Director, Data Center Design & Engineering - Digital Infrastructure

invenergyllc; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 190,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Invenergy is seeking a Director of Data Center Design & Engineering to lead owner-side design and engineering for large-scale data center projects. You will direct externalArchitect/Engineers, set design criteria, and ensure reliability, scalability and operability across disciplines.

The role spans from early development through detailed engineering, construction support, commissioning, and turnover, with a focus on scalable standards and repeatable product designs as Invenergy builds its

Qualifications

• Experience leading owner-side design for mission-critical data centers.
• Ability to direct external AEC firms, engineers, and contractors.
• Strong understanding of electrical and mechanical systems for data centers.

Responsibilities

• Lead owner-side design and engineering for data center projects from concept to turnover.
• Direct external design partners and establish clear requirements and deliverables.
• Maintain Basis of Design documents, design criteria, and specifications.
• Coordinate cross-discipline integration across electrical, mechanical, and controls.
• Drive design decisions for power, cooling, redundancy, and lifecycle performance.

Skills

Data center design

Electrical/Mechanical MEP

Technical leadership

Vendor/partner management

Construction coordination

Job description

Invenergy is North America's largest privately held developer, owner, and operator of power infrastructure. With 25 years of trusted execution, we deliver reliable, affordable energy through a diverse portfolio that includes natural gas, solar, land-based wind, energy storage, transmission, and domestic manufacturing. Headquartered in Chicago, we develop, own, and operate large scale projects that power communities and support the energy future.

Invenergy follows a hybrid schedule, working in office Monday through Thursday and remotely on Fridays if work permits.

This position will be open for application for at least 3 calendar days from the posting date. This position will remain open for application based on business need, which may be before or after the 3-day posting window.

Job Description

Position Overview

Invenergy is seeking a Director, Data Center Design & Engineering to join its Digital Infrastructure business line. This individual will serve as a senior owner-side design and engineering leader for data center projects from early development and conceptual design through detailed engineering, construction support, commissioning, and turnover. Invenergy will primarily execute design and construction through external architects and engineers, general contractors, commissioning providers, equipment manufacturers, and specialty consultants. This is not a self-perform design role. The Director will establish Invenergy's technical requirements, direct and challenge external engineering partners, lead key technical decisions, and ensure projects meet required standards for reliability, scalability, constructability, cost, schedule, efficiency, and long-term operability.

The role will support projects ranging from individual data center facilities to multi-building campuses, including greenfield and adaptive-reuse developments. Projects may range from tens of megawatts to campuses representing hundreds of megawatts of capacity.

The successful candidate will bring deep technical expertise in either electrical or mechanical mission-critical systems, with demonstrated ability to lead integrated MEP design across both disciplines. This individual must be able to challenge engineering assumptions, identify system-level risks and interfaces, translate customer requirements into executable design criteria, and drive clear owner-side technical decisions.

This is an opportunity to help build the technical foundation of Invenergy's data center platform at an early stage-shaping design standards, Basis of Design requirements, engineering governance, reference architectures, and repeatable technical products as the Digital Infrastructure portfolio scales.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as Invenergy's senior owner-side design and engineering leader for assigned data center projects, providing technical leadership from site evaluation and concept development through detailed design, construction support, commissioning, and turnover.


• Lead and direct external AEC firms, MEP engineers, specialty consultants, commissioning providers, and equipment manufacturers, establishing clear technical requirements, deliverables, accountability, and decision pathways.


• Establish and maintain Basis of Design documents, owner's project requirements, design criteria, technical specifications, engineering standards, reference architectures, and design-review processes.


• Lead owner-side technical integration across electrical, mechanical, controls, plumbing, fire/life-safety, and other mission-critical systems while coordinating closely with architecture, civil, structural, telecommunications, security, utilities, construction, and operations.


• Lead key design decisions involving power architecture, cooling architecture, redundancy, reliability, maintainability, controls, scalability, efficiency, constructability, equipment strategy, and lifecycle performance.


• Translate customer and tenant technical requirements into project-specific design criteria while protecting appropriate standardization, repeatability, portfolio scalability, and commercial discipline.


• Develop scalable reference designs and technical product standards that balance customer flexibility with repeatability, speed-to-market, cost discipline, reliability, and constructability.


• Apply deep technical knowledge of mission-critical infrastructure to challenge design assumptions, identify critical system interfaces, evaluate technical risks, and determine when specialized engineering analysis or additional subject-matter expertise is required.


• Lead structured technical reviews through key project stages and ensure material design issues are identified and resolved before they affect procurement, construction, commissioning, or customer commitments.


• Partner with Development during early-stage project evaluation to assess technical feasibility, utility interfaces, cooling and water strategies, site constraints, phasing, scalability, and major technic