Senior Data Center Consultant at Ramboll in Chicago, IL

Company Description

Position: Senior Data Center Consultant

EYP Mission Critical Facilities, part of Ramboll Americas Engineering, is an innovator and a market leader in sustainable Data Center Consulting & Strategy, Design, and Commissioning with a 25-year history of excellence in the industry. Numerous Fortune 500 companies, top tier universities, and global data center providers/investors, rely on EYP MCF to provide responsive solutions to today’s complex data center challenges. The Consulting groups core focus is to provide data center strategy analysis with the expertise to address the clients forward mission goals inclusive of their IT and Network architecture. The end goal is to develop a data center sourcing solution for our clients to use their existing facilities, colocation services, cloud services, or build new facilities. This includes developing a new data center topology, reliability and redundancy needs, and associated financial analysis for decision support requirements. The group also supports a wide range of data center assessment projects for investors looking to acquire data centers or develop them. Our growing team depends on motivated professionals with a flexible skill set and the ability to provide often unique, critical thinking to address the ever-changing landscape of data center design and operations.

Job Description

Summary of Job Role and Responsibilities

The ideal Senior team member will provide leadership in many areas but specific to this position is the ability to support the analysis of data center infrastructure as part of our strategy development projects. The skill sets are broken into 4 categories, Electrical, Mechanical, Operations, and Master Planning. The successful candidate must have these skills for the accurate completion of various data center “due diligence” tasks as part of an overall team conducting a data center strategy analysis for our client.

Qualifications

Electrical

• Demonstrated expertise in interpreting electrical one-line diagrams and evaluating mission-critical electrical distribution systems, including utility service, switchgear, UPS, generators, transfer switches, PDUs, transformers, and grounding systems.
• Strong understanding of electrical redundancy concepts (N, N+1, 2N, etc.), reliability principles, load calculations, power capacity, and identifying single points of failure with practical risk mitigation strategies.
• Ability to assess the condition, operation, and maintenance effectiveness of critical power infrastructure, including UPS systems, battery systems, standby power, electrical distribution equipment, and associated controls.
• Experience collecting, analyzing, and interpreting operational data from electrical infrastructure to evaluate system performance, reliability, energy efficiency, and compliance with industry best practices.
• Working knowledge of the National Electrical Code (NEC), mission-critical facility design standards, and the ability to safely perform work in energized or critical infrastructure environments.
• Strong communication, presentation, and computer skills, with the ability to serve as a trusted subject matter expert while preparing technical reports and using Microsoft Office applications.

Mechanical

• Interpret mechanical one-line drawings and evaluate HVAC infrastructure in mission-critical facilities, from central cooling plants through CRAC/CRAH systems, while understanding redundancy concepts and calculating system load capacity.
• Assess the condition, operation, and maintenance of mechanical infrastructure including chillers, cooling towers, heat rejection systems, pumps, valves, piping, thermal storage, and associated controls and instrumentation.
• Analyze mechanical system designs to identify components, single points of failure, reliability risks, and energy optimization opportunities, providing practical recommendations to improve resilience, maintainability, and efficiency.
• Collect, interpret, and analyze operational data from mechanical equipment and perform engineering calculations related to cooling capacity, power, kVA, power factor, and energy performance.
• Apply industry best practices for mission-critical mechanical systems, including redundancy classifications, reliability principles (MTBF, MTTR, availability, maintainability), and safe work practices while effectively using Microsoft Office applications.
• Serve as a confident, customer-facing mechanical subject matter expert, communicating technical findings and recommendations clearly while following written and verbal instructions.

Operations

• Develop maintenance staffing plans and define the technical skill requirements needed to support mission-critical facility operations.
• Operate and evaluate Building Monitoring and Control Systems (BMS/BAS) supporting critical mechanical and electrical infrastructure.
• Assess the condition, maintenance practices, and documentation of mission-critical infrastructure, including raised floor environments, fire detection and suppression systems, and critical equipment records.
• Evaluate operational processes including maintenance management, change management, and security systems to ensure reliability, compliance, and best practices.
• Identify single points of failure, assess infrastructure reliability risks, and develop practical, cost-effective mitigation recommendations to improve data center availability.
• Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of mission-critical systems including Emergency Power Off (EPO), VESDA, FM-200, Ansul, sprinkler and pre-action systems, as well as physical security technologies such as card access, video surveillance, biometric access, and perimeter protection.

