From every background: Building a career at a Meta data center

Meta is committed to supporting local jobs in communities where we have data centers. Each data center building requires hundreds to thousands of skilled trade labor jobs to construct — steel workers, pipefitters, electricians, carpenters, fiber technicians and more. Once operational, each data center supports numerous jobs — electricians, HVAC specialists, server and network techs and engineers — to run some of the world’s most advanced data centers.

Behind every one of those roles is a person, often someone from your own community.

Take Rafael. He spent his days as a controls technician at a JM Smucker plant — one of the facilities that makes Uncrustables. Today he’s a Critical Facility Engineer at our Cheyenne Data Center.

“I always thought working at a tech company was outside of my reach — like it required some fancy degree or qualifications I didn’t have,” he says. “But the controls experience I built as a tech at Smucker’s translates directly. PLCs, automation, troubleshooting complex systems — that’s exactly what a data center needs. You don’t have to be a software engineer to work at Meta.”

Meta data centers run on skilled trades, facilities expertise, mission-critical operations experience, and hands-on problem solving. Many of the most important roles on site are filled by people who had never worked in tech before.

“We hire from a variety of industries and have many folks that have never stepped foot in a data center before,” says Kevin, who manages a team of Critical Facility Engineers at Meta’s Richland Parish campus. “Our training programs have been shaped by each of those varied backgrounds to ensure that you can be successful regardless of your experience if you put the effort in.”

From a technician to a critical data center role

If you are uncertain whether your experience fits, consider what we have learned from the people already on our teams: those who have kept complex, critical systems running in demanding conditions already have the foundation these roles are built on. Many of our colleagues arrived from industries one might not immediately associate with data centers. The sections below outline the backgrounds we hire from most often, along with the roles they most naturally lead to.

From Commercial Electrical Work to Critical Facility Engineer, Electrical Subject Matter Expert at Meta

Medium- and high-voltage experience, switchgear familiarity, and troubleshooting instincts transfer directly to data center power systems.

Josh followed exactly that path. Now an Electrical Subject Matter Expert at the Cheyenne Data Center, he came up as an electrician supporting construction and start-up scope on data center builds. “Honestly, I never thought I’d end up working for Meta,” he says. “But my electrical background paved the way. The technical fundamentals, troubleshooting skills, and hands-on experience I built as an electrician translated directly into this role. If you have a strong trade background, there’s absolutely a place for you here.”

From Power Generation and Utilities to Critical Facility Engineer, Electrical Subject Matter Expert, Facility Technical Manager

If you’ve operated a plant where a wrong switching decision has real consequences, you already understand the operating discipline data centers require.

That was true for Steve, a Facility Technical Manager at our El Paso Data Center, who spent his career in power generation — nuclear, solar, and battery energy storage — before Meta became his first tech employer. What surprised him wasn’t the technology; it was the openness. “Those industries are definitely more traditional and slower to move,” he says. “At Meta, everyone gets to contribute across the board — if you know something on a subject, you’re not only welcome to but encouraged to contribute, even if it’s not your specific area of expertise.”

From HVAC and Mechanical Trades to Mechanical SME, Facility Operations

Chillers, pumps, air handlers, and thermal management are central to keeping tens of thousands of servers within operating range — so if you’ve spent your career keeping mechanical systems healthy, this work will feel familiar fast.

From Industrial Controls and Automation to Controls SME, Critical Facility Engineer

PLC programming, building automation, and systems integration skills are in high demand — regardless of which industry you built them in.

That’s the leap Rafael made, and he’s the first to say it sounds bigger than it is. “The jump from food manufacturing to data centers might sound wild, but the controls foundation carries over more than you’d think — PLCs, automation, troubleshooting complex systems under pressure,” he says. “The scale here is just on another level, and the team culture has been awesome from day one.”

From Commissioning and Construction to Electrical SME, Data Engineering and Construction Partnership Roles

Commissioning agents already know how to validate that systems perform as designed — a skill set that matters enormously on new builds.

Shaun brought exactly that experience. An electrical SME at Cheyenne, he came from Rosendin Electric, where he performed electrical commissioning on data center builds. “As a proud electrician, transitioning into the data center industry with Meta has given my career an incredible new trajectory and opened up continuous professional development.”

From Military and Defense to Site Operations, Facility Operations, Security, Infrastructure Business Operations Support

Electronics technicians, facilities specialists, military police, and logistics coordinators bring exactly the operating rigor, documentation discipline, and safety culture these data center roles require.

From Manufacturing and Plant Maintenance to Site Operations, Facility Operations, EHS

Maintenance technicians, reliability engineers, and safety coordinators translate cleanly into preventive maintenance programs, equipment reliability work, and site safety leadership.

From Healthcare and Commercial Facilities to Critical Facility Engineer, Facility Operations

If you’ve kept a hospital’s critical environments online, you already understand why “the systems can never go down” isn’t a slogan — it’s the whole job.

Logistics and Supply Chain, Infrastructure Business Operations Support

Warehouse operations, inventory management, procurement, and materials planning all map directly to keeping equipment flowing to the right sites at the right time.

From Construction and Industrial Project Management to Facility Project Manager, Program Manager

If you’ve run capital projects on an operating site — managing contractors, sequencing work around live systems, and owning scope, schedule, and budget — that’s the core of this role. The difference here is that the facility can’t go offline for convenience, so protecting site reliability is part of every plan.

No matter your industry background, these qualities matter most

Whatever industry you’re coming from, the same qualities come up again and again when our data center teams talk about what helps someone succeed here — and many of them have nothing to do with a technical résumé.

Curiosity, problem solving and a safety-first mindset.  As Jordan puts it: “You don’t have to come from a ‘tech company’ to succeed here — bring a safety-first mindset, a willingness to learn, and pride in doing high-quality work. If you’re dependable, curious, and team-oriented, you can build a strong career in this space.”

So if you’ve been scrolling past Meta roles because you assumed they weren’t for you, this is your sign to take another look at the requirements. You may already meet them.

“I’d encourage anyone looking at Meta to consider their entire skillset and focus on being open to learning new things,” Steve says. “Everything you can bring is valuable, and as we move fast, every day involves learning something new.”

Explore open data center roles at metacareers.com, or learn more about America’s Workforce Academy — Meta’s cost-free skilled trades training program with a guaranteed job at one of Meta’s construction sites on completion.