VP, Design - APAC

About the Position

VP, Design – APAC

We are seeking an experienced VP, Design to lead the technical design and engineering delivery of Nscale’s data centre portfolio across APAC. This role will be responsible for developing reliable, scalable, and energy-efficient data centre facilities that support high-density cloud and AI/GPU workloads.

About Nscale

Nscale is taking on the hyperscalers by building a vertically integrated cloud built for AI. We own the data centres, software, and applications that power today’s AI stack using sustainable technology solutions. We thrive on a culture of relentless innovation, ownership, and accountability, where every team member takes pride in their work and drives it with excellence and urgency.

Responsibilities

• Lead the APAC Data Centre Design & Engineering function, including internal engineers and external design consultants across civil, structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical, and controls disciplines
• Set the technical strategy, design standards, and reference architectures for Nscale data centres across the region
• Lead projects from site technical due diligence and feasibility assessment through concept design, detailed design, construction support, commissioning, and operational handover
• Define and approve the Basis of Design, technical specifications, design drawings, equipment selections, and engineering change controls
• Ensure all designs meet requirements for availability, resiliency, maintainability, scalability, security, safety, and operational readiness
• Lead the design of critical infrastructure including utility connections, substations, MV/LV distribution, UPS, generators, PDUs, busways, cooling systems, chilled water or DX systems, liquid cooling, BMS, EPMS, and fire/life-safety systems
• Develop solutions for high-density AI and GPU deployments, including rack power density, cooling capacity, liquid-cooling readiness, and heat-rejection strategy
• Partner closely with Site Selection, Development, Construction, Network, Operations, and Commercial teams to ensure designs are technically robust, commercially viable, and fit for long-term operations
• Manage and challenge architects, engineers, contractors, OEMs, and colocation partners to achieve quality, programme, cost, and performance targets
• Establish engineering governance, technical review boards, design assurance processes, and risk-management controls across APAC projects
• Drive value engineering and standardization while safeguarding uptime, resilience, safety, and lifecycle performance
• Support utility engagement and power strategy, including grid connection, power capacity, renewable energy opportunities, and backup generation
• Ensure compliance with local building codes, electrical regulations, environmental requirements, and relevant data centre standards
• Support construction, factory acceptance testing, integrated systems testing, commissioning, and handover to Data Centre Operations
• Provide senior leadership with clear updates on design progress, major technical decisions, cost, programme, risks, and mitigations

Requirements

• Bachelor Degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, or Structural Engineering or equivalent
• At least 12+ years of experience in Data centre design and engineering, mission-critical facilities, hyperscale infrastructure, or similarly complex critical environments
• Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary design teams and delivering multiple data centre projects from feasibility through commissioning
• Strong expertise in critical electrical and mechanical data centre systems, including power distribution, backup power, cooling, controls, and monitoring systems
• Experience with hyperscale, colocation, cloud, and/or AI-ready data centre environments is strongly preferred
• Understanding of data centre standards and best practices, such as Uptime Institute Tier concepts, TIA-942, ISO standards, and local regulatory requirements will be a plus
• Proven ability to manage technical consultants, contractors, OEMs, utilities, and senior internal stakeholders
• Strong commercial judgement, with experience balancing CAPEX, programme, reliability, operational risk, and total cost of ownership
• Excellent leadership, stakeholder-management, and communication skills
• Willingness to travel across APAC as required

Why this role matters

This role is central to Nscale’s ability to scale AI infrastructure reliably in the APAC region. As high-density compute demand grows, strong facilities leadership is critical to keeping sites resilient, efficient, and ready for expansion. Your work will directly influence uptime, operational excellence, and Nscale’s ability to deliver trusted AI infrastructure at scale.

We Offer

You’ll have the opportunity to help shape the operating standards behind a next-generation AI cloud platform, working on complex infrastructure challenges with real ownership and impact. This is a chance to play a meaningful role in scaling high-performance, sustainable data centre operations in a fast-moving environment.

Equal Opportunities Statement

We strongly encourage applications from people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, parents, carers, and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

If there’s anything we can do to accommodate your specific situation, please let us know.

The responsibilities outlined in this job description are not exhaustive and are intended to provide a general overview of the position. The employee may be required to perform additional duties, tasks, and responsibilities as assigned by management, consistent with the skills and qualifications required for the role.

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Nscale does not accept unsolicited candidate submissions from recruitment agencies.*