Transformation Lead

Work location: France (Marcoussis) / Paris

Travel requirements: Occasional travel in Europe (DATA4 offices)

DATA4'S MISSION

Build highly connected, resilient and responsible data center campuses to support our customers’ growth across Europe.

DATA4 is a leading European data center operator and investor. The Group finances, designs, builds and operates its own data centers.

DATA4 VALUES

Initiative

The DATA4 team brings together people who take action. Our culture is built on initiative, with clearly defined objectives that provide clarity for our customers and partners. We turn our vision into reality with autonomy, energy and a strong sense of responsibility. This is why we surround ourselves with motivated people, each of whom plays a role in our development.

Responsibility

Our ambition is underpinned by a distinctive sense of responsibility, a core pillar in today’s digital world. This commitment is central to everything we do. Our responsible practices are reflected in our transparency, in the way we manage our environmental impact, and in the respect we show our colleagues, prospects and customers.

Adaptability

Change is not new, but we understand that the current pace of change calls for new solutions. Our business is designed to adapt by bringing innovative thinking and creative solutions that directly address our customers’ needs. This philosophy enables us to improve every day. We therefore prioritize continuous learning so that we do not merely react, but actively anticipate what the future may bring.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

The Transformation Lead is responsible for driving and accelerating the DATA4 Scale transformation program, a strategic initiative designed to enable DATA4 to evolve from a mid-sized company into a large-scale, international and operationally mature organization capable of supporting its ambitious growth trajectory.

As DATA4 expands significantly across multiple dimensions, the organization must align its processes, tools, operating model, governance, culture, and capabilities to support sustainable and scalable growth. The objective is to transform DATA4 from a company that successfully delivers projects into an organization that can execute its business plan reliably, repeatedly, predictably, and at scale.

Acting as the architect and orchestrator of this transformation, the Transformation Lead develops and manages the overall transformation roadmap, ensures alignment across all business functions, and mobilizes stakeholders around a shared vision and common objectives. The role is instrumental in creating momentum, fostering engagement, and embedding a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence throughout the organization.

This position is located within Strategy Team (group level).

1. LEAD THE DATA4 SCALE TRANSFORMATION PROGRAM

The Transformation Lead acts as the architect, orchestrator and accelerator of the DATA4 Scale program, ensuring that DATA4 successfully evolves into a scalable, high-performing organization capable of delivering its growth ambitions with consistency, predictability and operational excellence.

Define and Manage the DATA4 Scale Transformation Roadmap

• Build, maintain and continuously adapt the overall DATA4 Scale transformation roadmap in line with DATA4's strategic ambitions and business plan.
• Identify, assess, prioritize and sequence transformation initiatives based on value creation, strategic impact, feasibility, dependencies and organizational capacity.
• Translate the transformation vision into clear action plans, milestones, deliverables, accountabilities and measurable outcomes.

Lead the Transformation Program

• Drive the DATA4 Scale transformation program end-to-end, ensuring successful execution of all workstreams.
• Monitor progress, manage risks and dependencies, and proactively address bottlenecks and obstacles. Conduct Change management to the whole company
• Balance short-term operational improvements with long-term transformation objectives.

2. BUILD A SCALABLE OPERATING MODEL

• Drive, facilitate and coordinate the formalization of the core processes required for the reliable and repeatable execution of DATA4’s key activities.
• Support business functions in defining and deploying standardized ways of working, covering governance, roles and responsibilities, decision rights, stage gates, reporting, risk reviews and the required standards.
• Ensure alignment between processes, organization, tools, data, capabilities and operational objectives.
• Create and maintain the shared methodologies, frameworks, templates, materials and standards required to deploy DATA4 Scale.
• Organize the capture of lessons learned and their integration into future standards and practices.
• Ensure that the solutions developed remain pragmatic, suited to operational realities and replicable across DATA4 geographies.

• Design and facilitate the governance framework supporting the transformation program.
• Prepare and lead Steering Committees, executive reviews and cross-functional working groups.
• Provide regular visibility to senior management on achievements, risks, decisions and priorities.

3. ESTABLISH PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

• Define the transformation measurement framework, including objectives, key performance indicators, success criteria, adoption indicators and value measurement mechanisms.
• Create, consolidate and maintain DATA4 Scale dashboards to provide a reliable, decision-oriented view of progress, risks, dependencies and benefits delivered.
• Produce reports and decision-support materials for Steering Committees, the Executive Committee and workstream sponsors.
• Embed a culture of accountability, transparency, continuous improvement and data-driven management.
  

