Description
The Site Selection & Colocation Manager is responsible for identifying, evaluating, and securing optimal locations for new data center developments and colocation expansions.
Responsibilities:
Site Selection & Market Analysis
- Lead the end-to-end site selection process for new data center facilities.
- Conduct market assessments, including power availability, fiber connectivity, land suitability, regulatory requirements, and risk factors.
- Build and maintain market intelligence on emerging data center regions, supply trends, energy markets, and colocation pricing.
- Evaluate and shortlist candidate sites through comparative analysis, scoring models, and feasibility studies.
Technical & Environmental Due Diligence
- Coordinate environmental, geotechnical, hydrological, and seismic assessments.
- Assess infrastructure availability (power, water, fiber) and future scalability.
- Evaluate construction constraints, climate conditions, logistics access, and permitting feasibility.
- Work with engineering teams to ensure sites meet mechanical, electrical, and network resilience requirements.
Colocation Strategy & Vendor Management
- Identify colocation providers and evaluate facilities based on technical specifications, SLA requirements, and cost structure.
- Lead RFPs, negotiations, and contract execution with colocation and connectivity partners.
- Manage colocation lifecycle: renewals, expansions, migrations, and optimization of space/power allocations.
- Monitor vendor performance against SLA, uptime, compliance, and efficiency metrics.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Work with data center design and construction teams to validate site feasibility and development timelines.
- Partner with legal on contract terms, property acquisition, lease terms, and regulatory compliance.
- Support finance with CapEx/OpEx modeling, ROI calculations, and business case development.
- Coordinate with public authorities, utilities, and permitting agencies as needed.
Risk Assessment & Compliance
- Evaluate risks related to natural hazards, geopolitical risk, security, environmental constraints, and utility reliability.
- Ensure compliance with local regulations, zoning laws, and corporate standards.
- Maintain documentation for audits, reporting, and internal approvals.
Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in Real Estate, Engineering, Business, Geography, or related field.
- 5–8+ years of experience in site selection, real estate development, colocation management, or data center infrastructure.
- Strong understanding of data center power, cooling, and network requirements.
- Experience in evaluating colocation providers and negotiating leases/SLAs.
- Analytical skills in market research, cost modeling, and risk assessment.
- Ability to manage multiple simultaneous projects across regions.
- Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience with hyper-scale or large-scale data center development.
- Knowledge of utility procurement (power, water), renewable energy markets, and substation planning.
- Familiarity with geospatial tools (GIS), risk modeling, or data center capacity planning.
- Understanding of permitting processes and environmental regulations.