Lead Mechanical Engineer, Data Center Design

Seattle WA, Austin, TX, New York, NY, San Francisco, CA

Base Salary range - $300,000 - $350,000 + equity

Full Time

About The Role

This is an owner/developer role. You will set the technical direction for how company's cools tens of thousands of GPUs – spanning air-cooled and liquid-cooled architectures, chilled water systems, heat rejection, and in-row/in-rack thermal management. You will define the requirements for modular, prefabricated mechanical assemblies designed around rapid deployment and compute-refresh flexibility. You will manage a growing mechanical engineering team and coordinate across electrical, controls, structural, and construction disciplines to deliver cooling infrastructure at unprecedented speed and scale.

We recently announced a $50 billion computing infrastructure partnership with Anthropic, building custom data centers in New York and Texas with more sites to come. This role will shape the mechanical systems that make that possible.

Responsibilities

Mechanical Strategy & StandardsDefine and own company's mechanical cooling strategy across the portfolio – from chip-level thermal interfaces through CDU/coolant distribution, chilled water plants, and heat rejection to atmosphere.

Modular Construction & PrefabricationDefine the requirements for modular, prefabricated mechanical assemblies – including hot-aisle containment cooling units, chiller skids, pump packages, and piping modules – designed for rapid site deployment with minimal field interfaces.

Own mechanical design delivery across multiple concurrent data center programs – from concept through IFC, coordinating with external MEP consultants and internal discipline leads.

Team Leadership & Vendor ManagementBuild and manage a mechanical engineering team – set priorities, mentor engineers, and create a culture of technical rigor and speed.

Basic Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience designing mechanical/cooling systems for data centers, with significant exposure to hyperscale or high-performance computing facilities.
• Deep technical knowledge of chilled water systems, air-cooled and water-cooled chillers, direct liquid cooling, and heat rejection plant design.
• Experience leading or managing a mechanical engineering team and directing external MEP consultants through a full design lifecycle.
• Working command of ASHRAE TC 9.9 thermal guidelines, liquid cooling best practices, and relevant mechanical codes (IMC, ASME, NFPA).
• Demonstrated ability to develop and enforce design standards, basis of design documents, and master specifications across a multi-site portfolio.
• Strong vendor network and procurement experience across chillers, pumps, piping, and cooling distribution equipment.
• Willingness to travel to project sites across the US (estimated 20–30%).

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional Engineer (PE) license or Chartered Engineer credential.
• Direct experience with modular or prefabricated mechanical system design and off-site manufacturing coordination.
• Hands-on CFD experience (6SigmaET, Ansys Icepak, Flotherm) and proficiency with Revit/BIM workflows.
• Experience with medium-voltage (4.16 kV+) chiller applications and 800VDC power distribution architectures in data centers.
• Background in owner/developer-side roles (vs. pure consultant or EPC) with direct accountability for system performance and reliability.
• Experience commissioning large-scale chilled water plants, including chemical treatment, flushing programs, and hydraulic balancing.
• Familiarity with FM Global requirements for mechanical systems in mission-critical facilities.
• Exposure to AI/HPC-specific cooling challenges: high rack densities (75–150+ kW), GPU thermal management, and compute-refresh-ready infrastructure.