Design Director- Datacenters

The purpose of the Design Director role is to provide overall leadership, strategic direction, and technical governance for the design and engineering activities of Damac Digital's data center developments. The role is responsible for ensuring that all projects are developed and delivered in accordance with the company's design standards, project objectives, technical requirements, quality expectations, programme, budget, sustainability targets, and applicable statutory and international standards. The Design Director will lead multidisciplinary design teams and consultants across Architectural, Structural, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, ELV, Security, and other specialist disciplines, ensuring effective design coordination and integration throughout the project lifecycle from concept development through detailed design, construction, testing, commissioning, and handover. The position will act as the senior design authority, providing strategic technical guidance, resolving complex design issues, driving standardization and innovation, and ensuring that design solutions support the reliability, scalability, efficiency, maintainability, and operational requirements of mission-critical data center facilities. KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES: •Provide overall leadership and strategic direction for multidisciplinary design activities across Damac Digital data center projects, ensuring alignment with business objectives, project requirements, programme, budget, quality, and technical standards. •Establish and maintain design governance, standards, procedures, design guidelines, and technical requirements for data center developments, ensuring consistency across projects and design teams. •Lead and oversee the development and review of concept, schematic, developed, detailed, and IFC design packages, ensuring that all disciplines are fully coordinated and integrated. •Provide senior technical direction across Architectural, Structural, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, ELV, Security, and specialist systems, ensuring that design solutions meet the required levels of reliability, resilience, scalability, maintainability, efficiency, and operational performance. •Manage and direct internal design teams and external consultants, including resource planning, performance management, technical reviews, deliverables, programme, and quality. •Lead the evaluation of design options, value engineering, constructability, design optimization, and lifecycle-cost considerations, ensuring commercially viable and technically robust solutions. •Ensure effective coordination between Design, Development, Project Management, Procurement, Commercial, Operations, IT, and other stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle. •Provide leadership in identifying and resolving complex design, technical, coordination, constructability, and interface issues, ensuring timely decisions and minimizing project risks. •Review and approve key design submissions, technical reports, specifications, design changes, deviations, and consultant recommendations, within the delegated authority. •Ensure design activities comply with company requirements, applicable local authority regulations, international standards, codes, client requirements, sustainability objectives, and data center industry best practices. •Oversee design support during tendering, procurement, construction, testing, commissioning, integrated systems testing, and project handover, ensuring that construction and implementation remain aligned with the approved design intent. QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE: •Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, or a related technical discipline from a recognized university. A Master's degree or relevant professional qualification is preferred. •15+ years of relevant design and engineering experience, with significant experience in data centers, mission-critical facilities, hyperscale, colocation, or similarly complex developments. •Proven experience in multidisciplinary design management and leadership for large-scale, complex projects. •Strong understanding of multidisciplinary data center design, including: Architectural design, Structural engineering, Civil engineering, Electrical systems, Mechanical / HVAC systems, ELV and ICT systems, Security systems, Fire and life safety, Specialist mission-critical systems •Demonstrated experience managing international design consultants, multidisciplinary engineering teams, and specialist consultants. •Strong knowledge of design management processes, design review procedures, technical governance, BIM coordination, design risk management, value engineering, and constructability reviews. •Strong understanding of applicable international standards, local authority requirements, building codes, data center standards, sustainability requirements, and industry best practices. •Experience across the complete project lifecycle, including concept design, detailed design, tender documentation, construction support, testing and commissioning, and handover. •Strong commercial understanding with experience in budget management, value engineering, scope management, procurement support, and evaluation of consultant and contractor proposals. •Strong knowledge of design and project management tools, including AutoCAD, Revit/BIM, MS Office, document management systems, and relevant design coordination platforms. •Excellent leadership, communication, negotiation, stakeholder management, decision-making, analytical, and problem-solving skills. 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