Senior Infrastructure Project Manager
Projects are initiated by internal product teams (CDN, Cloud, Edge AI, DDoS) or by Technical Support on behalf of external customers. At this level, the PM owns more than Jira tracking: the quality of the plan, realistic timelines, a sound budget estimate, risk management, and coordination of several parallel work streams - architects, procurement, logistics, data centre engineers, and operations teams.
We expect you to take on technically and organisationally complex projects - a large deployment at a new site, or a multi-vendor integration, and deliver them with minimal involvement from your manager, while proactively communicating status and risks.
Projects you will run:
- PoP build-outs and colocation - new sites, expansion of existing ones, racks and cage space in third-party data centres.
- Server and network hardware deployments for internal product demand and for external customers (dedicated hardware, managed connectivity).
- Capacity expansion, hardware refresh, and decommissioning.
- Connectivity and interconnection procurement - IP transit, cross-connects, dark fibre, wavelengths, leased lines, in coordination with the Procurement team.
- Migrations and relocations of physical equipment between sites.
What You’ll Do
End-to-end project ownership
- Setting the project up in Jira (GI master ticket), breaking it down into tasks, and building a realistic schedule that accounts for dependencies.
- Identifying the critical path and key risks at kick-off - without waiting for your manager to do it.
- Orchestrating linked tasks across counterpart teams' Jira projects: IDS (architecture), PRO (procurement), DCI (on-site installation), HDWR (repair and replacement). Knowing where the work physically lives, and reporting on the active linked tickets, not just the master ticket.
- Making operational decisions inside the project yourself. Escalating only what sits outside your authority: budget, priorities between projects, conflicts with other departments - and bringing a recommendation when you do.
Budget estimation and approvals
- Owning the project budget at the Initiation stage: reviewing the cost estimate built on the architect's specification - breakdown by NRC / MRC and by component (colocation, leased lines, hardware, small parts) - and benchmarking it against comparable past projects and reference cost tables.
- Driving the project through the approval chain, tracking approval turnaround, and handling objections.
- Reconciling budget plan versus actuals at project closure.
Technical design and architecture
- Briefing the Infrastructure Architects team (RFS / HLD / SDD) and contributing substantively to discussions on BoM, rack layout, power, and network.
- The architect owns the specification - what is bought and where it is shipped. The PM controls it against the project's scope, timeline, and budget, and gets it approved.
- Being able to tell a realistic technical plan from an unrealistic one, and challenging the design where it doesn't fit the project's constraints.
Procurement
- Raising requests to the Procurement team based on the architect's specification, setting the deadline and project context, and tracking execution. Vendor negotiations are run by Procurement.
- Monitoring request and PO statuses, and escalating early when timelines are at risk.
Logistics and delivery to site
- Raising delivery requests to the Logistics team based on the architect's specification (what goes where), setting deadlines, and tracking execution. Shipping, customs, warehousing, and delivery to the data centre are run by the Logistics team.
- Tracking ETAs and escalating early when delivery is at risk of slipping.
On-site installation
- Briefing the DCIM team on equipment installation: agreeing installation windows, tracking timelines and quality of execution.
- Handling discrepancies found at acceptance: missing equipment, equipment routed to stock, equipment routed to repair.
Hand-over to operations
- Running the hand-over to the Server Operations and Network Operations teams. These teams sit outside the Infrastructure Department, so the hand-over requires explicit agreements on content, quality, and timing: documentation, configurations, monitoring on-boarding.
- Organising and confirming acceptance testing, formally closing the project (sign-off), and capturing lessons learned.
Risk and stakeholder management
- Identifying risks proactively, before they become problems, and proposing options rather than only reporting the issue.
- Communicating regularly and substantively with stakeholders at different levels: product teams, vendors, operations teams, leadership.
- Agreeing responsibility boundaries (RACI) with customers and partners on customer-facing and partner projects.
- Managing scope changes: assessing impact on timeline and budget, getting agreement, recording it in Jira.
Flow and metrics (Kanban)
- The team operates as a Kanban system: no sprints, with WIP limits and flow metrics. Jira statuses are the source of truth for all reporting, so status hygiene is part of the job rather than a nice-to-have: tickets move when work actually starts and finishes, not at the end of the week and not retroactively.
- Understanding the difference between Customer Lead Time (what the requester experiences) and System Lead Time (what the team controls), working to the target P85 for your components, and acting on your own Aging WIP before your manager has to point it out.
Process improvement
- Driving improvements to processes and templates inside IPM: RACI, readiness checklists, documentation standards, status entry and exit criteria — spotting what slows projects down and proposing concrete fixes.
What We're Looking For:
- Minimum 3 years in project management in infrastructure, data centres, telecom, or IT operations, including projects with multiple counterpart teams or vendors. Running complex projects without step-by-step support is a hard requirement.
- Solid understanding of server and network hardware and how a data centre works: racks, PDUs, power and cooling, basic network topology (switches, cross-connects, IP addressing) - at a level sufficient for a substantive conversation with architects and engineers, not just to recognise the terminology.
- Experience with Jira (or an equivalent tracker) at project-administration level: linking tasks across projects, working with workflows and fields, not only changing statuses.
- A high degree of personal ownership and autonomy: you keep your projects under control, surface risks yourself, and keep the team informed on substance without being asked.
- Ability to work with ambiguity and to run several projects and workstreams in parallel.
- English at B2 or above - enough for correspondence and negotiation with international partners and vendors. Documentation is written in English.
- Strong communication skills: able to convey complex technical information to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Nice to have:
- Experience with flow-based management (Kanban) and with Lead Time, Throughput, and WIP metrics.
- Experience in customer-facing or multi-partner projects with a formal RACI.
- Experience with budget estimation for infrastructure projects (NRC / MRC, colocation, leased lines).
- Project management certification (PMP, Kanban Management Professional, or similar).
- Experience working in a distributed international team.
Benefits
At Gcore, we want you to do your best work and enjoy the journey. Our benefits are designed to support your growth, well-being, and life beyond work:
- Competitive compensation
- Flexible working hours and hybrid or remote options, depending on your role
- Work from anywhere in the world for up to 45 days per year
- Private medical insurance for you and your family*
- Extra paid vacation and sick leave days*
- Support for life’s important moments and celebrations
- Language courses to help you connect and grow
- Modern, welcoming offices with snacks, drinks, and entertainment*
- Team sports and social activities*
*Benefits may vary depending on your location.
Equal Opportunity Employer
We provide equal opportunity to all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, disability, or any other legally protected characteristics.
Required Skills
Required Languages
🇬🇧 English