Data Centre Team Lead

Data Centre Team Lead

Acton, London

Fulltime/Permanent

Salary: £45,000 DOE

Role Overview

The role focuses on coordinating hardware deployments, managing data centre changes, supporting incident response, and ensuring operational standards are maintained. The Team Lead will supervise technicians, manage third-party vendors, and ensure installations, monitoring, asset management, and decommissioning activities are completed in line with established procedures and service delivery processes.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and install equipment racks, perform copper and fibre patching, install SFP modules, and complete hardware installations for new server deployments while following documented procedures.
• Conduct connectivity testing for installations and manage change records for new installs and server relocation activities.
• Support the full build process including shipping and receiving equipment, identifying incompatibilities, and implementing workaround solutions.
• Carry out routine configuration changes via management interfaces (e.g. iDRAC/MGMT ports), assist with server relocations within and between data centres, and replace small rack-mounted network devices when required.
• Manage equipment decommissioning activities including approving change records, removing hardware to secure storage, and coordinating asset disposal through internal systems.
• Respond to break/fix incidents and assist with monitoring and maintaining data centre systems, including troubleshooting hardware issues and managing escalation where required.
• Monitor support queues, perform daily data centre health checks, and carry out walkthroughs to verify alerts for power, cooling, and rack equipment, reporting any issues and raising incident tickets where necessary.
• Maintain accurate records including cabling inventory, capacity reporting, and hardware spare inventory such as memory, SFPs, and network cards.
• Manage IT asset records and lifecycle activities within asset management platforms, including raising installation and decommissioning tickets.
• Coordinate tape rotation processes and manage delivery and collection of media with relevant support teams.
• Manage access requests and coordinate with security teams to activate or deactivate access credentials for staff and third parties.
• Raise and track requests through colocation portals for access, smart hands, troubleshooting, and deliveries, and chaperone third-party engineers when required.
• Supervise shift activities, mentor and train team members, oversee special projects from design through to handover, and ensure effective communication between internal teams and service providers.

Requirements

• Experience working in a banking or regulated IT environment.
• Strong experience in data centre moves, adds and changes (MAC) and IT hardware deployment.
• Extensive knowledge of structured cabling installation, testing, and fault finding, including use of Fluke testing equipment.
• Solid understanding of structured cabling standards and cable types (FTP, UTP, and optical fibre).
• Strong experience with IT asset management systems and IT service management/ticketing platforms.
• Good working knowledge of change management and service delivery processes within enterprise environments.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications including Outlook, Excel, and Word.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team, with strong organisational, prioritisation, and multitasking skills.
• Experience mentoring or training technical staff and supervising operational activities.
• Experience managing third-party vendors and services.
• Strong background in incident management, escalation procedures, and service delivery within a large-scale environment.
• Relevant certifications such as CompTIA Server+ and CompTIA Network+ are desirable.
• Additional certifications such as BICSI, CDCTP®, CCNA Data Center, CDCMP®, or ITIL® are advantageous but not essential.