How to become a Senior Data Centre Technician
White space and IT hardware
The data hall’s most experienced technician: complex installs, moves and changes, the hardest faults, and coaching other technicians.
There’s a page for this role in , with its licences and local details.
What the role does
The white space’s most experienced technician: complex installs, moves and changes, the hardest faults, and coaching other technicians.
What a shift looks like
Shifts on a roster. Planning and leading larger installs, taking the faults others can’t close, reviewing work and teaching on the job.
What employers call it
- Senior Datacenter Technician (hyperscale)
- Data Center Technician III (hyperscale)
- Service Delivery Technician III (colocation and wholesale)
- Senior Data Center Operations Technician (hyperscale)
- Senior Linux Data Center Technician (hyperscale)
- Senior Data Center Support Services Technician (hyperscale)
Skills
The level the role needs in each, on FacilityVR’s five levels from Aware to Authority.
Site safety
- Electrical safety awareness Independent
- Move equipment and handle loads safely Independent
- Select and use protective equipment Independent
Emergency response
- Evacuate and muster Independent
- Raise the alarm and escalate Independent
- Recognise and report a suspected cyber incident Assisted
White space and IT hardware
- Carry out remote-hands requests Leads others
- Decommission equipment and handle media Leads others
- Install and test a cross-connect Leads others
- Keep cable-plant and circuit records Leads others
- Keep hot and cold aisles right Leads others
- Patch and trace cabling Leads others
- Rack and stack equipment Leads others
- Take electrostatic discharge precautions Leads others
- Build cages, trays and cabinets Independent
- Certify a fibre circuit Independent
- Inspect and clean fibre Independent
- Terminate and splice fibre Independent
- Work in the meet-me room Independent
Systems and virtualisation
- Use the Linux and Windows command line Assisted
LV distribution
- Connect rack power and busway Independent
Cooling plant
- Psychrometrics and the thermal envelope Independent
Monitoring and response
- Walk the rounds and take readings Independent
Physical access and security
- Escort visitors and contractors Leads others
- Work under the two-person rule Leads others
Procedures and documents
- Follow a standard operating procedure (SOP) Independent
Leadership
- Coach and assess others Independent
Liquid cooling
- Connect and disconnect a rack’s liquid loop Independent, desirable
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 Data Centre Technician, typically 2 years
Where it leads
- Critical Facilities Technician (a sideways move)
- Data Centre Technician, Network (a sideways move)
- Data Centre Technician, Systems (a sideways move)
- Lead Data Centre Technician, typically 2 years
- Cluster Commissioning Engineer, typically 2 years
Jobs open now
None right now. See every open job.
Questions about data centre careers? Ask about data centre careers
Sources and licences
Occupation codes: 3511 Information and communications technology operations technicians.
- Critical Facilities reference framework © Facility Labs. (CC BY 4.0)
- ISCO-08, International Labour Organization, as published in ESCO v1.2.1. This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission. (Commission Decision 2011/833/EU on the reuse of Commission documents)