Heating Air Conditioning Design Engineer

Thomas Brooke International; Clearwater (FL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Thomas Brooke International is seeking a Senior HVAC engineer to lead restoration projects across hospitals, universities, and critical facilities in the Tampa area. You will own data validation, design selections for AHUs, and field coordination with estimating and operations.

This role requires hands-on AutoCAD work and deep HVAC knowledge. Travel is limited to about one month per year, with occasional site visits and remote assessments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering required; Mechanical Engineering preferred; other engineering degrees considered.
• 5+ years of relevant experience; EI/EIT welcome; PE is a plus but not required.
• Hands-on proficiency in AutoCAD is required.
• Direct experience with existing-building HVAC systems and retrofit work.

Responsibilities

• Review field engineers' performance assessment reports and validate data before design work begins.
• Specify and design air handling unit restorations, fan array selection, coil replacement, and temporary conditioning plans for facilities that can't afford downtime.
• Oversee production of AutoCAD drawings and engineering packages for restoration projects.
• Support estimating, operations, and sales; join customer calls as the engineering voice that gives building owners confidence in the plan.
• Participate in occasional site visits and field investigations, along with remote digital assessments.
• Help build internal engineering standards, templates, and tools the department will run on as it grows nationally.

Skills

AutoCAD

HVAC fundamentals

Energy modeling

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

Trane Trace

EnergyGauge

COMcheck

Job description

• Step into a fast-growing engineering group with the backing of an $8 billion public company. This is a small, entrepreneurial engineering unit inside a large, stable organization, real autonomy over your work, with real resources behind you.
• This is not consulting engineering. The firm designs and self-performs its own restoration projects nationwide, no architect-driven production packages, no throwing a design over the fence to someone else to build.
• What you design here gets built, not filed away. You carry a project from field data to a finished result, and you're trusted to make the call along the way.
• Travel that respects your life. This is not a road-warrior role. Expect occasional national midweek travel, supplemented by digital remote site walkthroughs that cut travel even further.
• A genuine, not aspirational, growth path. The engineering department is scaling nationally right now. Someone joining at this stage gets direct access to engineering leadership and a real hand in shaping how the department runs for years to come.
• Work on unique challenges of real equipment. The projects involve restoring/renovating existing HVAC systems in hospitals, universities, manufacturing plants, and other mission-critical facilities for maximum impact rather than simply “value engineering” new builds to drive cost down.
• A connected team, not a silo. Engineers here work directly with estimating, field operations, project management and sales. You'll never be stuck three layers removed from the people actually running the project.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Review field engineers' performance assessment reports and validate the data before design work begins.
• Specify and design air handling unit restorations, fan array selection, coil replacement, and temporary conditioning plans for facilities that can't afford downtime.
• Oversee production of AutoCAD drawings and engineering packages for restoration projects.
• Support estimating, operations, and sales, join customer calls as the engineering voice that gives building owners confidence in the plan.
• Participate in occasional site visits and field investigations, along with remote digital assessments.
• Help build the internal engineering standards, templates, and tools the department will run on as it grows nationally.

THE RIGHT CANDIDATE

Education & Technical Skills

• A Bachelor's degree in Engineering is required: Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Technology, or Architectural Engineering preferred; other engineering degrees (Civil, Structural, Electrical) with genuine, demonstrated mechanical depth are also considered.
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant experience is required. Candidates who are an Engineer Intern (EI/EIT) rather than a licensed PE are welcome and encouraged to apply: a PE is a plus, not a requirement, for this role.
• Hands-on proficiency in AutoCAD is required.
• Direct experience with existing-building HVAC systems and retrofit work is required. This is not a new-construction design role.
• A genuine, conversational command of HVAC fundamentals (pumping schemes, VFD controls, coil and fan selection) is required.
• Experience with energy-modeling software (such as Trane Trace, EnergyGauge, or COMcheck) is a meaningful plus.
• A background with a design-build contractor or an organization with in-house engineering is a strong plus.
• Experience with healthcare, data center, or other mission-critical facilities is a plus.
• An ownership mentality: you talk about your work as yours, not something assigned to you, and you take responsibility for outcomes, not just tasks.
• A bias toward action: comfortable moving quickly and course-correcting rather than over-polishing before showing your work.
• A genuinely collaborative style: you don't retreat into a narrow lane when something outside your desk needs solving.
• A builder's mindset: you get real satisfaction from making something repeatable for whoever picks it up next, not just finishing the task in front of you.
• A real curiosity about older equipment, not just new builds.
• Able and willing to travel about once a month, midweek nights only
• Willing to live/relocate to the Tampa area – this is NOT a remote role