Data Center Facility Operations Manager at Lambda in Kansas City, MO

Lambda, The Superintelligence Cloud, is a leader in AI cloud infrastructure serving tens of thousands of customers. Our customers range from AI researchers to enterprises and hyperscalers. Lambda's mission is to make compute as ubiquitous as electricity and give everyone the power of superintelligence. One person, one GPU. If you'd like to build the world's best AI cloud, join us. *Note: This position requires presence in our Kansas City, MO office location 5 days per week. Travel Requirements: Initially low, scaling up to 50% travel across assigned regional sites as portfolio grows What You’ll Do: This is a unique, progressive leadership role designed to grow alongside Lambda's expanding infrastructure footprint. You will begin as the "Mayor of the Data Center," serving as the single point of accountability for the daily performance, safety, and uptime of a single critical high-density AI facility. In this initial phase, you will physically own the building 24/7, directly supervising daily shift operations and managing the on-site performance of our partners, including Salute Mission Critical and colocation landlords. As you successfully stabilize and optimize your initial site, this role will expand into a regional scope. You will transition into the Regional Data Center Operations Manager, overseeing a portfolio of critical, high-density AI facilities across a broader geographic region. Operating remotely with up to 50% travel, you will bridge the gap between global engineering standards and local operational execution across diverse markets. Key Responsibilities: This is a unique, progressive leadership role designed to grow alongside Lambda's expanding infrastructure footprint. You will begin as the "Mayor of the Data Center," serving as the single point of accountability for the daily performance, safety, and uptime of a single critical high-density AI facility. In this initial phase, you will physically own the building 24/7, directly supervising daily shift operations and managing the on-site performance of our partners, including Salute Mission Critical and colocation landlords. As you successfully stabilize and optimize your initial site, this role will expand into a regional scope. You will transition into the Regional Data Center Operations Manager, overseeing a portfolio of critical, high-density AI facilities across a broader geographic region. Operating remotely with up to 50% travel, you will bridge the gap between global engineering standards and local operational execution across diverse markets. Phase 1: Site Manager Responsibilities (Single Site Operations) During the initial phase of your tenure, you will focus on local site mastery and standard enforcement. - Daily Shift Oversight: Administer staff scheduling to ensure continuous, seamless 24/7 operational coverage and rigidly uphold Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for continuous electronic monitoring ("Eyes on Glass") and physical inspections. - Vendor Management: Act as the daily supervising manager for the deployed Salute Mission Critical workforce, validating their timekeeping, quality of rounds, and technical proficiency. You will also serve as the daily interface with the building landlord, verifying that cooling water supply temperatures and pressures match contract specifications. - Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) Stewardship: Serve as the primary owner of the site’s Leak Response Plan, running drills to ensure the team can isolate a failed hose or manifold in under 60 seconds. - Preventative Maintenance & Inventory: Conduct daily "white glove" inspections of data halls to identify potential failure points and manage the site’s spare parts inventory to ensure critical CDU components (filters, sensors, O-rings) are accounted for. - Safety & Compliance: Enforce the mandatory "Two-Person Rule" for overnight shifts, authorize all "Hot Work" permits, and conduct monthly emergency drills (Fire, Leak, Power Loss) to ensure direct hires and contractors function as a cohesive unit. Phase 2: Regional Manager Responsibilities (Multi-Site Portfolio) As you scale into the regional role, your focus will shift toward overarching strategy, standardization, and matrix leadership. - Regional Leadership: Manage, mentor, and evaluate the Site Data Center Facilities Operations Managers across your assigned region. - Operational Standardization: Standardize SOPs across all regional sites to ensure continuous electronic monitoring and mandatory physical site inspections are uniformly upheld, bridging the gap between global engineering standards and local execution. - Advanced Technical Strategy: Serve as the regional escalation point and subject matter expert for high-density AI infrastructure and DLC deployments. Standardize regional Leak Response Plans and oversee regional supply chain logistics for critical DLC spare parts to mitigate risks in cross-border or delayed supply chains. - Regional Vendor Governance: Manage overarching relationships with colocation partners and managed service providers, auditing site-level vendor performance against regional SLAs. - Cross-Team Alignment: Oversee the strategic alignment between facility infrastructure operations ("Grey Space") and internal Data Center Operations teams ("White Space") to ensure seamless deployments. Qualifications: - Experience: 5+ years in data center or critical infrastructure operations (e.g., Navy Nuclear, Power Plant), with prior supervisory experience progressing into multi-site leadership. - Technical Skills: Deep comfort with high-density power, liquid-cooled environments, and complex cooling topologies. Strong ability to troubleshoot mechanical/electrical systems and read Single Line Diagrams (SLDs). - Leadership Style: Proven track record in a "matrix" environment, directing and unifying diverse teams of internal employees, contractors, and 3rd-party vendors across multiple locations. - Language & Autonomy: Fluency in English and the primary business language(s) of the assigned region is required to navigate local regulations and vendors. Must be highly disciplined in administrative documentation and comfortable working autonomously in a remote capacity. What We Offer - Opportunity to shape the telemetry and controls architecture for one of the fastest-growing AI infrastructure platforms in the industry. - Work with cutting-edge GPU infrastructure at rack densities at the frontier of what the industry has deployed. - Collaborative environment with experienced infrastructure, construction, and vendor teams across a rapidly scaling global portfolio. - Competitive compensation including salary, equity, and comprehensive benefits. - Flexibility in work location with hybrid/remote options depending on facility portfolio needs. Salary Range Information The annual salary range for this position has been set based on market data and other factors. However, a salary higher or lower than this range may be appropriate for a candidate whose qualifications differ meaningfully from those listed in the job description. About Lambda - Founded in 2012, with 500+ employees, and growing fast - Our investors notably include TWG Global, US Innovative Technology Fund (USIT), Andra Capital, SGW, Andrej Karpathy, ARK Invest, Fincadia Advisors, G Squared, In-Q-Tel (IQT), KHK & Partners, NVIDIA, Pegatron, Supermicro, Wistron, Wiwynn, Gradient Ventures, Mercato Partners, SVB, 1517, and Crescent Cove - We have research papers accepted at top machine learning and graphics conferences, including NeurIPS, ICCV, SIGGRAPH, and TOG - Our values are publicly available: https://lambda.ai/careers - We offer generous cash & equity compensation - Health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents - Wellness and commuter stipends for select roles - 401k Plan with 2% company match (USA employees) - Flexible paid time off plan that we all actually use A Final Note: You do not need to match all of the listed expectations to apply for this position. We are committed to building a team with a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills. Equal Opportunity Employer Lambda is an Equal Opportunity employer. Applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, age, sex, gender, marital status, sexual orientation and identity, genetic information, veteran status, citizenship, or any other factors prohibited by local, state, or federal law.