Lead Life Safety Engineer

Global Technical Talent; Chandler (AZ); On-site; USD 71,000 - 92,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Vision, and Dental Insurance

401k Retirement Fund

Job summary

Global Technical Talent, Inc. seeks a Lead Life Safety Engineer to serve as the senior authority for fire and life safety systems on large-scale facilities, including data centers and semiconductor sites.

You will plan, validate, and commission critical systems to meet codes, project specs, and operational goals. You will lead on-site technical efforts, work with engineers, operations, and AHJs, and ensure complete documentation and readiness for safe occupancy.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or international equivalent with extensive relevant experience.
• Strong background in life safety systems and NFPA standards.
• Experience in semiconductor facilities or hyperscale data centers is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead commissioning activities for life safety systems from construction to turnover.
• Develop plans, tests, and acceptance criteria for integrated systems.
• Coordinate with contractors, vendors, and AHJs to achieve system acceptance.
• Ensure NFPA/IBC/IFC compliance and detailed turnover documentation.
• Oversee FATs/SATs and on-site technical leadership during commissioning.

Skills

Fire Alarm Systems

Fire Suppression Systems

Smoke Detection

Smoke Control Systems

Excellent communication

Commissioning Software

Digital Software

Leadership

Emergency Power Interfaces

Mass Notification Systems

Hazardous Gas Monitoring

Emergency Shutdown Systems

NFPA/IBC/IFC knowledge

Clean Rooms familiarity

GxP/Compliance exposure

Hazardous gases handling

Education

Bachelor's degree (or international equivalent)

Preferred: Fire Protection/Mechanical/Construction Mgmt

Tools

Hexagon Smart Completions

Job description

Lead Life Safety Engineer

Location: Chandler, AZ

Onsite Flexibility: Onsite

Contract Details

• Position Type: Contract
• Contract Duration: 12 months
• Pay Rate: $51.40–$66.71 / Hour (USD)
• Work Authorization: Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

Job Summary

The Life Safety Commissioning Engineer serves as the senior technical authority and discipline lead for Fire and Life Safety Systems on large, complex, and mission-critical projects, including hyperscale data centers, semiconductor manufacturing facilities, and life sciences installations. This role is responsible for planning, coordinating, validating, testing, and commissioning critical life safety systems to ensure compliance with applicable codes, regulatory requirements, project specifications, and operational objectives.

Within semiconductor facilities, the Life Safety Commissioning Engineer is responsible for the verification and integration of highly specialized systems, including fire detection and suppression systems, hazardous gas monitoring, smoke control systems, emergency communications, and related life safety infrastructure. The engineer ensures these systems function as designed and meet the stringent safety, reliability, and operational requirements necessary before fabrication facilities become fully operational.

Acting as the primary on-site technical lead for life safety commissioning, this position works closely with engineering, construction, operations, vendors, equipment suppliers, commissioning teams, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) to develop and execute comprehensive testing and validation programs. The role provides technical leadership throughout system turnover, integrated systems testing, regulatory inspections, and operational readiness activities to ensure all life safety systems are fully functional, code-compliant, documented, and ready for safe occupancy and operation.

Key Responsibilities

• Leading commissioning activities for fire and life safety systems from construction completion through startup and handover.
• Developing commissioning plans, test procedures, integrated systems testing protocols, and acceptance criteria.
• Managing functional performance testing of fire alarm, clean agent suppression, sprinkler, foam, smoke control, emergency communication, hazardous gas detection, and related systems.
• Coordinating with contractors, vendors, design teams, operations personnel, and AHJs to resolve deficiencies and achieve system acceptance.
• Verifying compliance with applicable NFPA standards, International Building Code (IBC), International Fire Code (IFC), local regulations, and client-specific requirements.
• Supporting integrated systems testing to validate interactions between fire protection, building management, process safety, HVAC, emergency power, and control systems.
• Reviewing design documents, submittals, sequence of operations, and test results to ensure alignment with project requirements and operational intent.
• Ensuring complete turnover documentation, test records, deficiency tracking, and final acceptance documentation are maintained and delivered.
• Develop and maintain commissioning schedules, checklists, and test procedures.
• Witness factory acceptance tests (FATs) and site acceptance tests (SATs) as required.
• Develop and implement commissioning plans, test scripts, and acceptance criteria in alignment with project requirements.
• Review and interpret drawings, P&A diagrams, control schematics, and project specifications.
• Coordinate with engineering, construction, QA/QC, and operations teams to ensure a seamless transition from construction to operations.
• Perform functional testing, performance verification, and troubleshooting of Control Systems to ensure compliance with NFPA, NEC, IEEE, and project specifications.
• Coordinate with Commissioning Team, Design Engineers, Construction teams, vendors, and owner representatives to resolve technical issues.
• Scoping project drawings.
• Supports reviews of performance curves, metrics, trackers, and feedback to show trends, and use in improvements.
• Coordinate contractors, subcontractors, and vendors during testing and commissioning activities.

