Principal CDU Mechanical Engineer – Data Center Cooling

Elevate Search LLC; Plano (TX); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

401(k) with company matching

Paid vacation, sick time, and holidays

Job summary

Elevate Search LLC is seeking a Principal Mechanical Engineer for CDU in data center cooling in the United States. You will lead CDU mechanical design, encompassing pumps, heat exchangers, piping, valves, sensors, skids, and enclosures, and act as a technical authority from concept to mass production.

The role interfaces with customers, suppliers, and global teams to translate requirements into actionable specs and drive lifecycle support, including service offerings and SLAs.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of professional engineering experience.
• 7 years of mechanical system design and supplier-facing technical leadership.
• Experience designing or supporting industrial or packaged equipment such as pumps, HVAC systems, skid-mounted equipment, thermal management systems, and other complex mechanical systems.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a technical authority for CDU mechanical system design, including pumps, heat exchangers, piping, valves, sensors, skids, and enclosures.
• Review and evaluate mechanical designs, drawings, specifications, calculations, and system architectures.
• Lead design activities through concept development, proof of concept, pilot builds, and mass production.
• Incorporate design-for-manufacturing and design-for-service principles throughout the product lifecycle.
• Evaluate system performance related to reliability, redundancy, safety, controllability, load-following, maintainability, durability, and customer requirements.
• Provide technical direction and recommendations to internal engineering and product development teams.
• Serve as a key technical interface with customers on CDU architecture, performance, integration, and technical requirements.
• Translate customer requirements into clear and actionable engineering specifications.
• Participate in technical reviews, RFIs/RFPs, design clarification discussions, and pre-award activities.
• Capture Voice of Customer (VOC) and incorporate feedback into product development and roadmap decisions.
• Coordinate technical alignment between customers, suppliers, and internal engineering teams.
• Help define technical scope, interfaces, responsibilities, schedules, and commercial assumptions during the proposal and development process.
• Evaluate supplier engineering capabilities, technical depth, design maturity, quality systems, certifications, and production readiness.
• Partner with supply chain and manufacturing teams to assess lead times, inventory strategies, production capacity, and scalability.
• Lead or support technical issue resolution, root cause analysis, and corrective action initiatives with suppliers.
• Support supplier development and technical qualification activities.
• Drive cost-reduction and value-engineering initiatives while maintaining performance, reliability, and safety.
• Support logistics and transportation considerations related to CDU mechanical design and packaging.
• Contribute to the development of CDU service offerings, scope, and technical requirements.
• Review and evaluate Installation, Operation, and Maintenance (IOM) documentation.
• Coordinate technical alignment and documentation revisions with suppliers and service partners.
• Support development of service models, lifecycle cost considerations, and service-related profitability analysis.
• Gather customer service requirements and coordinate with suppliers and service organizations to ensure product readiness.
• Support the development of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) aligned with customer expectations and product capabilities.
• Provide technical support for factory and field activities as needed.

Skills

Mechanical engineering

Leadership

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Technical communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Job description

Elevate Search LLC is seeking a Principal Mechanical Engineer for CDU in data center cooling in the United States. You will lead CDU mechanical design, encompassing pumps, heat exchangers, piping, valves, sensors, skids, and enclosures, and act as a technical authority from concept to mass production.

The role interfaces with customers, suppliers, and global teams to translate requirements into actionable specs and drive lifecycle support, including service offerings and SLAs.