Site Engineer I (Shift Relief) at Digital Realty · CHESSINGT…

Site Engineer I (Shift Relief)

Location: CHESSINGTON, SURREY, United Kingdom

Your role

The Site Engineer I (Shift Relief) is the first point of contact for all planned and unplanned shift cover. The role maintains the site's 24/7 shift presence during holiday, training, sickness and vacancy absence, ensuring the campus never operates without a competent engineer on watch.

As with all Site Engineer I roles, the core responsibility is to perform infrastructure-related activities that ensure reliable and efficient operation of the technical infrastructure, achieved through maintenance, testing and surveillance of all installed assets. The role is critical to meeting Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and delivering client satisfaction.

When not covering shifts, the post holder works planned weekday hours supporting day-to-day operations, training and development, and switching exposure.

What you’ll do

Shift Cover (role-specific)

• Act as the first point of contact for all shift cover requirements across both units, day and night, in line with the agreed shift cover hierarchy.
• Hold full shift engineer competency for both sites, including lone working, and operate to the same standards and expectations as a permanent shift engineer.
• Self-manage the shift relief section of the shift rota, maintaining a rolling three-month look-ahead of planned attendance and availability so that colleagues and management have clear visibility.
• Meet contracted hours on a quarterly basis, prioritising shift cover, with the balance made up through planned weekday attendance rather than nights or weekends.
• Ensure adequate rest between shifts and decline cover where fatigue or working time limits would be compromised, escalating gaps to the Manager Engineering Operations.
• Communicate any changes to agreed cover promptly to all affected stakeholders.
• Use periods not spent on shift cover to support weekday operations, contractor supervision, switching exposure and structured training.

Overall Responsibilities

• Ensure adherence to company safety policies, operational efficiency and core values.
• Maintain compliance with industry standards and legal requirements.
• Assist in maintenance and repair tasks as directed by senior engineers or Site Operations Management.
• Participate in on-call duties and incident management when required.
• Support and collaborate with other engineers under the guidance of Site Management.
• Maintain proficiency in essential technical skills, such as troubleshooting, maintenance and systems.
• Continuously improve skills and knowledge through practical experience and training opportunities.

What you’ll need

• Some experience in site operations and maintenance of large-scale electrotechnical and/or mechanical systems.
• Education to a vocational level in a technical and/or site engineering discipline (minimum apprenticeship).
• Preferably skilled, at minimum novice, in the operation and maintenance of electrotechnical and/or mechanical systems.
• Preferably skilled, at minimum novice, in the maintenance of fire detection and suppression systems.
• Novice in maintenance of conveyor technique (lifts) and/or technical security systems (CCTV, access control).
• HVAC mechanical and/or electrical background.
• Desirable: LVAP/HVAP competency, or the demonstrable capability to achieve it within the first 12 months.
• Desirable: familiarity with data centre critical plant — HV/LV switchgear, UPS, standby generation, indirect adiabatic cooling and fire systems.
• Strong problem analysis skills and sound judgement when working alone on shift.
• Proactive, with a customer and business focus.
• Attention to detail with a hands-on mentality.
• Customer centricity and a natural drive to work with other areas of the business to deliver the best possible outcome.

A bit about us

Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL, the company’s global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges. Digital Realty gives its customers access to the connected data communities that matter to them with a global data center footprint of 300+ facilities in 50+ metros across 25+ countries on six continents.

To learn more about Digital Realty, please visit digitalrealty.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

What we can offer you

Our rapidly evolving business sector offers the opportunity to be part of a courageous and passionate team who work together to understand and meet the changing needs of our global customers.

Join us and you’ll be part of a supportive and inclusive environment where you can bring your whole self to work. As part of our team, you’ll get to work with people from different business areas, challenge the way we do things and put your ideas into action. We’ll also give you plenty of development opportunities so you can build a rewarding and successful career with us.

Apply today, take charge of your career and grow your talents with us.

Training and Development

Join our Data Center Operations team and gain the support to succeed from day one. Our onboarding program prepares you to contribute meaningfully right away, with clear career pathways and continuous training to fuel your long-term growth. From onboarding to specialized development, we equip you with the skills and opportunities to make a lasting impact in operations.

Safely Powering Progress

Safety isn't just a priority here at Digital; it's critical to everything we do. Safeguarding lives, protecting assets, and securing data aren't just ideals - they're essential pillars of our commitment to excellence for our people, our partners and our customers. We have a culture of care where every member of Team Digital embraces a relentless pursuit of working safely across Digital Realty. Together we are Safely Powering Progress.

Our Compensation Philosophy

Digital Realty offers its employees a highly competitive compensation package, excellent benefits, and an environment that recognizes and rewards your contributions. Central to our compensation philosophy is rewarding our employees for achieving the values and objectives aligned to the company's overall goals and values.