[Hiring] Director, Advanced Cooling Category Management @Vantage Data Centers

Role Description

This role owns the global mechanical category strategy and supplier ecosystem for advanced thermal management systems supporting data center infrastructure. Scope includes chillers, cooling towers, heat exchangers, pumps, valves, piping systems, and emerging liquid cooling technologies such as CDUs and skids. The role is responsible for ensuring cost, quality, delivery, and reliability outcomes, while enabling scalable deployment across regions and reducing supply chain and technical risks.

The Director partners closely with Mechanical Engineering, Product, Construction, Commissioning, Operations, and Reliability teams to ensure alignment with design standards, capacity expansion plans, and evolving cooling technologies. This role also drives global supplier strategy, performance governance, and total cost of ownership improvements, while proactively managing risks such as long-lead equipment constraints, regulatory exposure, and technology transitions.

Essential Job Functions

• Build and execute global category strategy for air and liquid cooling infrastructure aligned to capacity growth, reliability targets, and engineering standards.
• Map global supply base by technology and region, establishing preferred supplier frameworks and regional execution models.
• Lead sourcing and negotiations for mechanical equipment, including chillers, cooling towers, CDUs, pumps, and heat exchangers, as well as spares and service agreements.
• Develop contracting strategies including indexed commodities, bundled equipment and installation, time-and-material vs fixed-price structures, warranties, and performance guarantees.
• Partner with Engineering and Product to drive specification alignment, design-to-cost initiatives, and development of standard equipment building blocks and approved equipment libraries.
• Coordinate with Quality and Commissioning to define acceptance criteria (FAT/SAT), documentation requirements, and change control processes.
• Ensure supplier capacity planning for long-lead equipment and manage expediting, escalation, and recovery plans to mitigate schedule risk.
• Lead supplier performance management including scorecards, QBRs, reliability tracking, corrective action programs, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Manage risks associated with cooling systems, including single-source exposure, regulatory impacts, extreme-weather resilience, and controls obsolescence.
• Drive total cost of ownership improvements across energy efficiency, water usage, maintenance strategies, and lifecycle performance.
• Develop cost models, should-cost benchmarks, and pricing frameworks for equipment, installation, and commissioning.
• Maintain contract portfolios including framework agreements, service/maintenance agreements, warranty terms, and spares strategies.
• Deliver supplier performance dashboards, risk registers, and executive-level insights on category performance and supply risks.
• Additional duties as assigned by Management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Supply Chain, or related field; equivalent experience considered.
• 5+ years of experience in category management or sourcing within mechanical systems, HVAC, or capital equipment.
• Working knowledge of advanced cooling technologies including air-cooled and water-cooled systems, pumping/hydronics, and liquid cooling architectures.
• Experience with capital equipment procurement, contracting, and lifecycle cost analysis.
• Strong negotiation, cost modeling, and supplier management expertise.
• Ability to partner cross-functionally with engineering, construction, commissioning, and operations teams.
• Experience managing supplier performance, reliability metrics, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Understanding of commissioning, acceptance testing, and product lifecycle requirements for mechanical infrastructure.
• Travel required is expected to be up to 20% but may increase over time as the business evolves.

Physical Demands and Special Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to handle, or feel objects; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; balance; stoop or kneel; talk and hear.
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

Benefits

• Salary Range: $190,000-200,000 Base + Bonus (this range is based on Colorado market data and may vary in other locations).
• This position is eligible for company benefits including but not limited to medical, dental, and vision coverage, life and AD&D, short and long-term disability coverage, paid time off, employee assistance, participation in a 401k program that includes company match, and many other additional voluntary benefits.
• Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including your qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience and may fall outside of the range shown.