Senior Mechanical Engineer

Senior Mechanical Engineer
Cypress, TX 77429
Salary: $160K - $175K

Our client is seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer to join our Houston, TX, or Chicago, IL office team. The Senior Mechanical Engineer is responsible for leading the design, engineering, and construction oversight of mission-critical mechanical cooling infrastructure for hyperscale and enterprise data center facilities. This position requires extensive experience in high-density thermal management, redundant HVAC systems, chilled water plants, and Uptime Institute Tier III/IV mechanical design standards for facilities ranging from 10-300+ MW capacity.


PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead mechanical system design for data center projects including CRAH/CRAC units, chilled water plants, cooling towers, pumping systems, air-side economizers, adiabatic cooling, and emerging liquid cooling technologies
• Design cooling infrastructure for high-density IT environments (20-100+ kW/rack) including hot/cold aisle containment, raised floor/overhead distribution, in-row cooling, rear-door heat exchangers, and direct-to-chip liquid cooling systems
• Perform detailed thermal load calculations, psychrometric analysis, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling, and airflow simulations to optimize cooling efficiency and eliminate hot spots
• Develop mechanical equipment specifications, chilled water system hydraulics, pump curves, piping design, duct sizing, and controls sequences for N+1, N+2, and 2N redundant configurations
• Calculate cooling capacity requirements based on IT load projections, diversity factors, and future expansion planning while maintaining design flexibility
• Design chilled water plants including water-cooled chillers, air-cooled chillers, variable primary flow systems, thermal energy storage, and free cooling integration
• Coordinate mechanical systems with electrical power distribution, structural floor loading, plumbing infrastructure, and fire protection requirements
• Optimize power usage effectiveness (PUE) and water usage effectiveness (WUE) through efficient equipment selection, variable speed drives, waterside/airside economization, and waste heat recovery strategies
• Manage BIM coordination using Revit MEP and Navisworks for mechanical system routing, spatial clash detection, and constructability analysis
• Oversee construction administration including equipment submittal reviews, RFI responses, site observations, commissioning coordination, test and balance verification, and integrated systems testing
• Ensure compliance with ASHRAE Standards (90.1, 127, 169, TC 9.9), International Mechanical Code, Uptime Institute requirements, and client-specific design standards
• Mentor junior mechanical engineers and perform technical quality control on design deliverables

EXPERIENCE AND SKILL REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from ABET-accredited program
• Professional Engineer (PE) license required
• 7-10 years of mechanical engineering experience with minimum 3-5 years focused on data center or mission-critical facilities
• Demonstrated experience with mission-critical HVAC systems, redundant chilled water plants, cooling tower systems, and high-density cooling strategies
• Proficiency in mechanical design software (AutoCAD, Revit MEP, Trane TRACE, Carrier HAP, CFD tools such as 6SigmaRoom or TileFlow)
• Deep understanding of psychrometrics, heat transfer principles, fluid dynamics, and thermodynamic cycles as applied to data center environments
• Experience with variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems, glycol cooling loops, and specialty mechanical systems for critical facilities
• Project leadership experience on facilities exceeding $50M in construction costs with demonstrated ability to manage client relationships and design team coordination
• Strong technical writing and communication skills for design reports, basis of design documentation, and client presentations

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline
• CEM (Certified Energy Manager), LEED AP BD+C, BEMP, or DCEP (Data Center Energy Practitioner) certifications
• Experience with hyperscale (100MW+) data center campuses and understanding of hyperscale operator requirements (Google, Microsoft, Meta, AWS)
• Knowledge of emerging cooling technologies including immersion cooling, two-phase cooling, and advanced liquid cooling architectures
• Commissioning authority (CxA) certification or extensive commissioning experience with critical mechanical systems
• Familiarity with modular/prefabricated data center solutions and factory acceptance testing protocols
• Experience with sustainable design including geothermal heat rejection, evaporative cooling optimization, and renewable energy thermal integration
• Federal facility or DOD data center design experience with security clearance

Technical Competencies

• Cooling load density analysis and rack-level thermal management
• Chilled water system design including primary/secondary pumping, variable primary flow, and distributed pumping strategies
• Air distribution system design for underfloor and overhead applications
• Equipment vibration isolation and seismic restraint design
• Mechanical system controls integration with building management systems (BMS) and data center infrastructure management (DCIM) platforms
• Energy modeling and lifecycle cost analysis for mechanical system alternatives
• Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) for redundant mechanical systems

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled