Facility Director

About the company

Nordscale is the specialist operator for mission-critical AI data centers. We manage the operations that keep AI compute sites running reliably, efficiently, and safely. Founded as a strategic partnership between the AI hyperscaler Nscale and Norwegian energy company Nordkraft, we harness local expertise and data center operations experience to deliver service excellence to our customers, while building skilled local jobs and partnering with Norwegian businesses to create lasting value in the regions where we work.

Our culture combines local Northern Norwegian values, international expertise, and disciplined operational excellence. We’re a team built on trust, ownership, and collaboration: we communicate openly, take accountability for outcomes, and work as one team across sites, partners, and functions to deliver performance people can depend on.

Your tasks

About the Role (Job Purpose) As Facility Director, you will lead Nordscale’s Facility Management unit at Kvandal South outside Narvik, one of the largest AI data-centre projects in Europe. You will be central in building the unit ahead of and during the start of operations. You will hold overall responsibility for safe and stable operation of the facility, the buildings and the services around them, around the clock.

You will report to the Site Director and lead managers within quality, HSE, site coordination and logistics, sustainability and technical operations.

What You’ll be Doing (Responsibilities)

• Recruit and build the Facility Management unit, and prepare the organisation, procedures and suppliers for the start of operations in 2027.
• Hold overall responsibility for safe, stable and efficient 24/7 operation of the facility. This includes building and site services such as property management, security, logistics, spare parts and sustainability.
• Own the operational management system, including KPIs, meeting structure, reporting and follow-up. Build a strong safety and quality culture with strict operational discipline, and act as Incident Commander during major incidents.
• Work closely with the Site Director, Nscale, IT teams and international customers. Manage supplier performance and budgets for maintenance, upgrades, energy and technical services.

Requirements

About You (Skills, Qualifications & Experience) You may be an experienced leader from data centres. You may also come from other technically complex, continuous operations where downtime has major consequences, such as process industry, metallurgy, pulp and paper, offshore, maritime operations, power or technical defence environments. Experience from establishing an operating organisation before a facility enters regular operation is an advantage.

You are motivated by building something from the ground up, and you combine trust with clear follow-up. You know that following the standard and improving it are equally important parts of the same responsibility.

Key characteristics

• Structured and systematic, working with strong procedural discipline and attention to detail.
• Resilient under pressure, identifying challenges and finding pragmatic, holistic solutions.
• Builds relationships of trust, collaboration and mutual respect, communicates clearly and listens actively.

• Solid experience leading managers across several technical disciplines and support functions in 24/7 operations, together with subcontractors.
• A strong track record in safety culture and HSE, including work and access permits, safe isolation, risk assessment and change management.
• Experience with establishing and leading a performance management system, policies and procedures (SOPs etc) and supplier follow-up
• Sound understanding of electrical, cooling and mechanical systems.
• Experience from commissioning and start-up is an advantage.
• Fluent English and a Scandinavian language, written and spoken.
• A master’s degree in electrical, mechanical or automation engineering is preferred. Other relevant technical education combined with documented operational experience will also be considered.

What we offer

• Competitive salary negotiable based on experience.
• Performance-based bonus tied to results and company performance.
• The chance to build the operating organisation, procedures and safety culture from the ground up, and to lead Kvandal South into operation in 2027.
• Relocation support assessed individually, if required.

Other

Equal Opportunities Statement We are committed to fostering an inclusive, diverse, and equitable workplace. We believe that a variety of perspectives enriches our work environment, and we encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds, experiences, and abilities. 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.