4. LEAD CHANGE AND ENSURE ADOPTION

• Define and deploy the change management strategy for the program and each priority initiative.
• Map stakeholders, assess organizational impacts, and identify barriers, needs and drivers of engagement.
• Build and coordinate the internal communication, engagement, training and support plans required to enable the adoption of new processes, tools, roles and practices.
• Support sponsors, workstream leads and managers in role-modeling the transformation and cascading key messages to their teams.
• Design and facilitate workshops, communities of practice, working sessions and awareness initiatives that foster co-creation and engagement.
• Measure adoption, gather user feedback and adjust the approach to embed changes into day-to-day activities.

5. COORDINATE EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENTS

• Scope, coordinate and monitor consulting firms and external partners engaged under the DATA4 Scale program.
• Formalize the needs, objectives, scope, deliverables, budgets, responsibilities and success criteria for external engagements.
• Challenge analyses and recommendations to ensure their relevance, practical applicability and value for DATA4.
• Facilitate collaboration between external experts, sponsors and operational teams.
• Organize knowledge and capability transfer to internal teams to strengthen organizational autonomy.

6. CONTRIBUTE TO THE DESIGN OF TOMORROW'S ORGANIZATION

• Contribute to the design of the organization, governance and capabilities required to support DATA4’s growth at scale.
• Support capability mapping, identify capacity and capability gaps, and prioritize reinforcement needs.
• Support the clarification of roles, responsibilities, interfaces and decision-making mechanisms across functions.
• Support initiatives that foster a culture of execution, cross-functional collaboration, accountability and innovation.
• Ensure that sustainability, innovation and efficiency considerations are embedded in transformation decisions and future ways of working.
  

KEY DELIVERABLES

• DATA4 Scale roadmap and prioritized portfolio of transformation initiatives.
• Consolidated dashboard, KPI framework and executive program reporting.
• Materials and minutes for governance and decision-making bodies.
• Action plans and registers covering risks, dependencies, decisions and expected benefits.
• Process maps and documentation for core processes, frameworks and associated standards.
• Change management, communication, training and engagement plans.
• Adoption and value realization measurement framework.
• Scoping, monitoring and validation of deliverables produced by external partners.

CERTIFICATION RESPONSIBILITIES

• Management system certifications: Comply with the certification policy.
• Health and safety: Comply with applicable rules.
• Environment: Comply with and contribute to the environmental policy.
• Information security: Comply with the information security policy.

PROFILE

Education and experience

• Master’s degree in engineering, management, organizational transformation or an equivalent field.
• 10 to 15 years of proven experience in transformation, organizational consulting, strategic PMO, operational excellence or the management of complex cross-functional programs.
• Demonstrated experience working with senior leaders, executive sponsors and multidisciplinary teams.
• Knowledge of industrial or construction environments.

Technical skills

• Strong command of complex program management in the infrastructure sector.
• Strong command of change management approaches, stakeholder engagement and adoption measurement.
• Ability to map, formalize, optimize and deploy cross-functional operational processes.
• Experience in defining operating models, roles and responsibilities, decision rights and governance frameworks.
• Excellent command of performance indicators, dashboards, executive reporting and decision-oriented analysis.
• Proficiency in office productivity and data visualization tools; knowledge of project management and collaboration tools is an advantage.
• Fluent English required, both written and spoken, to operate in a European and multicultural environment.

General skills

• Influential leadership and the ability to engage stakeholders without direct hierarchical authority.
• Excellent facilitation, listening and communication skills with both operational and executive stakeholders and capacity to build consensus across functions / geographies
• Structured thinking, analytical skills, synthesis capabilities and a results-oriented mindset with clear capacity to move from analysis to implementation and action mode with measurable outcomes
• Ability to challenge the status quo when appropriate and show good judgement
• Pragmatism, a strong understanding of operational realities, and the ability to translate strategic ambition into concrete action.
• Proactivity, Autonomy, rigor, reliability, adaptability and a strong sense of responsibility.
• Ability to navigate a complex, fast-growing and continuously evolving environment.
• Resiliency, perseverance and ability to build engagement, address resistance and sustain transformation momentum over time.
• Strong commitment to confidentiality, integrity and ethical conduct.