Data Center HVAC Lead

Job Description

The Chiller Subject Matter Expert (SME) serves as the senior technical authority for chiller plants supporting a client’s hyperscale Data Center portfolio. This role is accountable for post‑commissioning operations, long‑term reliability, performance optimization, and lifecycle management of mission‑critical cooling infrastructure supporting high‑density compute and AI workloads.

The Chiller SME is the primary escalation point for complex cooling plant issues and partners closely with Operations, Engineering, Construction, and Commissioning teams to ensure resilient, efficient, and scalable chiller plant performance across the data center fleet.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the technical authority and escalation point for chiller plants, cooling systems, and associated infrastructure
• Lead root cause analysis (RCA) for chiller and cooling plant incidents; drive corrective and preventive actions
• Analyze plant performance data, trends, and controls to improve reliability, availability, and efficiency
• Develop and maintain operating procedures, maintenance strategies, and emergency response playbooks
• Evaluate plant redundancy, available capacity, and operational margins in live data center environments
• Support load growth, seasonal transitions, and high‑density cooling requirements Provide operational input during design reviews, equipment selection, commissioning, and integrated systems testing
• Review and validate chiller plant control sequences, staging logic, and optimization strategies
• Drive energy efficiency, part‑load performance, and plant optimization initiatives
• Serve as the technical interface with chiller OEMs, service vendors, and water treatment partners
• Support lifecycle planning, major overhauls, refrigerant transitions, and end‑of‑life replacements
• Develop fleet‑wide chiller standards, best practices, MOPs, SOPs, and EOPs
• Provide technical training, mentorship, and guidance to operations and engineering teams

Required Skills & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, HVAC Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of experience working with large-scale chiller plants in mission-critical environments (Data Centers, healthcare, industrial, or similar).
• Deep hands-on knowledge of air-cooled and water-cooled chiller systems, pumping systems, and heat rejection equipment.
• Strong understanding of thermodynamics, heat transfer, and plant-level control strategies.
• Proven experience leading RCAs for chiller plant and cooling infrastructure failures.
• Ability to interpret mechanical drawings, P&IDs, sequences of operation, and control logic.
• Experience supporting live, production Data Center environments with zero tolerance for downtime.

Nice to Have Skills & Experience

• Experience supporting hyperscale or high-density AI/HPC Data Centers.
• Experience with advanced cooling strategies (e.g., high-efficiency plants, economization, or hybrid cooling).
• Familiarity with modern refrigerants and regulatory compliance considerations.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license or relevant industry certifications (nice to have, not required).
• Experience standardizing mechanical infrastructure across multi-site portfolios.