Required Skills

• Fire Alarm Systems (FAS)
• Fire Suppression Systems (Wet Pipe, Pre-Action, Deluge, Clean Agent)
• Smoke Detection and Smoke Control Systems
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills for coordination with engineering, operations, and client teams.
• Experience with Commissioning Software (Smart Completions) and/or Digital Software.
• Experience in Commissioning or a technical consulting field such as facility design, engineering, construction management or related area.
• Proven leadership and supervisory skills with a focus on mentorship and accountability.
• Emergency Power Interfaces.
• Mass Notification Systems.
• Hazardous Gas Monitoring Systems (HGMS)
• Emergency Shutdown Systems (ESD)
• Identifies owner's goals, needs, and expectations for building operation and function; identifies the Commissioning responsibilities.
• Leadership or Supervisory experience, ideally leading a Construction Automation Team on a jobsite.
• Experience with or exposure to Hexagon's Smart Completions Software.
• Familiarity with semiconductor facility standards and critical power.
• Demonstrated background working with multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated time management and organization skills to meet deadlines and quality objectives.
• Occupancy Evacuation and Emergency Response Systems.
• Understand and have knowledge of Clean Rooms.
• Toxic, corrosive, pyrophoric, and flammable gas systems.
• HPM (Hazardous Production Material) requirement.

Education Requirements

• Bachelor's degree (or international equivalent) required; 8–10 years of relevant experience, OR 12–14 years of relevant work experience in lieu of degree.
• Preferred: Bachelor's degree in Fire Protection Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Construction Management.
• NFPA 72 (Fire Alarm), NFPA 13 (Sprinklers), NFPA 20, NFPA 25 (Inspection & Testing), NFPA 70 (NEC) & NFPA 101 (Life Safety Code) knowledge required.
• Semiconductor-specific fire code requirements for Group H-5 occupancies.

Required Experience

• Requires bachelor's degree (or international equivalent) and 8–10 years of relevant experience, or 12–14 years of relevant work experience.

Nice-to-Have Experience

• 3–8 years of hands‑on U.S. experience in fire construction, building life safety systems, or semiconductor facility management.

Benefits

• Medical, Vision, and Dental Insurance Plans
• 401k Retirement Fund

About the Client

This privately held engineering, procurement, and construction company has delivered more than 25,000 complex infrastructure projects across 160 countries on all seven continents over more than 125 years of operation. The organization serves the Infrastructure; Nuclear, Security & Environmental; Energy; Mining & Metals; and Manufacturing and Technology markets — including hyperscale data centers, semiconductor facilities, pharmaceutical installations, and electric vehicle production — spanning initial planning through start-up and operations. With a Glassdoor rating of 4.0 stars from nearly 2,500 employee reviews and 78 percent of employees recommending the organization to a friend, it has earned strong employee endorsement for competitive compensation, large-scale project access, and career development. Teams include civil and structural engineers, project controls specialists, procurement managers, commissioning engineers, and nuclear and environmental remediation professionals who collaborate across technically demanding, geographically diverse engagements.

About GTT

GTT is a minority-owned staffing firm and a subsidiary of Chenega Corporation, a Native American-owned company in Alaska. We highly value diverse and inclusive workplaces and support Fortune 500 organizations across banking, financial services, technology, life sciences, biotech, utilities, and retail sectors throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Job Number: 26-18149 Industry: Engineering

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