Design Manager – Mechanical

Zerra DC; Western Downs Regional; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Zerra is leading a Design Manager - Mechanical role at Western Downs Digital Park in regional Queensland. You will steer mechanical design management, QA/QC, and ensure buildable, compliant outcomes across the project lifecycle, coordinating with electrical, civil, structural and fire-safety teams.

Reporting to the Technical Director, you will drive standards, mentor the design team, review consultant deliverables and support cost-effective, durable outcomes for data centre infrastructure.

Qualifications

• Degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent; Chartered status with Engineers Australia preferred.
• 10+ years of mechanical design or design-management experience, preferably in hyperscale data centres or large-scale infrastructure.
• Strong knowledge of Australian mechanical and building-services codes, including NCC/AS/NZS requirements for ventilation, cooling, pressure systems, fire and life safety.
• Experience with cooling/heat rejection, chilled-water, ventilation, hydraulics, redundancy, energy efficiency and interfaces with liquid cooling and controls.
• Strong design assurance and problem-solving, with ability to translate complex technical matters into clear actions.
• Commercial awareness of Australian construction-market dynamics, equipment and cost drivers.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills with senior project leaders.
• Ability to adapt to changing project needs and drive decisions to closure in high-pressure environments.
• Willingness to travel regularly to WDDP and other project locations.

Responsibilities

• Lead mechanical design management and QA/QC to ensure compliance with the approved baseline, Zerra standards and Australian codes.
• Audit mechanical designs to identify inconsistencies, missing information and interface risks, and track observations to close-out.
• Act as the mechanical SME in design reviews and respond to escalations from the WDDP project team.
• Coordinate mechanical design interfaces with electrical, high-voltage, controls, energy storage, civil, structural, architectural, fire and life-safety disciplines.
• Support development of Zerra Design Engineering Guidelines and standards.
• Participate in project gating reviews and advise on maturity, risks and required actions.
• Provide leadership across the WDDP Design and Engineering team on mechanical design matters.
• Assist selection, briefing and performance review of mechanical design consultants and advisers.
• Enforce Zerra standards and templates for mechanical design documentation, adapted to Australian codes and requirements.
• Engage with external consultants, contractors and suppliers to improve mechanics design delivery.
• Identify latent-defect risks and drive practical, safe resolution.
• Evaluate mechanical products and vendor improvements for performance and whole-of-life costs.

Skills

Mechanical design

Design assurance

Problem-solving

Stakeholder management

Commercial awareness

Communication

Project delivery

Travel willingness

Education

Mechanical Engineering degree

Chartered status with Engineers Australia/NER

Job description

Zerra develops and operates hyperscale data centre campuses across Australia, Japan and India, delivering capacity at scale into markets driven by the growth of cloud and AI. Zerra's flexible campus developments support hyperscale and neocloud organisations, enabling some of the world's fastest-scaling technology businesses to grow with certainty and ambition.

At Zerra, we empower exceptional people to challenge convention, drive innovation and make a real impact in digital infrastructure. Our culture fuses entrepreneurial agility with global expertise, enabling our teams to deliver results that matter.

We believe that diverse perspectives, inclusive leadership and equitable opportunities are essential to building stronger teams and better outcomes. We are committed to fostering a workplace where everyone feels respected, supported and empowered to thrive.

Zerra is part of AGP, an independently owned investor and asset manager that develops and operates real assets across the energy, digital and real estate sectors.

Western Downs Digital Park

Western Downs Digital Park (WDDP) is a master-planned digital and energy precinct in regional Queensland, developed and operated by Zerra. Planned across multiple delivery phases, WDDP brings together AI-ready data centres, energy infrastructure and a purpose-built campus environment.

Located close to major power infrastructure within the Western Downs Special Industry Area, WDDP represents a major investment in Queensland's digital future and an opportunity to help deliver the critical infrastructure supporting the continued growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

Job Description

The Design Manager - Mechanical will lead mechanical design management and quality assurance for WDDP, translating project requirements into coordinated, compliant and buildable mechanical design outcomes. Reporting to the Technical Director, the role will act as the mechanical subject matter expert through design reviews, technical assurance and delivery-stage resolution.

The role will work across the multidisciplinary design and engineering team and with external consultants to maintain Zerra standards, manage mechanical design interfaces and improve quality, performance and cost effectiveness throughout the project lifecycle.

Responsibilities

• Lead mechanical design management, with the technical ability to conceptualise, review and drive mechanical designs to the required outcome.
• Review and provide QA/QC assurance over mechanical design deliverables to ensure compliance with the approved project baseline, Zerra standards and applicable Australian codes and standards.
• Audit mechanical designs to identify inconsistencies, discrepancies, missing information and interface risks, and track observations through to close-out.
• Act as the mechanical subject matter expert in design reviews and respond to mechanical design escalations from the WDDP project team.
• Coordinate mechanical design interfaces with electrical, high-voltage, controls, energy storage, civil, structural, architectural, fire and life-safety disciplines.
• Support technical discussions, knowledge sharing and the continued development of Zerra Design Engineering Guidelines and standards.
• Participate in project gating reviews and provide clear advice on mechanical design maturity, risks, decisions and required actions.
• Provide leadership and guidance across the WDDP Design and Engineering team on mechanical design matters.
• Support the selection, briefing and performance review of mechanical design consultants and specialist advisers.
• Enforce the use of Zerra standards and templates for mechanical design documentation, adapted where required to Australian codes, standards and building-services requirements.
• Engage actively with external consultants, contractors, suppliers and internal workstreams to improve mechanical design management and delivery.
• Identify mechanical quality and latent-defect risks and lead design development toward practical, safe and durable resolution.
• Evaluate mechanical product, vendor and digital design improvements that may improve performance, resilience, constructability or whole-of-life cost.

Experience, Skills and Competencies

• Degree qualification in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent relevant experience. Chartered status with Engineers Australia and registration on the National Engineering Register, or equivalent, is preferred.
• At least 10 years of mechanical design or design-management experience, with meaningful exposure to hyperscale data centres, mission-critical facilities or comparable large-scale industrial infrastructure.
• Strong working knowledge of Australian mechanical and building-services codes and standards, including relevant NCC and AS/NZS requirements for ventilation, cooling, pressure systems, fire and life safety.
• Demonstrated capability in mechanical systems relevant to data centres, including cooling and heat rejection, chilled-water systems, ventilation, hydraulics, redundancy, energy efficiency and interfaces with liquid cooling and controls.
• Strong design assurance and problem-solving capability, with the judgement to distinguish critical issues and translate complex technical matters into clear actions.
• Commercial awareness and an understanding of Australian construction-market dynamics, mechanical equipment and vendor capability and major cost drivers.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills, with the confidence to engage consultants, contractors, suppliers and senior project leaders.
• Ability to adapt to changing project needs, manage competing priorities and drive technical decisions to closure in a high-pressure delivery environment.
• Willingness to travel regularly to WDDP and other project locations as required.