Rowan Digital Infrastructure is building a six-building, $4.2 billion hyperscale campus in Temple, Bell County, Texas, and the talent it needs is not sitting idle along the I-35 corridor. Four buildings are already under construction. The sixth, the Lasso building, cleared first readings before the Temple City Council in early September 2026. When all phases are operating, the campus will require at least 120 permanent full-time positions on top of more than 2,000 construction jobs across the buildout. That is a hiring problem that starts now and runs past 2031.

Texas has no state income tax, which improves the net offer versus comparable roles in California or Colorado without raising the base. That is a real recruiting advantage worth using in offer conversations.

For commissioning roles, hiring teams should require or strongly prefer a Certified Commissioning Authority (CxA) credential from AABC or a Cx credential from ASHRAE, combined with demonstrated experience on critical or mission-critical facilities. For operations roles, the BICSI Data Center Design Consultant (DCDC) or Operations Technician (RCDD or DCOT) credentials signal someone who understands the full infrastructure stack. On the electrical side, OSHA 30, arc flash training, and hands-on experience with medium-voltage switchgear separate candidates who can work safely on energized campus infrastructure from those who cannot. HVAC and mechanical candidates should carry an EPA 608 certification at minimum; experience with closed-loop cooling systems is directly relevant to Rowan's campus design. Military-trained applicants from Fort Cavazos often hold 25-series (signal/IT) or 91-series (mechanical maintenance) MOS backgrounds that translate well into facilities technician and critical-facilities engineer roles with structured bridge training.

Construction and commissioning. Expect to offer per diem for commissioning engineers traveling into Temple from out of market. A daily rate of $100 to $150 plus housing assistance is typical for multi-month commissioning engagements. Contract-to-permanent structures work well for commissioning leads who may convert to a site director or regional role once the building is live. Operations. These are permanent positions. Relocation assistance of $5,000 to $15,000 is standard for experienced critical-facilities hires moving to Central Texas. Temple's cost of living, compared with Austin, is a genuine selling point. A one-bedroom apartment in Temple runs materially less than in Austin or Round Rock, and that gap should be quantified in offer conversations with candidates considering Austin-area alternatives. Sign-on bonuses of $5,000 to $10,000 are increasingly common for critical-facilities engineers given national competition.

High-voltage electricians and mechanical trades. Local open-shop contractors, trade school pipelines at Central Texas College in Killeen and Temple College, and regional staffing firms covering the Waco-to-Austin stretch of I-35. Commissioning engineers. National. These candidates are sourced from other hyperscale projects, MEP engineering firms, and the small universe of people who hold active CxA credentials and have completed at least one large-scale data center commissioning engagement. They do not respond to job boards. Direct outreach is required. Critical-facilities engineers. A mix of national search and targeted regional sourcing. Austin's existing hyperscale footprint (including Meta's Texas operations) has produced a cohort of experienced operators who may be open to a shorter commute and lower cost of living in Temple. Facilities technicians. Local and regional. Fort Cavazos separation pipelines, manufacturing operations along I-35, and Temple's hospital cluster (including Baylor Scott and White) all produce technically trained workers who can be trained into data center operations roles.

Fort Cavazos, located in Killeen just to the west of Temple, generates a steady outflow of separating service members who already understand discipline, documentation, high-stakes operations, and working within strict procedural frameworks. Many want to stay in Central Texas when they separate. Their civilian credential stack is thin, but their operational mindset is exactly what a 24/7 critical-facilities team requires. A structured military-transition hiring program, paired with a six-to-twelve month bridge credentialing track covering DCOT, EPA 608, and arc flash safety, converts this pipeline into a durable source of facilities technicians and, with time, critical-facilities engineers. In Northern Virginia or Phoenix, you compete with dozens of employers who have already built these pipelines. In Temple, Rowan can build one from scratch and own it. That is a workforce advantage that does not exist at most hyperscale sites.

Rowan's first-phase completion is projected around 2029, with full campus buildout conservatively estimated by fiscal year 2031. That timeline dictates when each hiring wave peaks. Construction trades sourcing is active now and competes with every other large project on the I-35 corridor. Commissioning engineers need to be identified 12 to 18 months before each building's energization target, not 60 days out. Operations hiring for the first building should begin 9 to 12 months before go-live to allow for onboarding, training, and procedural qualification. If you wait until the building is ready, you are already behind.

NextDCX recruits for your toughest data center roles. Share the work, location, and experience your team needs. We run a fresh search for every role, approach people directly, and speak with every candidate before introducing them. You get people screened for the work, pay, location, and availability, ready to meet your hiring team. We also support recruiting partners. If Temple is on your hiring board, send us the roles and we start now. For the buildout, see Rowan's Bell County campus filing.

Comp sources: ZipRecruiter and dcgeeks 2026 salary data.