Principal Mechanical Engineer - CDU

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

Our client, a global industrial technology and engineering organization, is seeking a Principal Mechanical Engineer – Coolant Distribution Units (CDU) to join its growing data center cooling business in the United States.

This is a high-impact technical leadership opportunity for an experienced mechanical engineer who can bridge product engineering, customer requirements, supplier capabilities, manufacturing, and service.

The successful candidate will serve as a key mechanical engineering authority for CDU and liquid cooling solutions, helping develop scalable, reliable, manufacturable products for large-scale data center applications.

This individual will work closely with major data center customers, suppliers, internal engineering teams, and global stakeholders to take products from concept through pilot builds, mass production, and lifecycle support.

Key Responsibilities

Mechanical Engineering & Product Design

• 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.

Customer Technical Engagement

• 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.

Supplier & Supply Chain Technical Leadership

• 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.

Service & Lifecycle Support

• 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.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent technical experience.
• 12+ years of professional engineering experience, including at least 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
• Other complex mechanical systems
• Ability to read, interpret, and evaluate technical specifications and drawings, including P&IDs, general arrangements, and mechanical schematics.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate across engineering, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and service organizations.
• Strong technical communication, negotiation, coordination, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Solid project management capabilities, including risk and issue management, escalation, and cross-functional coordination.
• Ability to evaluate and translate customer and supplier specifications into clear technical scope and interface requirements.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively within a global, multicultural organization.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Coolant Distribution Units (CDUs), liquid cooling systems, or data center thermal management.
• Experience supporting hyperscale data center customers or other large-scale technology customers.
• Knowledge of data center cooling architectures, including centrifugal chillers, MCP systems, and dry cooler configurations.
• Experience with service design, lifecycle support, or total cost optimization.
• Familiarity with applicable U.S. standards and certifications, including UL/CSA, ASME, NFPA, and NEC.
• Experience supporting Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), commissioning, or field troubleshooting.
• Experience with U.S. tendering, RFQ, and proposal processes.
• Experience working with international engineering teams and Japanese stakeholders.

What This Opportunity Offers

• Opportunity to play a key technical role in a growing data center cooling business.
• High visibility with customers, suppliers, and global engineering teams.
• Opportunity to influence product architecture and development from concept through commercialization.
• Strong potential for professional growth and advancement.
• Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• 401(k) with company matching.
• Paid vacation, sick time, and holidays.

If you have a strong mechanical engineering background and experience with complex industrial equipment, thermal management, or data center cooling systems, we would love to hear from you.