At Kent Data Centres, we unite the heritage of Sudlows Consulting with Kent's global scale and ambition to ignite the next era of digital infrastructure.
We power the digital foundations of modern life, keeping the world connected with resilience, responsibility, and trust.
Our people are the spark. They're our engineers, designers, and infinite thinkers. They deliver living systems of connection, solving problems that others can't and creating solutions that stand the test of time
Design Manager, Malaysia
Reporting to the Associate Director for APAC, the Design Manager will be responsible for managing the full design lifecycle of mission-critical data centre projects from concept through construction and commissioning support. The role requires strong leadership, stakeholder management, technical oversight, and coordination across architectural, civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, and ICT disciplines.
The successful candidate must be an experienced Design Manager with a strong technical background delivering data centre and mission‑critical projects through all design phases and possess deep knowledge of Malaysian engineering and construction standards, permitting processes, and local authority requirements, while also being capable of working within international project delivery environments.
Key responsibilities
- Lead and manage multidisciplinary design teams for hyperscale and mission-critical data centre projects.
- Lead and manage design phase delivery, including feasibility, concept, schematic and detailed design stages
- Act as the primary technical liaison with clients, local authorities, utility providers, contractors, and external stakeholders.
- Conduct technical workshops, coordination meetings, and stakeholder presentations in both English and Bahasa Malaysia environments.
- Manage relationships with clients, consultants, local authorities, contractors, and supply chain partners.
- Strong understanding of Malaysian engineering standards, permitting processes, and construction regulations.
- Ensure designs comply with Malaysian regulations, building codes, seismic requirements, fire and life safety standards, and industry best practices.
- Collaborate with project controls, commercial, commissioning, and delivery teams to ensure integrated project execution.
- Review and manage design deliverables, technical documentation, specifications, and engineering reports.
- Mentor junior engineers and support the growth of Kent's data centre capability in Malaysia
- Interface with construction and commissioning teams to ensure design intent is maintained during execution.
- Support procurement activities including technical bid evaluations and vendor coordination.
- Monitor design schedules, deliverables, budgets, and project milestones.
- Support quality assurance and ensure compliance with Kent and client governance procedures.
- Collaborate with regional and global engineering teams across APAC, EMEA, and North America.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in electrical, Mechanical, or a related Engineering field (BEng or higher).
- Registered Professional Engineer in Malaysia (Board of Engineers Malaysia – BEM registration required).
- Fluent bilingual capability in English and Bahasa Malaysia (written and verbal).
- Minimum 7+ years of experience in engineering or design management within mission-critical, data centre, industrial, or major infrastructure projects.
- Previous experience delivering hyperscale or AI-ready data centre facilities in Malaysia
- Demonstrated experience managing multidisciplinary design teams on large-scale projects.
- Strong understanding of Malaysian engineering standards, permitting processes, and construction regulations.
- Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
- Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams in fast-paced environments.
- Proactive and results-driven individual with an excellent work ethic.
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to engage effectively with customers and stakeholders.
- Proficient in MS Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel) and familiarity with project management and business development tools.
- Technical expertise in proposal and submission management.
- Excellent technical review skills to oversee designs and ensure compliance with industry standards.
- Experience in pre-sales, design project management, and client engagement.
- Ability to conduct site surveys and develop concept-to-schematic designs.
- Familiarity with international standards including Uptime Institute, TIA-942, ASHRAE, IEC, and NFPA.
- Willingness to travel within and outside of Malaysia as required.
- Proven track record in business development and commercial negotiations
Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with key data centre clients