Conceptual Master Planning

• Be able to evaluate the overall facility and provide input to such in the planning sessions and workshops
• Working with Engineering/Design colleagues, assist in the development of conceptual designs for infrastructure expansion and/or capacity changes.
• Possess a complete understanding redundancy requirements and Tier levels
• Ability to evaluate the overall critical loading requirements for data center “greenfield” options
• Ability to provide ROM (Rough Order of Magnitude) estimates (+/- 30%) for recommendations
• Ability to present findings and interact with customers at all levels.

Other Skills and Knowledge

The Senior Data Center Consultant will demonstrate the following required abilities: • Managing and participating in the delivery of major projects – the candidate is expected to act as the client partner and project executive for all projects they develop. This will position the candidate to manage the project, its quality, and the client as a portfolio over time. The candidate will participate in delivery and will need to learn the use of the group’s analytic tools and support that need as required. The candidate will also manage the project to the forecast financial measures.

Presentation and Writing Skills: The candidate will need to communicate professionally, effectively, and persuasively in verbal and written form to client CIO/CFO/COO’s and other senior positions. In addition to client focused work, the candidate is expected to participate as an industry expert in symposiums, professional journals, and webinars.

Team-members generally work from their home office and travel when required. Travel can average 25%-50%, but there might be times when sustained travel over short periods of time are required, particularly when supporting our global projects.

It is desirable that the successful candidate have one or more of the following advanced requirements:

• Applicable data center professional certifications
• 10 Years + data center operational experience in privately owned or colocation facilities
• BA/BS from an accredited College/University. Engineering or Computer Science degree is a plus.
• Ability to pass a background check prior to offer letter
• Hold a U.S. passport and travel internationally

Additional Information

Work at the heart of sustainable change

Ramboll is a global architecture, engineering, and consultancy company. We believe sustainable change should create a thriving world for both nature and people. Our culture is grounded in openness, curiosity, responsibility, and respect for diverse perspectives.

Ready to join us?

If you are ready to bring your project leadership, technical judgment, and client management skills to a business focused on sustainable energy solutions, we invite you to apply.

Please submit your application and include your CV and any other relevant documents.

Ramboll in the Americas

Founded in Denmark, Ramboll is a foundation-owned people company. Ramboll has thousands of experts working across more than 70 offices in the Americas, delivering innovative solutions within Environment & Health, Water, Energy, and Planning & Urban Design. We invite you to contribute to a sustainable future working in an open, collaborative, and empowering company. Combining local experience with global knowledge, we together shape the societies of tomorrow.

Salary Transparency

At Ramboll, we are committed to fair and transparent compensation practices that support our people and our purpose of creating sustainable societies. The anticipated base salary range for this position is $125,000 to $155,000 per year. This range reflects the compensation we reasonably expect to offer at the time of posting. Actual compensation will vary based on factors such as location, skills, experience, education, and internal equity. Because we operate across multiple U.S. markets, pay may differ depending on the cost of labor in specific locations. In addition to base salary, this position may be eligible for bonus, overtime or other forms of compensation and we offer a comprehensive benefits package that supports well-being, professional development, and work-life balance. Our recruiters are happy to share more about the specific salary range and total rewards package applicable to your location during the hiring process.

Where People Flourish

Our mission is to create sustainable societies where people and nature flourish. This means that a culture of inclusion is embedded in everything we do. Our people bring diverse backgrounds and experiences to the company, enabling us to deliver innovative and forward-thinking solutions to our clients. We also know how important it is to achieve the right balance of where, when, and how much you work. At Ramboll, we offer flexibility as part of our positive and inclusive approach to work. We are committed to equal employment opportunity, regardless of age, disability or medical condition, gender identity, marriage and domestic partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, ancestry, or national origin, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation, military service and veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. Ramboll wants to ensure opportunities are accessible to candidates with disabilities. So, please let us know if there are any changes we could make to the application process to make it more comfortable for you. You can contact us at job.advert.accessibility@ramboll.com with such requests.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.