Head of Data Center Architecture at Verda — Helsinki, Uusimaa | Racks & Rows
Head of Data Center Architecture
Verda·Helsinki, Uusimaa
Full-time
Free account to apply · application completed on Verda
About This Role
At Verda, we're building a fully featured European AI cloud, covering everything needed to train, experiment with, and deploy AI models at scale.
We are a full-stack AI infrastructure company, meaning we design, operate, and optimize the compute powering modern AI workloads across training and inference. Our infrastructure runs on 100% renewable energy, helping build a more sustainable AI ecosystem.
Join Verda while it’s still being built - not once it’s finished.
About the role
You will own the physical architecture of Verda's data centers end to end. You will translate incoming GPU platforms (HGX systems, NVL racks, liquid-cooled Blackwell and Rubin trays) into buildable, repeatable site designs that can be deployed quickly and operated reliably at scale.
What You’ll Do
Define the reference design for a Verda hall: rack layout and floor plan, power distribution and busway topology, structured cabling and fiber plant, InfiniBand and Ethernet fabric routing, and the airflow or liquid-cooling loop that keeps it all within spec
Produce the drawings, elevations, and specifications the deployment and site teams build against
Own the Bill of Materials for each deployment (servers, switches, PDUs, cabling, transceivers, cable management, and every ancillary part), keeping it accurate, versioned, and costed
Work with procurement and our hardware partners (including Supermicro) to make sure what's specified is what arrives, and that lead times and substitutions never block a deployment
Set the standards that let us repeat a design across sites: naming conventions, cabling schemes, labeling, rack-and-stack runbooks, and acceptance criteria for handover to operations
Drive design reviews for new sites and expansions, resolving trade-offs between density, power budget, cooling capacity, cost, and time-to-live
Build and lead the architecture function, working shoulder to shoulder with our Electrical, Thermal, Structural, Hardware, and Networking engineers, and with the Data Center Operations and Expansion teams turning your designs into live capacity
Representative projects: author the reference design for a new liquid-cooled Blackwell/Rubin hall and take it from floor plan and BOM to first racks online; standardize the structured cabling and fiber plant across sites so a fabric build is repeatable and labeled to a single convention; own and version the deployment BOM, closing the gap between what's specified, what's procured, and what's installed on the floor; run the design review and operational handover for a new-market expansion, from lease constraints and power envelope to acceptance testing
What We’re Looking For
Deep, hands-on experience designing high-density data center white space (rack layout, power distribution, structured cabling, and cooling) at scale
Track record deploying GPU or HPC compute (HGX / NVL / DGX-class systems, InfiniBand or high-radix Ethernet fabrics), ideally including liquid-cooled racks
Fluency with BOM ownership: building, versioning, and costing detailed hardware BOMs and working with procurement and OEM/ODM partners on lead times and logistics
Strong command of the drawings and documents that define a build: floor plans, rack elevations, power and cooling schematics, cable schedules, and cabling standards
Understanding of power and cooling fundamentals (PDU/busway topology, redundancy models, PUE, airflow management, direct-to-chip and rear-door cooling)
Experience writing the standards and runbooks that make a design repeatable across multiple sites, and running design reviews and operational handovers
Leadership experience building or managing a technical team, with the range to stay hands-on in the details
Bias toward speed and ownership, comfortable making decisions with incomplete information and driving them to a deployed result
Practicalities
Work mode: Hybrid, office (Helsinki, Finland or London, UK) or remote
Travel: Regular travel to sites during design and deployment phases
Employment type: Full-time and permanent
What's Next
We're building fast and this role needs the right person behind it. There's no artificial deadline, but when we find who we're looking for, we move.
If this sounds like your next move, apply now.
Please submit your application through our Careers page. We don't accept applications sent by email.
Required Skills
Data Center ArchitectureGPU InfrastructureLiquid CoolingBOM ManagementPower DistributionStructured CablingInfiniBandEthernet FabricRack LayoutTechnical LeadershipHPC ComputeSite DesignProcurement CoordinationOperational HandoverCapacity PlanningPUE Optimization
