Data Center Expert Specialist Manager

Data Center Expert Specialist Manager

Full‑time. Location: Americas – Arlington, VA; Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Houston; New York; San Francisco; Washington DC.

Job Description

As a Specialist Manager at Kearney, you will be a key contributor to the growth and development of our Technology Center or Excellence for Telecom (TCOE) as we offer honest advice and practical guidance to our clients.

Working alongside a dedicated and diverse set of people, you will work with our clients to define and implement strategies that will deliver both short‑term results and longer‑term competitiveness in this ever‑changing market environment.

Through unique hands‑on experiences, you will broaden your knowledge across a breadth of topics while developing relationships with clients and colleagues across the firm. With the freedom to be yourself and recognition for what you bring to the table, you can put your purpose into action and help build a future that works for everyone, everywhere—as a Kearney Original.

The TCOE is a small group of expert consults who work alongside Kearney’s broader consulting teams to bring deep, practical technology expertise into client engagements. The TCOE focuses on highly technical topics across network and IT domains, enabling effective collaboration with telecom engineering and operations teams. By combining rigorous consulting problem‑solving with extensive industry experience, the TCOE has an unmatched ability to ensure recommendations are grounded in real‑world feasibility and deliver measurable impact to clients.

Who you are

After nearly 100 years, we know this business is fundamentally about making connections—between facts, figures, insights, strategies, tools, technologies, and above all, people. That’s why we look for collaborative, insightful, and inquisitive problem‑solvers who don’t accept the first thing in front of them and who are always unapologetically themselves.

Responsibilities

• Bring deep, hands‑on expertise in one or more core data center domains, including full rack architecture and design, power and cooling systems, DCIM software, facilities and fit‑out, and data center operations.
• Complement that depth with strong working knowledge across adjacent areas, including both regular and AI‑focused data centers.
• Act as a senior technical authority on client engagements, leading and owning technically complex workstreams related to data center design, expansion, modernization, and operational optimization.
• Evaluate, challenge, and guide data center architectures, technical specifications, and vendor proposals, ensuring solutions meet performance, resilience, scalability, regulatory, and cost requirements.
• Support clients across the infrastructure lifecycle, including site selection, capacity planning, design standards, technology selection, and delivery / commissioning approaches.
• Translate technical trade‑offs into clear business implications while retaining the ability to engage credibly and in depth with client engineering, facilities, and operations teams.
• Engage across the broader infrastructure value chain—facilities, power and environmental systems, servers and IT equipment, colocation, and interconnect.
• Independently structure and lead technical work streams, combining rigorous analysis with practical execution planning, risk identification, and delivery oversight.
• Work closely with generalist consulting teams, providing technical direction, raising solution quality, and ensuring recommendations are grounded in real‑world feasibility.
• Coach junior and non‑specialist consultants, contributing to the development of reusable technical frameworks, standards, and methodologies within the TCOE.
• Support business development through technically credible input into proposals, client discussions, and the shaping of new data center and digital infrastructure offerings.

What we can offer you

• Generous retirement/pension savings contributions.
• Comprehensive medical insurance for employees and immediate family.
• Non‑partner equity‑based awards (for consulting managers and above).
• Structured and on‑the‑job learning and development opportunities.
• Personalized opportunities including talent mobility, flexible work programs, and externships to help you chart a unique career journey.
• Manager compensation range: $194k to $212k.
• Individual salaries within the range are determined through factors such as education, experience, knowledge, and skills. Compensation is reviewed regularly and may be adjusted for market competitiveness. Eligible for a discretionary performance bonus.
• Benefits include paid time off, 401(k) match and profit sharing; medical, dental and vision coverage; healthcare concierge; backup child/adult care; annual employer HSA contribution; home office stipend; subsidized Gympass and annual wellness program; and leaves of absence to support well‑being.

Equal Employment Opportunity and Non‑Discrimination

Kearney prides itself on providing a culture where our employees belong and thrive equally, which means our people feel comfortable, confident, and empowered to do great work. We are committed to building a diverse workforce and inclusive environment. We are an equal opportunity employer and recruit, hire, train, promote, develop, and provide other conditions of employment without regard to gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, religion, age, national origin, disability, marital status, pregnancy status, veteran status, genetic information or any other differences consistent with applicable laws. We provide reasonable accommodation for disabilities or religious beliefs and practices.