical, safety, schedule, cost, supply, performance, or integration risks with clear options and recommendations.

8. Capability building and continuous improvement

• Develop reusable design guidelines, calculation tools, reference architectures, specifications, quotation templates, lessons learned, and commissioning standards.

• Maintain current knowledge of data center architectures, high-density compute, liquid cooling, energy systems, controls, codes, standards, and emerging technologies.

• Coach sales, application engineering, project, and partner teams on solution design, design governance, and technical risk management.

• Use project feedback and operational performance to improve future designs, vendor selections, cost position, delivery speed, and customer experience.

Travel Requirement:

Negligible travel should be expected with this role

Relocation Assistance:

This role is not eligible for relocation

Remote Type:

This position is a hybrid of office/remote working

Skills:

Agility core practices, Agility core practices, Analytical Thinking, Artificial intelligence, Creating new methodologies, Experimental Design, Formulated product testing, Formulation Deployment, Formulation design, Influencing, Intellectual Asset Management, Multi-physics modelling, Presenting, Product Development, Product Sustainability Performance Management, Project Management, Raw materials knowledge, Research and Development, Rheology, Safety management across the value chain, Science and Technology Leadership, Scientific publication, Technology Management Processes, Testing electric vehicle charging systems, Thought Leadership {+ 2 more}

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Legal Disclaimer:

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, socioeconomic status, neurodiversity/neurocognitive functioning, veteran status or disability status. Individuals with an accessibility need may request an adjustment/accommodation related to bp’s recruiting process (e.g., accessing the job application, completing required assessments, participating in telephone screenings or interviews, etc.). If you would like to request an adjustment/accommodation related to the recruitment process, please contact us.

If you are selected for a position and depending upon your role, your employment may be contingent upon adherence to local policy. This may include pre-placement drug screening, medical review of physical fitness for the role, and background checks.