Manchester, UK
The Client
Datacenter People has been retained by a UK data centre operator providing carrier-neutral colocation and interconnection services.
What The Job Involves
- Review and validate supplier quotations for customer works associated with sales – on cost, timescale and deliverability – before they are committed to, working closely with the Sales Director and Regional Managing Director to ensure what is quoted is commercially and operationally realistic.
- Following sale, place the associated orders with suppliers and contractors and track them through to delivery, ensuring customer commitments are met on time and to budget.
- Maintain visibility of works in progress tied to sales, escalating any cost, timeline or delivery risk to the Regional Managing Director.
- Prepare, track and manage purchase orders for the FM provider, property managers and subcontractors delivering these works, ensuring supporting documentation is compliant with approved budgets and internal procurement policies.
- Manage the supply chain that delivers Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) across the Manchester portfolio – placing orders and managing the suppliers who carry it out.
- Ensure PPM is scheduled, ordered and delivered on time and within budget, working closely with the Operations Manager.
- Support onboarding of new suppliers – including any engineering or FM subcontractors brought in to cover the operational gap left by the acquisition – coordinating due diligence checks across financial, HSE, insurance, certification and regulatory requirements.
- Proactively work to consolidate supplier and maintenance contracts across sites, driving a value-for-money, economy-of-scale approach as the portfolio grows.
- Maintain accurate, up-to-date compliance records, permits and maintenance documentation, aligned with Volta’s policies and audit requirements.
- Ensure all supplier documentation (e.g. risk ratings, RAMS, insurance certificates, training records) is complete, valid and compliant before engagement, and maintain supplier compliance trackers to support audit readiness.
- Manage Financial Authority Limit (FAL) documentation and related matters.
- Serve as the designated administrator for Volta’s internal management systems, maintaining system integrity and supporting relevant certification compliance, including governance of user access controls.
- Liaise with compliance, legal and risk contacts – including Group functions in London – to resolve supplier-related issues and ensure adherence to company policy.
- Provide general administrative support including data entry, invoice processing, approval tracking, cost collation and maintenance of effective filing systems.
- Develop and maintain standard templates, trackers and reporting tools to enhance efficiency, consistency and transparency across operations.
We Are Looking For Someone With
- Previous experience in, or exposure to, a data centre, critical environment or multi-site facilities management environment.
- Experience reviewing or sense-checking supplier quotations for cost, timescale and deliverability, ideally within an FM, projects or technical services environment.
- Experience placing and managing purchase orders through to delivery, holding suppliers to committed cost, timescales and quality.
- Experience managing a supply chain for Planned Preventative Maintenance or a similar recurring works/maintenance programme.
- Demonstrated experience coordinating multi-site operations, maintenance activities or projects, including planning, scheduling and tracking of activities aligned to operational priorities.
- Experience or exposure to procurement processes, supplier coordination and contract administration, ideally including PQQs/RFPs, purchase orders and supplier onboarding.
- Experience supporting supplier due diligence and compliance processes, including documentation tracking (e.g. insurance, compliance checks) and audit readiness.
- Exposure to working with or supporting third-party property managers or FM providers, including coordination, performance tracking and financial processes such as budget or cost inputs.
- Minimum of 3+ years’ relevant administrative or coordination experience, ideally within a data centre, facilities or technical environment.
- Proficient in MS Office applications (PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Word); experience with FM systems (e.g. P2P, CAFM) is an advantage.
- Commercially minded and confident querying or pushing back on supplier quotations that don’t stack up on cost or timescale.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to engage professionally with internal teams, suppliers and external stakeholders.
- Highly organised with strong attention to detail, able to manage multiple priorities across operations, projects, procurement and compliance in a fast-paced environment.
- Proactive and collaborative team player, able to follow up on actions, resolve issues and build strong working relationships.
- Comfortable working within structured governance frameworks, with a focus on accuracy, compliance and process consistency.
- Comfortable working with discretion in a confidential, deal-sensitive environment.
- Based on site at the Manchester facility, with occasional travel to other regional sites and to London as required.
We regret that due to the high volume of applications we are unable to acknowledge each one. Please bear in mind that if you are selected for interview we will contact you within the next seven days.
- +44 (0)20 8103 6702
- adam.paris@datacenterpeople.com
