Director, Lifecycle Engineering

Systems Engineering

Position Overview

The Director, Lifecycle Engineering leads the systems, data, and operating processes that govern the equipment digital thread from product definition through procurement, manufacture, logistics, commissioning and handover into asset, Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS)/ Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) and data-centre maintenance operations.

The role delivers the lifecycle engineering roadmap, standards, and governance required to establish a scalable equipment digital thread: a canonical equipment and asset master, controlled product, configuration, Bill of Materials (BOM), and technical-documentation data, a single asset identity across system boundaries, and CMMS/EAM capabilities that operations and reliability teams can trust. Working within the target architecture and standards owned by the VP, Systems Engineering, this is a hands-on leadership role accountable for building and running a high-performing team, driving adoption across functions, and closing the seams between engineering, procurement, logistics, construction, commissioning, and operations across the estate.

Reports To: VP, Data Center, Systems Engineering

Direct Reports: Lifecycle Engineering managers, engineers, and data stewards

Travel: Regular travel to data-center sites, supplier factories, and FAT/commissioning activity

Key Responsibilities

Roadmap, standards and governance

• Translate the lifecycle engineering strategy into a costed, sequenced roadmap with clear deliverables, dependencies, decision points, and business outcomes, and own delivery against it.
• Build and maintain the business cases, budget, and reporting for CMMS/EAM, Product Information Management (PIM)/ Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), integration, data-platform, and related capabilities; recommend priorities against operational risk, scalability, and operational value.
• Operate the lifecycle data governance and design-authority process, including domain ownership, stewardship, standards, exceptions, escalation, decision forums, and adoption tracking.
• Apply and maintain the target architecture, authoritative-source model, and lifecycle engineering standards so every critical data object has one system of record, one identity, and a controlled route of entry.

Equipment and asset master data and lifecycle 

• Own the end-to-end equipment and asset data processes from product definition through procurement, manufacture, logistics, installation, commissioning, handover, maintenance, and reliability.
• Implement and enforce canonical equipment and asset identity, taxonomy, hierarchy, naming, units of measure, item-master, configuration, and BOM standards.
• Lead data-cleansing, deduplication, and validation-at-source programs that replace unmanaged workbooks and free-text records with governed lifecycle objects and structured exception management.
• Apply and maintain data and document acceptance gates for material readiness, receiving, commissioning completion, and handover into the asset and maintenance environment.

Maintenance, reliability and operational readiness

• Own the CMMS/EAM master-data and configuration baseline, including hierarchy, class codes, criticality, PM strategy data, task plans, intervals, labor and skills, parts, closing codes, warranties, and spares.
• Maintain controlled Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Method of Procedure (MOP), and Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) libraries linked to asset class, configuration, revision, approval, and point-of-work availability.
• Ensure condition data from Data Center Information Management (DCIM), Building Management System (BMS), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), and operational technology systems is deterministically mapped to assets so condition-based maintenance and work orders are trustworthy.
• Run the reliability learning loop across failure coding, bad-actor identification, root-cause analysis, and preventative maintenance optimization so operational learning improves maintenance strategy.

Cross-functional leadership and team development

• Serve as the primary escalation point and day-to-day partner for equipment and asset data, lifecycle-readiness, and process disputes across Engineering and Design, Procurement and Supply Chain, Construction and Commissioning, DC Operations and Maintenance, Reliability Engineering, IT, Platform and Data, Finance, and HSE, escalating to the VP, Systems Engineering where alignment cannot be reached.
• Negotiate and enforce supplier and OFCI data and document deliverables, including submittals, FAT evidence, IOMs, serial data, spares, configuration data, and acceptance criteria.
• Build, lead, and develop the Lifecycle Engineering team, including hiring, capability planning, and clear delivery ownership; partner with the Principal Engineer on standards and drive quality, adoption, and measurable outcomes.
• Run a clear performance system that connects lifecycle engineering delivery to PM compliance, backlog age, spares fill rate, availability, delivery readiness, and data-quality performance, and report progress to the VP and operational leadership.

Required Experience and Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in engineering, asset management, enterprise systems, or a closely related field, including 4+ years leading teams or complex cross-functional systems, data, or operational programs at manager, director, or equivalent level.
• Proven ownership of a CMMS/EAM platform at scale, such as Attune, PM/EAM, or equivalent, including master data, PM strategy, work management, and reporting.
• Hands-on depth in PIM and/or PLM, configuration management, item master, product variants, BOM structures, engineering change, and effectivity control.
• Strong enterprise systems background spanning ERP, procurement and supply-chain systems, document management, integration patterns, and master data governance.
• Experience applying ITIL-aligned service management, including change, incident, problem, configuration, and CMDB discipline, to a live operational estate.
• Practical experience with controlled SOP, MOP, EOP, and permit-to-work regimes in a mission-critical environment.
• Experience with industrial data platforms, and with data stewardship, golden records, validation at source, deduplication, and measurable data-quality KPIs.
• Experience owning a roadmap, budget, and standards for a systems or data function, including stakeholder management and a track record of securing adoption in a complex, high-growth or mission-critical environment.
• Demonstrated ability to apply standards, secure adoption, and influence peers and senior stakeholders across organizational boundaries without direct authority.

Preferred Experience and Qualifications

• Data-center plant literacy across electrical and mechanical systems, including UPS, switchgear, transformers, chillers, dry coolers, PDU, busway, BMS/EPMS, and OFCI/CFI delivery models.
• Experience integrating DCIM, BMS/SCADA, and OT/IIoT systems, including tag-to-asset mapping and alarm rationalization.
• Exposure to reliability engineering methods and standards, including RAM, RCM, FMEA, RCA, ISO 14224, and ISO 55000.
• Experience with BIM/COBie handover, digital-twin data exchange, and supplier contract requirements for lifecycle data and documentation.

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