Director of Data Center Certification

Director of Data Center Certification

Build, from first principles, the independent standard for how AI data centers are powered. This is a founding leadership role: the certification body does not yet exist, and you will design the standard, the business and the team. We welcome applicants from standards and certification bodies, data center and AI infrastructure companies, utilities and energy development, and clean energy nonprofits.

About Data Center Energy

Data Center Energy is an initiative incubated by the Sijbrandij Foundation. Its goal is to make clean power the commercially superior way to run AI infrastructure, not just the responsible one.

Demand for AI compute is growing faster than the grid can serve it. Developers, utilities and municipalities are deciding now how data centers will be powered. Those decisions will shape emissions, grid reliability and local communities for decades. There is no common, trusted standard for what good looks like.

Data Center Energy works on two tracks. The first, led by our Director of Data Center Energy Strategy, is a playbook for developer engagement. It co-develops solar, storage and load flexibility with AI infrastructure companies and energy partners, so that clean power becomes the fastest and cheapest route to capacity.

The second, which this role will build and lead, is an independent certification body for AI data centers: doing for data center energy what LEED did for buildings. A nonprofit certifier gives municipalities and developers a credible, conflict-free benchmark. Annual recertification creates recurring revenue, which is redeployed into grants and impact investing across the sector.

The role

Data Center Energy is looking for a Director of Data Center Certification to build the certification body from first principles. This is a builder's job, not a caretaker's. The Foundation has seeded the initiative and the strategy track is under way, but the certification business does not yet exist.

The task is to design a standard the industry wants to adopt, build a lean organization to administer it, and make it financially self-sustaining. You will own certification's strategy, team, standards and growth. You will sit alongside the Director of Data Center Energy Strategy, each leading one track of the initiative, and report to the CEO of the Sijbrandij Foundation.

What you will do

• Set and own the certification strategy. Decide what the certification body should be in three years, and what it should and should not cover, in step with the wider initiative.
• Build the standard. Lead the development of certification criteria with technical experts, developers, utilities and municipalities. It must be rigorous enough to mean something and practical enough to be adopted.
• Design the business model. Fees scaled by facility size, annual recertification, membership tiers and a professional credential for practitioners, with a clear path to financial self-sufficiency.
• Build a lean operating model. A digital-first certification process, a remote auditor network and quality assurance that keeps results consistent.
• Win the first adopters. Bring the first developers and municipalities into certification, and make it a reference point in siting, permitting and procurement decisions.
• Protect independence. The nonprofit structure exists to avoid conflicts of interest, and you are the final judge of where commercial relationships end and certification integrity begins.
• Work hand in hand with the Director of Data Center Energy Strategy. Share relationships with developers and energy partners, and make sure certification and the developer-engagement playbook reinforce each other.
• Build the team. Hire the core certification team and auditor network, and grow the function as adoption grows.
• Build the external network across hyperscalers, data center developers, utilities, grid operators, municipalities, regulators, standards bodies and climate funders.
• Work in partnership with the Sijbrandij Foundation’s CEO on budget, impact, risk and how surplus revenue is deployed into grants and impact investing.

First twelve months

• An agreed three-year strategy for certification, aligned with the wider initiative and signed off with the Foundation.
• Version 1 of the certification standard, developed with input from developers, utilities and municipalities, and published.
• The business model and governance in place: fee structure, membership tiers, independence safeguards and the nonprofit entity.
• The auditor model designed, with the first auditors recruited and trained.
• First pilot certifications under way with committed early adopters, including at least one municipality.
• A working partnership with the strategy track, so certification and developer engagement reinforce each other.

Location

Fully remote within the United States. Some travel to meet developers, utilities, municipalities and the Foundation is expected.

Requirements

Essential

• Experience building a new organization, product or market from an early stage, ideally one where you had to create the demand as well as the offer.
• Credibility on two fronts: holding your own with data center developers and energy executives, and with municipal officials and regulators.
• Working fluency in energy and data center fundamentals, including power procurement, interconnection, renewables and storage, and load flexibility. Enough to lead technical experts and challenge their work.
• Commercial instinct: designing pricing and revenue models, and selling to skeptical buyers.
• Demonstrated leadership of a team, with a track record of hiring well.
• Sound judgment on independence and conflicts of interest, and the willingness to hold a line under commercial pressure.
• Exceptional communication, including making a technical standard compelling to developers, municipalities and the public.
• Deep personal commitment to clean, reliable power for the AI era.

Strongly preferred

• Experience with standards, certification, ratings or accreditation (for example LEED, ENERGY STAR, ISO or ESG ratings).
• Direct experience in data centers, AI infrastructure, utilities or energy development.
• Experience working with municipalities, permitting authorities or state energy regulators.
• Experience leading a nonprofit or membership organization, or operating within or alongside a philanthropic funder.
• An engineering or technical background, or an advanced degree in a relevant discipline.
• An existing network across hyperscalers, developers, utilities and climate investors.

Benefits

• Competitive Salary & Benefits.
• A founding leadership role building a new institution with seed backing from the Sijbrandij Foundation.
• Direct reporting line to the Foundation CEO and a close working partnership with the strategy track.
• Fully remote within the US.

How to apply: Submit your resume and answer the short questions on the application form. Tell us about something you built from an early stage, especially where you had to create the demand as well as the offer. This search is managed by EQL Tech on behalf of the Sijbrandij Foundation.