Design Principal, Engineering Development (Electrical)

Who are we?

The Design Principal is responsible for design decisions related to a portfolio of datacenter projects which can include: new construction, phased expansion, retrofits and upgrades, acquisition conversions, M&E equipment selections, and standards upgrades in either a specific region or globally. They are an exceptional industry professional progressing towards becoming a recognised expert on datacenter design. The Design Principal critically assesses design decisions with consultation with more senior staff across disciplines and applies required Equinix standards and country specific regulations to make the best design choices. They manage the relationship and output of key design partners and equipment suppliers for their assigned projects and critically assess and escalate issues where the relationship with such partners is not meeting expectations.

Job Description Summary:

The Design Principal, Engineering Development (Electrical), reporting to the Director, Global Engineering Development, has responsibility for:

• Global electrical engineering direction of Equinix design through continued development of Equinix’s Reference Design

• Evaluation of new products and engineering approaches, supporting the Innovation incubation process, for incorporation into the Reference Design on reaching maturity

• Supports Regional Design teams with project implementation of Reference Design

• Provides subject matter expert direction to the Major Capital Equipment (MCE) team dealing with portfolio-wide procurement of electrical equipment

• Investigates solutions for and leads designs for on-site power generation technologies

Design Process

• Owns and leads a design process, interacting with Architectural, MEP, and other design partners to deliver a portfolio of world class datacenters with a strong focus on technical excellence, mission critical resilience and cost management

• Reviews and contributes to the development of globally standardized tools, techniques and processes for the management and reporting of the design process

• Works with peers in other regions to drive consistency and technical excellence on design and delivery practices and methodologies

• Thinks and acts in a global manner, considering the applicability of any design decision, innovations or standards changes for all regions

• Conducts the master planning of expansion portfolio using global design standards and templates; incorporating regional information to apply these to the inception of projects

• Generates project visualization, initial model using reference design templates and cost estimate for business case inception

• Liaises with regional team to incorporate local infrastructure into the design

• Liaises with commercial management team regionally and globally to assist business case generation

• Liaises with regional team to procure local variations on equipment where Reference Design equipment selections are not available

• Prepares regional-specific and customer-specific configurations of the Reference Design, reacting to local market conditions and customer requirements.

Cross-Functional Co-ordination

• Maintains interpersonal relationships with internal technical staff, external design consulting partners, construction management, commercial management, and regional P&L holders to ensure appropriate stakeholder exposure and buy in to IBX projects

• Appropriately leverages the center of excellence teams and more senior Design staff to augment their individual technical expertise to ensure all facets of the datacenter design are adequately considered and approved

• Manages internal and external resources via their influence and outstanding competencies

• Partners with Global Operations, Global Design Standards, and other teams as necessary to achieve alignment on design details

• Partners with Procurement teams in the evaluation and selection of mechanical equipment and provides lifecycle support of selected equipment to Global Operations, applying lifecycle feedback to selection process

Project Management

• Indirectly manages experienced electrical and mechanical engineering staff in the Independent Technical Review and Innovation & Development teams to deliver a portfolio of world-class datacenter designs on time and to budget

• Directly responsible for managing the design schedule for assigned projects to ensure on time creation and review of BODs, REIC Submissions, and design documentation for IFP and IFC sets

• Manages, with the aid of the commercial management team, design budgets and controls change management requests during the construction phase, in consultation with the Construction Manager

• Works hand-in-hand with the regional design teams and Construction Managers to deliver Concept Designs and Standards that support the delivery of world class datacenters

• Manages, with the aid of the commercial management team, the costs of the designs to ensure appropriate balancing of cost flexibility and global standardization

• Tests the cost impact of design concepts with the Commercial Management team and keeps a logical record of pricing-tested design concepts that have been discounted

• Manages Reference Design external consultant team, providing direction on electrical engineering

Design Oversight

• Stays up-to-date on advancements in design being investigated by the centers of excellence teams to ensure technologies support future IBX design and construction needs and feeds back information to construction for incorporation of changes

• Ensures designs meet Equinix’s Global Design Standards and the business needs for capacity, density, and function

• Utilizes design review findings and best practices to inform Reference Design development

• Feeds back to GDSTR team requested changes to Global Design Standards arising out of projects

• Brings a systemic and scale-focused approach to tools and process for early stage design, identifying shortfalls or opportunities to scale and conceptually ideates tools and process development solutions

• Owns the Electrical discipline of the Reference Design and assists regional teams in the selection and implementation of configurations or variations

• Owns the repository of Reference Design electrical equipment technical submittals and the feedback loop from projects and vendors for necessary updates

Qualifications

• 7+ years’ experience in a Design MEP Firm or in the design team of a Mission Critical Building operator or Subcontractor OR 7+ years’ experience as an Architectural lead in a Mission Critical Architectural Design Practice

• Pan-global experience of local electrical design/construction practice is highly desirable. The ideal candidate has experience and electrical code/regulation/law familiarity in AMER, EMEA and APAC regions.

• Advanced Degree (Masters) in Electrical is preferred, Bachelor's Degree acceptable or extensive and demonstrable experience in role, Architects to hold RIBA, RA, AIA or local equivalent

• PE, CEng or local equivalent, for Engineering route candidates desirable but not essential

• Spoken and written English proficiency is essential, additional languages are strongly desirable

• Experience of on-site power generation plant, such as combustion gas turbines, is highly desirable.

The United States targeted pay range for this position in the following location is / locations are:

• San Francisco, CA / Bay Area: $157,000 to $235,000 per year
• California (Non-SF/Bay Area), Connecticut, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Washington state: $150,000 to $224,000 per year
• Colorado, Nevada, Rhode Island: $136,000 to $204,000 per year

Our pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum target for new hire pay for the full-time position determined by role, level, and location. Individual pay is based on additional factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education and/or training.

This position may be offered in other locations. Your recruiter can share more about the specific pay range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

The targeted pay range listed reflects the base pay only and does not include bonus, equity, or benefits. Employees are eligible for bonus, and equity may be offered depending on the position.

As an employee, you become important to Equinix’s success. Details about our company benefits can be found at the following link:

USA Benefits eBook

Equinix is committed to ensuring that our employment process is open to all individuals, including those with a disability.  If you are a qualified candidate and need assistance or an accommodation, please let us know by completing this form.

Equinix is an Equal Employment Opportunity and, in the U.S., an Affirmative Action employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to unlawful consideration of race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, place of birth, citizenship, sex, pregnancy / childbirth or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or domestic partnership status, age, veteran or military status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, political / organizational affiliation, status as a victim or family member of a victim of crime or abuse, or any other status protected by applicable law.