Positions: Executive Leadership

Which executive title matches the scope you are actually handing over?

Write the scope before the title. A VP of data center construction owns delivery. A VP of critical facilities or operations owns live sites. A head of development owns land and growth. A chief power officer owns energy strategy. A COO, CEO or general manager owns the business result. The title should follow the decisions.

Executive titles inflate and deflate with company size. A vice president at a young platform may own more budget and more risk than a director at a large operator, and experienced candidates know it. They will judge the role on team size, capital under management, reporting line and board exposure, not on the word in front of their name. Put those facts in the brief and the right people self-select.

Regional directors of data center operations are a useful middle layer that many growing platforms add too late. They carry several site leaders, standardize practice across buildings and give the VP room to think about the next market rather than the next outage.

Are you hiring an owner-side executive or a contractor executive?

Owner and operator executives answer to investors and customers, and they are judged on growth, uptime and cost per megawatt. Contractor executives, such as a VP or head of mission critical at a general contractor, answer for winning work and delivering it profitably. Candidates know which side they belong on, and few switch smoothly.

A chief technology officer for infrastructure is a rare hire that spans both worlds: design standards, power strategy and the IT load that sits inside the building. The role needs someone who can explain a technical trade-off to a board in plain language and still hold their own with engineers.

Chief commercial officers and VPs of sales lead leasing, pricing and marketing. Their value is relationships and deal judgment. Ask what deals they walked away from, because discipline on terms matters as much as volume in a market with long contracts.

How should an executive brief describe the first year?

Describe what must be true twelve months after the start. Name the sites to deliver, the team to build, the capital to deploy or the costs to reduce. Executives decide whether a role is worth leaving a secure seat for by judging whether the first year is achievable and meaningful.

Be candid about known problems. Senior candidates will find them in diligence, and early honesty builds the trust a leadership hire needs.