Data centres3 min read16 October 2026

Hiring senior leaders for data centre and infrastructure programmes

Capacity targets in the UK and the Gulf are rising faster than the pool of people who can deliver them. The bottleneck is no longer only technicians; it is experienced leadership.

Blair Taylor · Evolve Partners

Data centre campus under construction at blue hour

TL;DR

The UK needs to triple its data centre capacity by 2030 and the Gulf is building at a similar scale, but over half of operators already struggle to hire. The hardest senior roles are in electrical and commissioning leadership, and the best candidates often sit in adjacent sectors.

Key takeaways

The UK needs at least 6GW of AI-capable data centre capacity by 2030, around three times what it has today (UK Compute Roadmap).
53% of operators struggle to find qualified candidates, up from 46% a year earlier, and electrical roles are the biggest gap at 38% (Uptime Institute, 2026).
28% of operators have lost staff to competitors, so retention belongs in the offer, not after it.

Data centres used to be a niche corner of construction. They are now national infrastructure, and the people who can lead their design, build and commissioning are some of the hardest senior hires in the market.

The demand is set by policy

In September 2024 the UK government designated data centres as Critical National Infrastructure, the first new designation since 2015. Its UK Compute Roadmap now forecasts that the country will need at least 6GW of AI-capable data centre capacity by 2030, "a threefold increase on the data centre capacity that is available in the UK today."

The government has named five AI Growth Zones so far: Oxfordshire, the North East, North Wales, South Wales and Lanarkshire. Developers have committed to up to 15,000 jobs and at least £28.2 billion of private investment across them, though the government is clear those are developer commitments, conditional on delivery.

The Gulf is building at a similar scale. The UAE and US unveiled the first phase of a 5GW AI campus in Abu Dhabi in May 2025. In Saudi Arabia, the Public Investment Fund's AI company HUMAIN is targeting 1.7GW of data centre capacity in 2027, according to its chief executive.

The people aren't keeping pace

Uptime Institute's 2026 Global Data Center Survey found that 53% of operators have difficulty finding qualified candidates, up from 46% a year earlier. The biggest gaps were in electrical roles (38%), junior operations (38%), operations management (35%) and mechanical roles (34%). Electrical gaps have grown 13 percentage points since 2023, which Uptime links directly to the gigawatts of new electrical infrastructure being built and commissioned.

Retention is the other half of the problem. 28% of operators said competitors had hired their staff away. Uptime's 2025 survey had already flagged that senior roles were becoming harder to fill, with the institute's Andy Lawrence noting "a management shortage, with many experienced leaders retiring".

Where senior searches get stuck

In my experience, three things make data centre leadership hires harder than they look.

The best candidates sit in adjacent sectors. Data centre programmes draw on power, mission-critical construction, pharmaceutical and semiconductor facilities, and large MEP projects. A search that only looks at people with "data centre" in their job title misses most of the market.

Electrical and commissioning leadership is the critical path. Uptime's figures match what I hear from clients: the hardest senior hires are the people who can lead electrical delivery and commissioning on live, high-density sites. Those people need to be in place before ground-breaking, not recruited once the programme is behind.

Everyone is hiring at once. UK and Gulf programmes are competing for the same small pool of experienced leaders. A strong programme director will usually have more than one conversation going.

What to do about it

Start the leadership search with the programme, not after it. Map the market as soon as the programme is credible, so you know who exists and what they cost.
Write the brief around outcomes. Describe the scale, stage and risks of the programme, not just a list of past job titles. It widens the field and attracts people who want the challenge.
Look sideways. Consider leaders from power, mission-critical construction and life sciences facilities, and test how quickly they would get up to speed.
Build retention into the offer. With 28% of operators losing staff to competitors, think about how the package, the role and the programme keep someone for its full length.
Move quickly once you've found them. Agree interview dates in advance and keep feedback to days, not weeks.

If you're planning a data centre or infrastructure programme and want a view of the leadership market, I'm happy to talk it through.

Sources

DSIT, "Data centres to be given massive boost and protections", 12 September 2024.
DSIT, UK Compute Roadmap, July 2025, updated April 2026.
HM Government, Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone announcement, January 2026.
US Department of Commerce, 5GW AI campus in Abu Dhabi, May 2025.
EnterpriseAM, "Humain scales up 2027 data center target", October 2026.
Uptime Institute, Global Data Center Survey 2026, July 2026.
Uptime Institute press release via Silicon UK, 15th Annual Global Data Center Survey, July 2025.

MethodologyPolicy and capacity figures come from UK and US government publications. The Saudi figure is HUMAIN's own target, given by its chief executive and reported by EnterpriseAM. Capacity targets, and the AI Growth Zone jobs and investment figures, are forecasts and developer commitments, not delivered projects. The 2024 Critical National Infrastructure designation is the only source from before 2025; it is cited because it is the policy still in force.

Skills data comes from Uptime Institute's annual Global Data Center Survey of operators, which is global rather than UK-specific. The 2025 comment on retiring leaders is taken from Uptime's press release. The three points under "Where senior searches get stuck" come from my own searches and client conversations.