Chief Engineer

Job Description
B5 Recruiting is recruiting on behalf of an established commercial property organization for an experienced Chief Engineer to lead engineering and building operations for a Class A commercial property in Wynwood, Miami.


This is a senior, hands-on engineering leadership opportunity for someone with experience operating complex commercial building systems and central plant equipment while leading engineering teams, vendors, emergency response, and tenant-facing building operations.


Your Role:

As Chief Engineer, you'll be responsible for the reliable, safe, and efficient operation of the property's critical building systems while leading day-to-day engineering operations.

You'll oversee HVAC and central plant operations, building automation, emergency power, life-safety systems, preventive maintenance, vendors, and engineering staff while supporting the needs of an occupied commercial environment.

The ideal candidate brings direct experience operating a Class A office property and is equally comfortable leading a team, troubleshooting complex building systems, coordinating contractors, and responding to after-hours or emergency situations.

What You'll Do:

• Lead day-to-day engineering and building operations for a Class A commercial property.
• Oversee the operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting of chillers, cooling towers, pumps, VAV systems, and related HVAC equipment.
• Operate and monitor Building Automation Systems (BAS) to maintain building performance and quickly identify and resolve operational issues.
• Oversee emergency power, generators, electrical systems, fire/life-safety systems, and other critical building infrastructure.
• Develop and execute preventive maintenance programs to maximize equipment reliability and minimize downtime.
• Lead, develop, and coordinate the property's engineering and maintenance team.
• Manage outside vendors and contractors, including scopes of work, work orders, service quality, and coordination of repairs and projects.
• Support budgeting, invoice review, purchasing, and contractor selection related to building engineering operations.
• Respond to after-hours HVAC issues, outages, shutdowns, and other building emergencies.
• Lead engineering preparation and response for hurricanes, severe weather, and other emergency events.
• Partner with property management and communicate effectively with tenants regarding building conditions, service issues, shutdowns, and planned work.
• Maintain strong safety, regulatory, and operational standards across the property.

What Will Make You Stand Out:

• Experience operating large, multi-tenant Class A office properties.
• Direct Niagara or Lynxspring BAS experience.
• Experience with magnetic-bearing chillers.
• Proven leadership during a hurricane, major outage, or other critical building event.
• Experience balancing hands-on technical leadership with tenant service, vendor management, and team development.

Requirements

What We're Looking For:

• Significant experience in commercial building engineering, facilities engineering, or property operations, ideally at the Chief Engineer or Senior/Lead Engineer level.
• Direct experience operating an occupied Class A office property or comparable commercial asset.
• Experience supporting a large, complex commercial property, approximately 300,000+ square feet.
• Strong hands-on knowledge of HVAC and central plant operations, including chillers, cooling towers, pumps, and VAV systems.
• Strong experience operating and troubleshooting Building Automation Systems (BAS); Niagara and/or Lynxspring experience.
• Experience with generators, emergency power, electrical switching, and fire/life-safety systems.
• Demonstrated experience responding to major outages, after-hours emergencies, hurricanes, or severe-weather events in an occupied building.
• Experience leading engineering or maintenance staff and coordinating vendors and contractors.
• Strong understanding of preventive maintenance, work-order management, contractor oversight, and building operations.
• Experience working directly with property management and tenants in a high-service commercial environment.
• EPA 608 Universal certification strongly preferred.
• Relevant Florida or Miami-Dade licenses/certifications are a plus