How to become a Lead Critical Facilities Technician

Leads a crew through its shift: assigns the work, is the first person the crew turns to, keeps the schedule, and runs the handover and the response when something fails.

What the role does

Leads a crew through its shift: assigns the work, is its first escalation, keeps the schedule, coaches, and runs the handover and the response when something fails. A working lead, not the crew’s line manager.

What a shift looks like

Shifts on a roster with the crew. The handover, the shift’s plan, checking work and permits, coaching, and leading the response to an incident until it’s handed on.

What employers call it

Shift Lead (any employer)
Lead Building Engineer (hyperscale)
Lead Critical Facilities Engineer (colocation and wholesale)
Critical Facilities Lead (colocation and wholesale)
Lead Operator (colocation and wholesale)
Lead Engineer (colocation and wholesale, FM and service contractor)
Team Lead (FM and service contractor)
Critical Facility Technician Lead (FM and service contractor)
Critical Facilities VI (Shift lead) (colocation and wholesale)
shift head (any employer)

Skills

The level the role needs in each, on FacilityVR’s five levels from Aware to Authority.

Safe isolation

Authorise isolations Independent
Isolate and lock out a single energy source Independent

Emergency response

Evacuate and muster Leads others
Raise the alarm and escalate Leads others
Recognise and report a suspected cyber incident Independent

Leadership

Coach and assess others Leads others
Coordinate an incident response Leads others
Lead a shift Leads others
Find root causes and learn from incidents Independent
Keep customers informed during an incident Independent
Supervise contractors and vendors Independent

Procedures and documents

Follow an emergency operating procedure (EOP) Leads others
Keep the shift log and hand over Leads others
Work within change management Independent

Power transfer and generation

Coordinate load changes with the site plant or utility Leads others
Respond to a utility failure Leads others
Operate and respond to a site battery energy storage system Independent
Restore the site from a black start Independent

UPS and batteries

Respond to a UPS alarm Independent

Cooling plant

Restart cooling in an emergency Independent

Monitoring and response

Escalate to the right people Leads others
Triage DCIM and BMS alarms Leads others

BMS and fire

Respond to a fire alarm Leads others

Site safety

Assess risk and plan safe work Independent

Liquid cooling

Respond to a coolant leak or a CDU failure Leads others, desirable
Know who owns each part of the loop Independent, desirable

Commissioning

Accept capacity in phases Leads others
Work in a site that is part live and part under construction Leads others

Licences and credentials

Licences depend on the country you work in, and sometimes the state. The role’s page for Australia lists them there.

Ways in and ways on

From another data centre role

From Senior Critical Facilities Technician, typically 2 years
From Senior Technician, Electrical, typically 2 years
From Senior Technician, Mechanical and Cooling, typically 2 years
From Senior Technician, Controls and BMS, typically 2 years

Where it leads

Critical Facilities Supervisor, typically 18 months
Chief Engineer, typically 2 years
Critical Facilities Manager, typically 4 years
EHS Specialist (a sideways move)
Facilities Assurance Lead (a sideways move)

Jobs open now

None right now. See every open job.

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