AI Data Center MEP Lead — Design & Commissioning

Built to set the gold standard for integrated AI infrastructure

Crux AI is a newly formed, U.S.-based integrated AI infrastructure company created to remove the physical and operational constraints on consequential AI ambitions. Crux brings together power, high-density data centers, TPU silicon, networking, orchestration software, and ongoing operations as one integrated system.

Crux is being capitalized to plan every layer together, develop each one to demanding standards, and operate the whole system with efficiency and reliability. That gives hyperscalers, frontier AI labs, sovereign customers, enterprises, and AI-native companies greater freedom to pursue the AI they are here to create.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

You will be the owner’s technical authority for the mechanical, electrical, and controls systems behind Crux’s TPU fleet. You will translate Google’s TPU cluster requirements — densities, liquid cooling, power quality, network topology constraints — into facility requirements, and hold every design to them: our own basis of design on greenfield projects, and third-party provided designs.

The role runs the full lifecycle: design reviews and equipment selection, commissioning oversight, and engineering support for sites in operation. You will be one of the first engineers in the building, so you will also help write the standards the rest of the fleet inherits.

In this role, you will:

• Own the facility basis of design for TPU deployments: power distribution architecture, direct-to-chip liquid cooling systems (CDUs, TCS/FWS loops, water quality), heat rejection, electrical topologies and redundancy, and BMS/EPMS controls.

• Translate TPU pod requirements from Google into rack, row, and room-level facility requirements — and keep design standards current as hardware generations change under you.

• Review third-party designs (powered shells, BTS, colo) for AI-readiness against Crux requirements — density, cooling approach, electrical capacity and quality, expansion headroom — and give the deal team an unambiguous accept/modify/reject with the cost of each gap.

• Run design reviews with AE engineers and consultants; challenge designs on constructability and field labor content, and push scope toward prefabricated and factory-built assemblies (skids, power modules, cooling plants) where they buy schedule and cost.

• Lead equipment selection and vendor technical evaluation for major MEP gear — switchgear, UPS, generators, CDUs, chillers, dry coolers — including factory witness testing and long-lead procurement support.

• Own commissioning from the owner’s side: review Cx plans and scripts, witness Levels 3–5 and IST, drive issue resolution, and hold the line on first-time-right turnover to operations.

• Support operating sites as escalation engineer for facility events — root cause analysis, corrective designs, and retrofits — feeding every lesson back into the design standard.

SIGNALS OF SUCCESS

After 60 days in this role:

• You will be fluent in the TPU facility requirements set.

• The first design review cycle will be complete with findings documented.

• AI-readiness review checklist for third-party designs will be drafted and in use on live deals.

After 6 months:

• Crux basis of design v1 will be issued for the reference deployment.

• Major equipment selections will be made with technical justification.

• Commissioning oversight will be running on the first project, with ops acceptance criteria integrated.

After 1 year:

• First site will be commissioned and operating to design intent (density, PUE, thermal stability at load), with field and operational lessons incorporated.

• Third-party review process will be trusted by the deal team as fast and decisive.

EXPERIENCES, ATTRIBUTES AND MINDSET THAT INDICATE A GOOD MATCH

Experiences

• 10+ years in mechanical/electrical engineering for data centers or critical facilities — design, commissioning, or owner’s engineering — with deep working knowledge of NEC, NFPA, IEEE, and ASHRAE standards and BMS/EPMS systems.

• Direct experience with high-density AI/HPC infrastructure: direct-to-chip liquid cooling, 100kW+ racks, large-scale UPS/generator plants — you have designed, commissioned, or operated it, not just read about it.

• Owner-side design review experience — holding AE engineers, vendors, and developers accountable to a requirements set and putting a cost on every deviation.

Attributes

• Hands-on technical authority. You are comfortable being the most senior engineer in the room and also the one redlining the one-line late at night. You walk the site, witness the tests, and read the submittals yourself.

• Constructability is part of the design. You evaluate every design choice for field labor content and schedule impact, not just steady-state performance — in constrained labor markets, moving work from field to factory is an engineering decision you own.

Mindset

• High tolerance for ambiguity. Hardware requirements will shift mid-design and the schedule will not wait for a perfect standard. You make sound engineering calls with incomplete information, state your assumptions, and correct fast.

• Operations-back engineering. A design is finished when it is commissioned and a technician can maintain it at 3am — you design for the handoff, not the drawing set.

• AI-agentic first. Fluent with AI agents — or committed to becoming so quickly — and you embed them as first principles in how you and your team work, defaulting to agentic workflows before adding headcount or process.

Nice to have (preferred, not required):

• PE license (mechanical or electrical).

• TPU or large GPU cluster deployment experience, or close work with hyperscaler hardware/facility integration teams.

• Commissioning credentials or agent-side experience (Levels 1–5, IST) on mission-critical projects.

• CFD/thermal modeling and electrical studies fluency (SKM, ETAP, coordination/arc-flash).

• Prefabricated/modular power and cooling product experience on the vendor or buyer side.

• Experience at a hyperscaler, neocloud, or leading Cx/AoR firm during an AI-densification program.

Salary Range Information

The annual salary range for this position has been estimated based on market data and other factors. However, a salary higher or lower than this range may be appropriate for a candidate whose qualifications differ meaningfully from those listed in the job description.

About Crux

• We offer generous base, bonus and additional incentive based compensation

• Health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents

• Company-paid life insurance and disability

• Full suite of other optional benefits

• 401(k) Plan with 4% company match

• Hybrid schedule offering four days in-office collaboration paired with one remote workday for focused, individual work