VIRTUS Data Centres
Group Commissioning Director
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About VIRTUS
VIRTUS Data Centres is Europe’s fastest-growing data centre provider. We own, design, build, and operate some of the most energy-efficient, flexible, and secure data centres in the UK and Europe.
In 2023, we announced our expansion into continental Europe, starting with Berlin and Milan, with plans to grow further across the region.
At VIRTUS, we aim to be a positive force in the fourth industrial revolution—delivering innovative solutions while staying firmly rooted in our core values: Clarity & Quality, Accountability, Customer Commitment, Purposeful Innovation, and Capability & Growth.
Job Summary
The Group Commissioning Director is accountable for the governance, strategy, and consistent delivery of commissioning across all VIRTUS data centre projects, major infrastructure upgrades, and lifecycle replacement works across Europe. The role acts as the owner’s commissioning authority, ensuring that critical infrastructure is designed, installed, tested, integrated, documented, and formally accepted in line with VIRTUS requirements, project specifications, operational readiness criteria, applicable legislation, ISO requirements, customer requirements, and industry best practice.
The role provides dedicated data centre commissioning expertise to support new build and expansion projects, management of group-wide commissioning standards, and customer engagements as required. Through the commissioning team, appointed commissioning agents, contractors, and suppliers, the role will lead the commissioning lifecycle from early design commissionability reviews and factory testing through site acceptance, start-up, functional performance testing, Integrated Systems Testing, defect closure, and operational handover.
The role is responsible for ensuring safe energisation, resilient system performance, clear acceptance criteria, robust issue resolution, evidence-based handover, and continued improvement of the VIRTUS commissioning playbook, standards, and reporting framework.
Duties And Responsibilities
The role includes but is not limited to the following:
- Own and continuously improve the VIRTUS commissioning framework, playbook, and regional standards across the UK and European portfolio, ensuring clear roles, interfaces, level definitions, decision gates, acceptance criteria, escalation routes, reporting templates, evidence requirements, and handover criteria.
- Build, lead, and resource a high-performing regional commissioning team across the UK, Germany, Italy, and other European locations, setting clear expectations, priorities, and ways of working while developing capability through coaching, technical mentoring, structured development plans, knowledge sharing, and succession planning.
- Lead the full commissioning lifecycle from design commissionability review through Level 1 FAT, Level 2 installation verification, Level 3 start-up and energisation, Level 4 functional performance testing, Level 5 Integrated Systems Testing, defect closure, and formal operational handover.
- Ensure commissioning deliverables are planned, reviewed, evidenced, and completed to the required standard, including FAT/SAT documentation, readiness checklists, test scripts, witnessing records, FPTs, IST plans, method statements, MOPs/SOPs, deficiency logs, commissioning reports, and turnover packs.
- Support commissioning-related procurement, appointment, and contract governance by defining scope requirements, reviewing consultant and contractor proposals, validating commissioning deliverables, and ensuring contractual testing, evidence, and handover obligations are clearly understood and delivered.
- Provide technical governance over critical data centre systems, including HV/LV distribution, switchgear, transformers, UPS, generators, fuel systems, batteries, mechanical cooling, chilled water plant, CRAH/CRAC/CDU units, controls, BMS/EPMS, fire and life safety systems, alarms, and monitoring interfaces.
- Drive IST readiness and execution, including prerequisites, load-bank strategy, resilience scenarios, failure-mode testing, utility-loss simulations, controls integration, alarm validation, operational witnessing, defect tracking, and retest closure.
- Govern customer and operational acceptance readiness by ensuring commissioning evidence, test results, risk positions, exclusions, deferred works, and acceptance recommendations are clearly presented, agreed, and formally recorded before handover.
- Ensure commissioning activities are delivered safely and compliantly, particularly during energisation, live testing, permits, isolations, switching, risk assessments, method statements, emergency arrangements, and Health & Safety, fire, security, and ISO-related requirements.
- Review design, construction, and operational documentation to confirm commissionability, maintainability, testability, sequence of operations, controls logic, alarm strategy, and operational readiness are embedded early in project delivery.
- Maintain commissioning KPIs, dashboards, digital tracking tools, and management reporting to provide clear visibility of readiness, programme status, defects, retesting, acceptance risks, safety performance, resourcing, handover readiness, benchmarking, and lessons learned.
- Lead effective collaboration with project teams, operations, engineering discipline leads, consultants, commissioning agents, contractors, vendors, and customer commissioning stakeholders to align capability, resolve issues quickly, and minimise programme, safety, customer, and operational impact.
- Train and support engineering and operations teams on commissioning processes, test philosophy, system operation, handover expectations, and operational readiness requirements.
- Use commissioning findings, operational trends, failure risks, industry best practice, and lessons learned to improve data centre reliability, resilience, efficiency, power usage effectiveness, and future project delivery.
- Support post-handover stabilisation by reviewing early-life operational performance, commissioning-related incidents, alarms, defects, and customer feedback, ensuring lessons learned are captured and fed back into design, construction, commissioning standards, and future projects.
- Undertake any other reasonable requests made by your line manager.
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Qualifications
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- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline; master’s degree preferred.
- Professional specialist development in MEP systems, data centre engineering, and mission-critical commissioning; recognised commissioning certification preferred.
- Project management qualification or formal project management training within the engineering and construction industry would be advantageous.
Experience
- Minimum 10–15 years’ engineering and commissioning experience in data centre or mission-critical 24x7 environments, including significant Integrated Systems Testing experience.
- Demonstrable design and practical commissioning experience across both greenfield and brownfield construction projects, preferably including major capital projects of substantial value.
Skills & Competencies
- Demonstrable ability to build, lead, and develop a high-performing regional commissioning team, including people management, coaching, technical mentoring, workload prioritisation, succession planning, and creating an accountable, safety-focused, and collaborative team culture.
- Ability to develop, articulate, and implement commissioning specifications, workflows, best practices, testing strategies, commissioning standards, and owner acceptance processes for data centre and mission-critical facilities.
- Familiarity with recognised commissioning codes and guidance, including ASHRAE, CIBSE, and BSRIA commissioning guidance.
- Experience performing both consultant-side and owner-side commissioning responsibilities would be advantageous.
- Experience working across multiple countries and cultures, with the ability to lead regional commissioning activity and collaborate effectively across distributed teams.
- Excellent written and verbal English communication skills; additional European or regional language skills would be advantageous.
- Willingness and ability to travel across Europe as required by project, commissioning, customer, and operational demands.
In line with VIRTUS’ Vetting Policy, the successful applicant must be willing to undergo a BS7858 screening process.
VIRTUS is an equal opportunity employer. As part of our commitment to fight for equality, we work to ensure a fair and consistent interview process. We celebrate diversity and we are committed to an inclusive work environment.
We reserve the right to close this post for applications should sufficient applications be received.
Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully
VIRTUS Data Centres does not accept unsolicited support from search firms for employment openings. CVs/resumes submitted by search firms to any VIRTUS employee without an active, written search agreement for a specified role will become the property of VIRTUS. No fees will be paid for candidates hired from agency submissions made without such an agreement. Existing agency partnerships must adhere to position-specific terms outlined in their agreements. Please refrain from calling or emailing regarding this matter.
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