Colocation Sales, Leasing & Solutions Engineering recruiters who bring you a focused shortlist
Data Center Headhunters are Colocation Sales, Leasing & Solutions Engineering recruiters for data center owners, operators and builders. Send us the open role and we find working Colocation Sales, Leasing & Solutions Engineering candidates, qualify each one live and give you a short list to interview. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
You are selling space, power, and connectivity that may not exist yet, and the people you hire have to be honest about what you can deliver.
This is what we do all day: recruit data center professionals.
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
- No upfront fee
- Pay only if you hire
- Data centers only, construction to operations
- Local and 100% travel candidates
- Replacement guarantee on standard searches
- Data Center Sales Executive (Colocation)
- Wholesale / Hyperscale Leasing Director
- Business Development Director, Data Center
- Solutions Engineer / Sales Engineer, Data Center
- Solutions Architect, Data Center
- Channel / Partner Manager
- Account Manager / Customer Success Manager (Colocation)
- Pricing / Deal Desk Manager
- Product Manager, Colocation / Interconnection
- Marketing Manager, Data Center
- Client Implementation / Onboarding Manager
- Data Center Brokerage Advisor (Tenant Rep)
What does this hire really come down to?
Colocation selling splits into two kinds of buyer. Retail customers take a few cabinets and care about price per kilowatt and connections. Wholesale and hyperscale customers take megawatts and care about power dates, build terms, and risk. The sellers rarely cross over.
A retail seller used to quick closes can stall in a lease that runs months, and a wholesale leader can find a small deal tedious. The solutions engineer is the second half of the pair. This person turns a customer's power, cooling, and network wishes into something your site can host. When this seat is weak, sales promises more density than the room can carry. When it is strong, the salesperson can say no early and keep the customer anyway.
Support roles in this family are easy to leave until last, but they carry renewals. Account management, pricing, onboarding, and product work decide whether a signed customer stays. Hire them when you have customers to keep, and not before there is a build to deliver. Marketing and product roles deserve a plain test. Ask what decision the person will make that nobody else can, and what number will tell you whether they were right. Seats without a decision tend to become report writers.
What do we check before you see anyone?
Ask for typical contract size, term, and whether the person led the negotiation or supported it. Ask what number they carried, how many accounts they opened, and how much came from existing relationships. Ask for a time they told a prospect the site could not support a request.
- Deal size and type: ask for typical contract size, term, and whether the person led the negotiation or supported it.
- Quota history: ask what number they carried, how many accounts they opened, and how much came from existing relationships.
- Technical honesty: ask for a time they told a prospect the site could not support a request.
- Pricing discipline: ask who set discounts and how the person handled a customer who pushed for one.
- Hand-off to delivery: ask how they worked with construction and operations once a deal was signed.
- Customer relationships: ask which buyers would take their call and what those buyers care about.
- Renewal and expansion record: ask what share of their accounts grew or left and what they did about each case.
Where do we find these candidates?
Sellers come from other colocation operators, from carriers and network providers, from IT infrastructure resellers, and from commercial real estate teams that moved into data centers. Solutions engineers come from operations, from network design, and from the engineering side of equipment makers.
- Sellers come from other colocation operators, from carriers and network providers, from IT infrastructure resellers, and from commercial real estate teams that moved into data centers. Solutions engineers come from operations, from network design, and from the engineering side of equipment makers.
- They move when a territory is cut, when a sales plan changes midyear, or when the company they sell for cannot deliver what they promised. Many are tired of explaining delays to customers. Ask them what they need from delivery teams to stay credible.
- Brokers and tenant advisors are a separate pool. They know many buyers, but they are paid by a transaction, and the move to an operator's payroll changes how they think about every deal.
Which hiring mistakes should you avoid?
Do not hire a strong seller before a capacity and power date you can defend. They will quote what you cannot build. Do not leave the solutions engineer seat empty and ask the seller to cover it. Do not pay on bookings without a check against delivered power.
- Hiring a strong seller before a capacity and power date you can defend. They will quote what you cannot build.
- Leaving the solutions engineer seat empty and asking the seller to cover it.
- Paying on bookings without a check against delivered power.
Your search in 3 steps
- Pick the buyer you are chasing
Tell us whether your next customers are small and many or large and few. That decides the first hire and the compensation shape.
- Pair sales and engineering
We look at both seats together so the seller and the engineer can work as one conversation.
- Plan the support layer
We help you decide when onboarding, pricing, and account roles should join, based on how many customers you expect.
Every title we cover
Not ready to start a search?
We tell you where qualified Colocation Sales, Leasing & Solutions Engineering are working in your area and what it takes to move them. No fee, no obligation.
Paste or upload your JD. We flag what will put strong candidates off. No fee, no obligation.
Open roles
Questions
Should the first sales hire be retail or wholesale?
Choose the one that matches your near-term capacity. Selling large blocks you cannot deliver for a year makes everyone's job harder.
How do I structure pay for a seller on a long lease cycle?
Ask your counsel and finance team, then decide how much is salary and how much is tied to signed or delivered capacity. Long lease cycles mean a seller may wait many months for a payout. Candidates ask for that detail early.
Is a solutions engineer worth hiring before the first customer?
Yes, if you expect dense or liquid-cooled requests. It helps the seller qualify them before the site team is drawn in.
What should I decide about a broker relationship?
Decide which accounts you want to take from brokers and which you will pay them for. Candidates ask because it changes their commission.
How should a candidate's existing customer list be handled?
Ask what the current employer retains and plan without it. Treat any book a candidate brings as an uncertain bonus.
How do I weigh a candidate who sold cloud services rather than space?
Ask what they know about power, density, and lease terms. Cloud sellers can learn, but they often need an engineer beside them for the first deals.
Start your search
How long did your last search take? How much did the empty seat cost while you waited?
An open data center seat holds up commissioning dates, stretches the people covering it and adds cost every week it stays empty. Put your own numbers into the cost-of-vacancy calculator, then compare that figure with a contingency search where you pay only if you hire.
Work out your cost of vacancyHow a search runs
How does The Six-Step Search work?
Every search runs the same six steps. We agree the brief with you, map where the people work, find direct contact routes, reach out personally and repeatedly, then qualify each candidate live. You only see a short list of people who fit, with notes on each, and we stay with you through offer and start.
- 01
Search Calibration
You get: A written brief you sign off on: scope, must-haves, pay band and who not to approach.
- 02
Market Mapping
You get: A map of the companies and projects where your future hire is working today.
- 03
Professional Contact Intelligence
You get: Verified direct contact routes to the people on that map, not job board replies.
- 04
Persistent Personalized Outreach
You get: Repeated, role-specific outreach to people who are not looking, in your words.
- 05
Live Candidate Qualification
You get: Each candidate is screened live against your brief before you hear their name.
- 06
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You get: A short list with candidate briefs, then support through interviews, offer and start.
What should you know before you send a role?
What does it cost to hire through Data Center Headhunters?
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. Fee terms are set out in the signed recruiting agreement.
How long until I see a short list?
It depends on the role, the location and the market. We agree a realistic timeline with you during Search Calibration and keep you updated as the search runs.
How do you handle counteroffers?
We talk through motivation, pay and counteroffer risk with each candidate during live qualification and again before an offer, so you hear about the risk before it surprises you.
Is there a guarantee?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What don't you do?
We do not post your job on boards, send stacks of unscreened resumes or charge an upfront fee. We do not approach candidates for your search before the brief is agreed with you.
Need this person?
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.