Senior Mechanical Design Manager

STACK Infrastructure; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

STACK Infrastructure in London is seeking a Senior Manager, Mechanical Design to act as the senior mechanical authority for its Europe, Middle East and Africa design function. You will own the European Reference Design, define cooling strategies and set plant standards across regions, while guiding cross-functional teams on complex data centre projects.

You will lead reviews, drive energy efficiency, assess rack density changes and shape a future-ready mechanical platform that scales across

Qualifications

• Significant experience as a mechanical engineering leader in mission-critical data centres.
• Expertise across chilled water systems, air-cooled and liquid cooling, thermal modelling and capacity planning.
• Strong understanding of PUE, energy efficiency and scalable design.
• Ability to govern design reviews and reduce changes during construction.
• Commercial awareness balancing CapEx, performance and expandability.

Responsibilities

• Act as the senior mechanical technical authority for STACK EMEA, defining and maintaining the European Reference Design.
• Own the mechanical cooling strategy and plant standards, including air-cooled, chilled water, liquid cooling and hybrids.
• Define modular mechanical building blocks to support scalability and resilience.
• Provide senior technical review at RIBA stage gates ensuring standards and energy efficiency.
• Review deviations from standards and ensure governance.
• Support regional design and delivery teams with complex mechanical issues.
• Input into client specifications and respond to rack density changes.
• Monitor emerging cooling technologies and AI-driven load growth to define roadmaps.
• Support sustainability initiatives, including PUE and capacity planning.
• Explain CapEx drivers to commercial and investment teams.
• Develop and maintain mechanical standards, QA checklists, BIM requirements.
• Translate complex topics into clear recommendations for stakeholders.

Skills

Mechanical Eng.

Thermal modelling

Chilled water

Energy efficiency

Capital planning

Stakeholder comms

Education

Bachelor's in Mechanical Eng

Job description

Role Summary

As Senior Manager, Mechanical Design, you will be a senior mechanical technical authority within STACK Infrastructure's EMEA Design & Engineering function, helping define, govern and continuously improve the mechanical engineering standards that shape our European data centre platform.

Location – London

As Senior Manager, Mechanical Design, you will be a senior mechanical technical authority within STACK Infrastructure's EMEA Design & Engineering function, helping define, govern and continuously improve the mechanical engineering standards that shape our European data centre platform.

You will own key elements of STACK’s cooling strategy, mechanical plant standards, thermal performance and energy efficiency approach, ensuring the European Reference Design is applied consistently across regions while remaining scalable, commercially optimised and ready for future customer requirements.

Working closely with Engineering, Design, Development, Delivery, Commercial, Construction, Commissioning and regional project teams, you will bring senior technical oversight, practical challenge and clear guidance to complex mission‑critical data centre projects across EMEA.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the senior mechanical technical authority for STACK EMEA, defining and maintaining the mechanical components of the European Reference Design and future iterations.
• Own the mechanical cooling strategy and plant standards, including air-cooled solutions, chilled water systems, liquid cooling integration and hybrid deployment approaches.
• Define modular mechanical building block principles that support scalability, phasing flexibility, resilience and STACK’s platform design philosophy.
• Provide senior technical review at key RIBA stage gates, challenging consultant designs for compliance with standards, energy efficiency, constructability and operability.
• Review and approve structured deviations from mechanical standards, ensuring design decisions are clearly governed, documented and aligned with platform objectives.
• Support regional design and delivery teams with complex mechanical issues during design, PCSA, construction and commissioning phases.
• Provide technical input into client specification reviews and support structured responses to changes in rack density, inlet temperatures, flow rates and other hyperscale requirements.
• Monitor emerging cooling technologies, higher-density deployments and AI-driven load growth, helping define a future-ready roadmap for liquid cooling and next-generation mechanical systems.
• Support sustainability and energy optimisation initiatives, including plant sizing, PUE performance, capacity planning and improvements that enhance MW yield and platform competitiveness.
• Partner with commercial, development and investment teams to explain mechanical CapEx drivers, quantify the impact of specification changes and support informed decision‑making.
• Develop and maintain mechanical design standards, technical guidance notes, Basis of Design alignment, QA checklists, peer review frameworks and BIM-related mechanical requirements.
• Translate complex mechanical engineering topics into clear, practical insight for senior stakeholders, regional teams and cross‑functional partners.

What You'll Bring

• Significant experience in mechanical engineering within mission‑critical, hyperscale data centre or similarly complex technical environments.
• Deep technical expertise across chilled water systems, plant optimisation, air‑cooled and hybrid cooling solutions, liquid cooling integration, thermal modelling and capacity planning.
• Strong understanding of data centre cooling strategy, resilience, scalability, partial‑load and full‑build‑out assumptions, energy efficiency and PUE optimisation.
• Experience reviewing and challenging consultant designs, leading technical governance and reducing design changes during construction.
• Commercial awareness, with the ability to balance energy performance, CapEx efficiency, expandability, MW yield and long‑term platform value.
• Confidence working across regional and cross‑functional teams, including Design, Engineering, Development, Delivery, Commercial, Construction and Commissioning.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to turn technical complexity into clear recommendations for technical, commercial and executive audiences.
• A degree or equivalent experience in Mechanical Engineering. Chartered status, or progress towards chartership, would be advantageous.
• Experience in a developer, hyperscale, investor‑backed or large‑scale infrastructure platform would be beneficial.
• A structured, collaborative and improvement‑focused approach, with the judgement to make clear decisions under pressure.

What We Offer

• Work on critical digital infrastructure, supporting the development and operation of some of the world's most advanced data centre environments.
• Build your future with STACK, gaining exposure to large‑scale projects and clear opportunities for professional growth across a fast‑growing European platform.
• Competitive compensation and benefits designed to support you both professionally and personally.

About STACK Infrastructure

STACK is a proven, trusted partner for the world's most innovative companies, designing, developing and operating sustainable global digital infrastructure. Backed by an unmatched record of reliable delivery and development expertise, STACK brings speed, scale, certainty and responsibility to the demands of a rapidly evolving digital infrastructure landscape.