Principal Strategist, Leased Data Center Operations

Principal Strategist, Leased Data Center Operations

Meta is seeking a Principal Strategist to lead the long-term operational strategy for its global leased data center portfolio. This role is crucial for defining how Meta sources, manages, and optimizes third-party colocation and leased data center capacity to support the infrastructure demands of products used by billions of people worldwide. You will operate at the intersection of real estate, infrastructure operations, vendor governance, and capacity planning, shaping the frameworks and strategic direction that govern Meta's engagement with external data center operators at scale.

This is a permanent, remote position.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and drive the multi-year operational strategy for Meta's leased and colocation data center portfolio, aligning with global infrastructure capacity and reliability goals.
• Establish governance frameworks for vendor performance management, including Service Level Agreement (SLA) structures, operational accountability models, and escalation protocols with third-party data center operators.
• Lead cross-functional alignment across real estate, network engineering, capacity planning, and infrastructure operations to ensure leased site strategies support long-term compute and connectivity requirements.
• Develop and own the operating model for leased data center lifecycle management, from site onboarding and commissioning through steady-state operations and exit planning.
• Identify systemic risks across the leased data center portfolio and design mitigation strategies that improve resilience, redundancy, and operational continuity.
• Translate complex infrastructure and operational data into executive-level strategic recommendations, influencing decisions on portfolio composition, vendor selection, and capital allocation.
• Drive standardization of operational practices across geographically distributed leased sites, enabling consistent performance benchmarking and continuous improvement.
• Partner with legal, procurement, and finance teams to shape contract structures and commercial terms that reflect operational requirements and long-term strategic objectives.
• Mentor and provide strategic guidance to other operations and program management professionals across the data center organization.
• Evaluate emerging trends in the colocation and leased data center market to inform portfolio strategy and identify opportunities for operational innovation.

Requirements

• 12+ years of experience in data center operations, infrastructure strategy, or colocation portfolio management.
• Experience defining and executing operational strategy for large-scale, geographically distributed data center environments, including leased or colocation facilities.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives that span vendor governance, infrastructure operations, capacity planning, and real estate or facilities functions.
• Experience developing executive-level strategic frameworks, business cases, and recommendations that influence organizational direction and capital decisions.
• Experience managing complex vendor relationships and negotiating operational accountability structures with third-party data center operators.
• Experience building or transforming operational governance models across a global portfolio of third-party managed facilities.
• Experience operating within hyperscale or large-scale cloud infrastructure environments with significant leased or colocation capacity.
• Familiarity with data center critical systems (power, cooling, network interconnect) and how operational constraints inform strategic portfolio decisions.
• Track record of driving standardization and continuous improvement programs across multi-site data center operations.