How To Become A Director, Data Center Operations: What It Is and Career Path

What is a director, data center operations and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A director of data center operations is in charge of a company's department that processes and organizes all of its data. They play a vital role in the technological and finance industries but can find work in any business that needs to manage large amounts of data.

A director of data center operations is in charge of maintaining the technological infrastructure of a data center, such as the servers and processors. They keep track of systems and implement new innovations to improve efficiency and security. However, a director of data center operations does not spend their whole day with their nose in the computer. They also need excellent interpersonal skills in order to manage the data center employees and build partnerships with vendors and other departments.

Most directors of data center operations need a bachelor's degree in business, computer science, or a related field. Many go on to earn a master's degree as well.

Professional experience is also key to a data center operations director's success. They need years of experience in management or working in the data center. Once they're hired, they can expect an average salary of $144,831 a year.

ScoreDirector, Data Center OperationsUS Average

Salary

9.1

Avg. Salary $159,259

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.6

Growth rate 16%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.21%

Asian 12.74%

Black or African American 6.52%

Hispanic or Latino 9.78%

Unknown 5.18%

White 65.57%

Gender

female 11.11%

male 88.89%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a director, data center operations

Explore director, data center operations education requirements

Most common director, data center operations degrees

Bachelor's

68.6 %

Master's

14.8 %

Associate

13.8 %

Start to develop specific director, data center operations skills

Skills	Percentages
Oversight	9.85%
Vendor Management	7.64%
Retrofit	7.58%
OpEx	7.34%
Incident Management	7.06%

Complete relevant director, data center operations training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New directors, data center operations learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a director, data center operations based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real director, data center operations resumes.

Research director, data center operations duties and responsibilities

Develop and guide technical teams to deliver manage hosting services including cloud computing.
Lead team responsible for design of private/public cloud environment supporting widely distribute engineering resources.
Perform credentialing audits for purposes of delegating credentialing in accordance with NCQA standards resulting in savings to company for credentialing overhead.
Design rack layout, space and elevations using Microsoft Visio.

Get director, data center operations experience

Generally, it takes 6-8 years to become a director, data center operations. The most common roles before becoming a director, data center operations include project manager, operations manager team lead and director.

Prepare your director, data center operations resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your director, data center operations resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a director, data center operations resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable director, data center operations resume templates

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