Engineering Director

Director Of Engineering

Maximize your potential. Minimize your footprint.

Nortek Data Center Cooling builds the systems that keep modern data centers running — from liquid cooling to large-scale air solutions. Our work supports some of the world's most demanding AI and hyperscale environments, and we solve those challenges with engineering depth and practical execution.

We keep things simple here. We communicate early, stay close to the details, and follow through. When issues come up, we address them directly, not with layers of process. Customers count on us because we do what we say and we keep projects moving.

Our culture is hands-on and collaborative. People take ownership, move quickly, and help each other. If you like working with teammates who are straightforward and accountable, you'll feel at home.

With the backing of Madison Air, we have the scale, stability, and manufacturing footprint to support complex, high-growth programs.

Position Summary

The Director of Engineering will lead the design, development, and delivery of Nortek Data Center Cooling's full portfolio of custom cooling solutions—including air cooling, liquid cooling, and related thermal technologies—serving hyperscale and colocation customers. Based in Oklahoma City, this role provides strategic and hands-on leadership to a multidisciplinary engineering team with a strong emphasis on design-to-cost, Design for Manufacturability (DFM), and scalable, high-reliability solutions. The Director will partner closely with Sales, PMO, Supply Chain, Operations, and Quality to ensure products are optimized for performance, cost, and manufacturability while enabling efficient execution from concept through commercialization and strengthening Nortek's competitive position in the data center cooling market.

Key Responsibilities

• Engineering Leadership & Strategy
• Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performing engineering organization focused on data center cooling technologies.
• Define engineering strategy, technical standards, and product roadmaps aligned with business objectives and customer requirements.
• Drive a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.
• Serve as a key member of the leadership team, providing technical insight to support strategic decision-making.

• Product Design & Development
• Oversee end-to-end product development from concept and architecture through validation, launch, and lifecycle support.
• Ensure products meet performance, reliability, safety, regulatory, and quality requirements.
• Champion design-to-cost principles and DFM/DFA to ensure products are cost-competitive, scalable, and optimized for manufacturing.
• Balance innovation with practical execution to meet aggressive timelines and cost targets.

• Customer & Market Engagement
• Partner with Sales and Commercial teams to support key customer engagements, technical reviews, and solution development for hyperscalers and colocation providers.
• Translate customer and market requirements into robust, differentiated product designs.
• Support application-specific and engineered-to-order solutions for strategic customers as needed.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Work closely with the PMO to align resources, schedules, and technical milestones across development programs.
• Collaborate with Supply Chain and Operations to ensure designs are manufacturable, supply-resilient, and aligned with production capabilities.
• Partner with Quality and Compliance teams to ensure adherence to industry standards, certifications, and customer-specific requirements.

• People Development & Talent Management
• Build, retain, and develop a strong engineering team through hiring, coaching, performance management, and succession planning.
• Develop future technical and people leaders within the organization.
• Foster collaboration across engineering disciplines and with other functions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline; Master's degree preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive engineering experience, including at least 5 years in an engineering leadership role.
• Demonstrated experience designing complex HVAC, thermal management, or data center infrastructure products.
• Strong understanding of air- and liquid-based data center cooling technologies.
• Proven success driving design-to-cost and DFM initiatives in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience leading cross-functional product development teams.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to balance technical performance, cost, schedule, and customer expectations.