Senior Director, Portfolio & Transformation

Who we are:

Where performance meets sustainability, Digital Edge is a leading provider of sustainable, next-generation, AI-ready digital infrastructure across Asia Pacific. Backed by Stonepeak, a global alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets, Digital Edge has over US$1.6 billion in committed equity capital from some of the world’s largest institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds.

Since our founding in 2020, we have rapidly scaled across key Asia markets, operating 31 data centers with over 1.8GW of secured IT power. We operate as a regional platform delivering consistent global standards, combining scale with strong local execution across every market.

This role is an exciting opportunity to join our fast-growing team as we further expand our footprint across Asia. 

Our values:

• Respect: We embrace diversity and collaboration.
• Innovation: We share ideas and solve problems.  
• Strive: We are driven and determined.
• Excellence: We seek to deliver the best.   
• Responsibility: We do what’s right for our people and the planet.

About the role:

The Senior Director of Portfolio & Transformation leads strategic planning, portfolio governance, and stage-gate assurance for Digital Edge’s data center capital improvement programs (CAPEX/OPEX) and enterprise-wide operations transformation initiatives across an 1.8GW hyperscale portfolio. Reporting directly to the Chief Data Center Operations Officer, the role bridges data center strategy with technical operational execution — governing a high-value pipeline of site expansion, facility modernization, power/cooling infrastructure upgrades, automation, and operational efficiency initiatives so that capital investment decisions deliver maximum reliability, energy efficiency, capacity scaling, and operational excellence across the regional footprint.

This is a single-function, governance and decision-support role, an independent peer to Facility Operations, Engineering Operations, Infrastructure Operations, Physical Security, Operational Excellence & Governance, and Client Operations — each of which retains delivery accountability for its own outcomes. The role owns the capital plan and the stage-gate: setting capital allocation frameworks and portfolio priorities, advising the CDCOO on program status, risk, and budget variance, and holding transformation and readiness initiatives to account for benefits realized, while technical delivery of infrastructure upgrades, modernization programs, and readiness itself remains with Engineering Operations, Facility Operations, and the accountable delivery pillars. Scope will continue to evolve as the portfolio scales, and the successful candidate should be comfortable shaping the operating model as well as running it.

Key responsibilities:

Data Center Capital Improvement & Portfolio Leadership

• Own portfolio intake, prioritization, and investment-case governance for capital improvement programs — infrastructure upgrades (HVAC, UPS, backup power, liquid cooling), facility retrofits, and capacity expansion — converting cross-pillar demand into one governed portfolio view.
• Partner with the CDCOO and Finance to establish capital allocation frameworks and evaluate program ROI, total cost of ownership (TCO), and PUE impact.
• Govern the CAPEX/OPEX project portfolio through the stage-gate model, ensuring projects are delivered on schedule and within budget without disruption to mission-critical availability SLAs, while technical delivery remains with Engineering Operations and Facility Operations.

Operations Transformation & Modernization

• Mobilize strategic transformation programs that modernize data center operations, including DCIM, predictive maintenance, and energy sustainability initiatives, and hold benefits realization to account against the strategic roadmap.
• Own organizational change management for portfolio-driven change, standardizing operational processes and embedding new infrastructure technologies into daily operations across legacy and next-generation builds.

Executive Governance & CDCOO Strategy Alignment

• Serve as a key advisor to the CDCOO, providing data-driven updates on capital program status, risk profiles, capacity roadmaps, and budget variances.
• Establish and facilitate the Data Center Capital & Transformation Steering Committee, aligning engineering, operations, procurement, and sustainability stakeholders.
• Own operational readiness gate governance and handover assurance, and manage supply chain and vendor performance risk across capital programs, while readiness delivery itself remains with Engineering Operations and the accountable pillars.
• Maintain clear interaction boundaries with peer pillars, ensuring each capability sits once with the pillar accountable for delivering it, not duplicated within the portfolio function.

Operational Metrics & Value Realization

• Define and track portfolio and transformation metrics for uptime/availability impact, energy efficiency gains, site build cycle times, and cost-per-megawatt thereby creating one trusted control view (schedule, cost, risk, earned value) that surfaces deviations early.
• Drive continuous improvement across the portfolio, ensuring learnings from capital deployment and site operations are integrated into future program designs.

The successful candidate:

• 12+ years in data center operations, critical infrastructure engineering, or capital program/technical transformation leadership, including 5+ years managing managers or functional leads across multiple countries.
• Direct experience owning a stage-gate or portfolio governance model for large-scale capital improvement portfolios ($50M+) in hyperscale, colocation, or enterprise data center environments.
• Working knowledge of critical data center infrastructure — power distribution, mechanical/cooling systems, DCIM, and live-environment upgrades — sufficient to set standards without owning technical delivery.
• Strategic financial acumen in CAPEX forecasting, TCO modeling, and vendor negotiation, with project controls experience (schedule, cost, risk, earned value).
• Experience with change management methodology, including stakeholder engagement and change-impact assessment for cross-functional transformation programs.
• PMP, PfMP, CDCP/CDCS, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, or equivalent portfolio/infrastructure certifications desirable.
• Fluency in English (spoken and written) and willingness to travel across APAC as needed.