The Vice President of Acquisitions, Data Centers, and Digital Infrastructure is responsible for evaluating and executing acquisitions, specifically of data centers, to expand the company’s presence at various geographical locations to meet strategic business goals. The VP is also responsible for day-to-day tasks related to these data center facilities to meet overall business objectives.
Education and Qualifications
Though there are no specific educational requirements for this role, a bachelor’s degree in business, finance, or operations management is recommended. Many companies prefer an MBA in general/operation management.
Responsibilities and a Day in the Life
Typically, this role requires 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. But like any other business and senior management role, the VP is responsible for the overall success of the company, specifically in the area(s) they are responsible for. So, if there are problems during the late evening hours or weekends, the VP is accountable for resolving them. Similarly, when a target date is set for an acquisition, the VP is expected to work closely with various stakeholders to meet the timeline. This may demand some weekend work. Similarly, if the data centers are spread across the country or world, some periodic travel may be required to meet with the local teams and clients.
Though daily responsibilities may vary based on many factors; some of the common ones include the following:
- Working collaboratively with executive management and other parts of the organization to understand and manage company growth strategy, specifically in adding new data center locations or expanding existing data center capacities.
- Leading deal sourcing, evaluation, and negotiations.
- Working with management to make progress on mergers and acquisitions.
- Working with various teams, such as finance, legal, HR, IT, etc., to successfully close the deal and initiate the transition of newly acquired company assets and employees.
- Monitoring the transition and financial performance of the acquired business.
- Communicating progress to the CEO, executive management, peers, and reporting organizations.
- Standardizing all aspects of the acquired business to align with company policies and standards.
- Meeting with clients of the acquired company and sharing the future directions to improve their confidence and retain the client base.
Other Necessary Skills
- Strong analytical and critical thinking skills
- Superior communication and negotiation skills
- Organizational and interpersonal skills
- Strong leadership skills
- Excellent presentation skills.
Salary
- Salary can vary based on the company size, experience, location, etc. According to BLS, the median salary for a computer and information manager is about $159K. But this could vary significantly based on company type and size; it could be between $150K and $250K. The role can also come with other benefits like stock options, bonuses, etc.
Job Growth
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does not track VP of Acquisitions separately but has details related to computer and information managers. According to BLS, there were about,
- 509K computer and information manager jobs in 2021
- The job outlook from 2021 to 2031 is 16%, much faster than the average job growth.
- Employment change 82K (2021 to 31)
Summary
If you are someone who finds the following characteristics of this job appealing, you can consider being a computer and information manager as your future career:
- Studying the market and identifying potential businesses to acquire.
- Working with people, explicitly closing deals.
- You are good in data collection and reporting to management.
- You have an in-depth understanding of the acquisition process.
- You are Interested in understanding the real estate market and data center business.
