Can you hire a country head before the first hall is live?

Yes. That is the most common first search: the person who will run the site is often needed a year before handover.

Sectors | Data centre operations and commercial

Data centre executive search from Dubai, for the leaders who run and fill a campus.

A live campus needs someone to run it and someone to fill it. I find the country heads, operations directors and commercial leaders.

Seats like these open quietly. Open to a move? Talk to me in confidence.

Brief me on a search

Not ready to brief? Get a pay benchmark for your open seats

A benchmark of your open seats carries no fee. A full compensation study is a fixed-fee piece, credited against a search.

Last reviewed 31 October 2026, the date of the market facts on this page.

Looking at your next move? See this page for leaders

Hiring for one of these seats? See this page for clients

The seats

Country head and general manager (KSA, UAE, UK and Europe, US)
VP and director of data centre operations, head of critical facilities
Regional and multi-site operations directors
Commercial, leasing and business development directors
Head of energy and power procurement for campuses
Head of hyperscale and key accounts

What is driving hiring, and the timelines

Staffing is a top-three problem. In the Uptime Institute's 2025 staffing survey (864 respondents), hiring was among the top three challenges, and nearly two-thirds reported difficulty retaining staff, finding qualified people, or both (Uptime Institute).
Gulf capacity is set to more than triple. About 900 MW was installed across the GCC in 2025, and capacity is expected to pass 3 GW by 2030 (Allianz Trade, GCC Semiconductors Report 2026).
Europe keeps adding. EU IT capacity grows from 9.1 GW at the end of 2026 to 16.3 GW in 2030, and the UK stays Europe's largest market (BloombergNEF).

Where I find them

UK, Irish, Nordic and US operators, and the Gulf's own. For Saudi and UAE seats I map nationals alongside.

What I don't do here

Shift engineers and technicians. I run the leadership seats.

Questions clients ask

Can you hire a country head before the first hall is live?: Yes. That is the most common first search: the person who will run the site is often needed a year before handover.

Retained search. A fee on signing, a shortlist date in writing, the balance on the start date, a six-month replacement. The terms

Brief me on a data centre operations and commercial seat

The more you tell me, the more useful my first reply. I'll come back within one working day.

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Your role

The role you're hiring (required)

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Location of the role (required)

City, country

When does the person need to start? (required)

Anything else (project, why the role is open, what has been tried)

Please keep this search confidential

Seats I search for in this family

Country head and general manager (KSA, UAE, UK and Europe, US)
VP and director of data centre operations, head of critical facilities
Regional and multi-site operations directors
Commercial, leasing and business development directors
Head of energy and power procurement for campuses
Head of hyperscale and key accounts

Most of these searches are confidential and never advertised. Published ones are on the careers page.

What they pay

Seat	Published pay	Source
VP of data centre operations, US	Average total pay USD 285,000; top tenth above USD 450,000	Published figure: dcgeeks
Data centre manager, UK	GBP 57,000 to 94,000 a year	Published figure: CV-Library
Data centre manager, UAE	Average base AED 248,280 a year	Published figure: PayScale

Published figures from the sources named, not my own data. Base pay unless stated; Gulf packages usually add housing, transport and schooling. For your own seat, ask for a confidential market check.

How a confidential conversation works

A call, not a form. What you run today, what you would move for, and what you would not.
Nothing shared without your say-so. Your profile goes to a client only with your permission for that one role.
The real package, in writing, before you interview: base, housing, schooling, bonus and relocation.
The move handled: notice, visas and family questions, into or out of the Gulf.
You never pay a fee.

Sources

A site to run, or capacity to sell, with no name against it?

Tell me the seat and the date. Not ready to brief? Ask for a pay benchmark for your open seats.

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