Principal Mechanical Engineer - CDU

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries; Plano (TX); Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

401K matching

Job summary

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc. (MHIA) seeks a Principal Mechanical Engineer – CDU for a hybrid, Plano, TX position. The role leads CDU mechanical system design, engages with hyperscalers and suppliers, and drives value engineering across the product lifecycle.

Ideal candidate has 12+ years in mechanical design and supplier-facing leadership for industrial equipment, with experience in data center cooling and CDU technologies. MHIA sponsors no visas for this role.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering (or equivalent).
• 12+ years of experience; 7+ years in mechanical system design and supplier-facing leadership.
• Ability to read and interpret P&IDs, GA, and mechanical drawings.
• Experience working across design, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and service.
• Familiarity with data center cooling systems and CDU concepts.

Responsibilities

• Act as technical authority for CDU mechanical design, including pumps, heat exchangers, piping, valves, and skids.
• Review CDU designs, drawings, specs, and calculations; provide feedback and approvals.
• Lead design activities from concept to mass production with DFx focus.
• Collaborate with customers and suppliers to translate requirements into actionable design inputs.
• Coordinate alignment among customers, suppliers, and internal teams; support RFIs/RFPs with tech input.
• Support service definitions, IOM reviews, and service profitability considerations.

Skills

Mechanical design

Supplier-facing leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Project management

Data center cooling

Technical reading of drawings

Education

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering

Job description

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc. (MHIA) is looking for a Principal Mechanical Engineer – CDU to join our team. This is a hybrid role based in our Plano, TX office.

ABOUT MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES AMERICA, INC. (MHIA):

For over 130 years, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group’s innovative and integrated solutions have demonstrated our commitment to creating a positive social impact around the globe. Our range of products and services is tailored to meet our customers’ evolving needs across the commercial aviation, energy, transportation and infrastructure, machinery, defense, and space systems sectors.

Our culture embraces diversity and cooperation, and we promote a healthy balance of professional and personal development, ensuring that your ideas and expertise are valued and respected.

SCOPE:

The Principal Mechanical Engineer serves as a core technical leader for MHIA’s data center liquid cooling systems, with an initial focus on Coolant Distribution Units (CDUs). The role acts as the primary mechanical engineering authority across product design, customer technical engagement, supplier coordination, and service readiness, ensuring solutions are scalable, reliable, and manufacturable for U.S. deployment. This role bridges customer requirements (Hyperscalers), supplier engineering capabilities, and internal productization objectives, ensuring that CDU systems are technically sound, scalable, reliable, and commercially viable from concept through mass production and lifecycle support. The position plays a critical role in accelerating CDU business growth in the U.S. by enabling robust product architectures, supplier‑ready designs, and customer‑aligned solutions.

The ideal candidate will have a Minimum of twelve (12) years of experience, including at least seven (7) years of experience in mechanical system design and supplier-facing technical leadership for industrial or packaged equipment such as pumps, heat exchangers, HVAC systems, skid‑mounted units, or thermal management systems.

MHIA regrets that it cannot sponsor employment Visas or consider individuals on time‑limited Visa status for this position.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

Mechanical Engineering & Product Design

• Serve as the technical authority for CDU mechanical system design, including pumps, heat exchangers, piping, valves, sensors, and skid/enclosure integration.
• Review and evaluate CDU mechanical designs, drawings, specifications, and calculations, providing clear technical feedback and approval direction.
• Lead product design activities across concept design, PoC, pilot builds, and mass‑production design, ensuring design‑for‑manufacturing and design‑for‑service principles.
• Technically assess and judge CDU design performance in terms of:
  • Redundancy and reliability concepts
  • Safety and compliance
  • Controllability and load‑following performance under dynamic AI workloads
  • Operability, maintainability, and durability
  • Compliance with internal and customer design requirements

Customer Technical Engagement & Specification Alignment

• Act as a key technical interface with customers, leading and supporting technical discussions on CDU architecture, performance, and integration.
• Translate customer technical requirements into clear, actionable design inputs and specifications.
• Provide technically sound and flexible solution proposals aligned with customer operational and business needs.
• Capture Voice of Customer (VOC) and ensure systematic feedback into product design and roadmap decisions.
• Coordinate technical alignment between customers and suppliers, serving as the engineering bridge to resolve gaps and clarify responsibilities.
• Engage directly with Hyperscalers / GAFAM customers, supporting technical reviews, RFIs/RFPs, and design clarification processes.

Supplier & Supply Chain Technical Management

• Evaluate supplier engineering capabilities, including:
  • Design maturity and technical depth
  • Quality control and inspection processes
  • Required certifications and compliance readiness
  • Mass‑production capability and scalability
• Collaborate with supply chain teams to assess inventory strategy, lead times, and production capacity aligned with sales and order forecasts.
• Support production planning by aligning engineering requirements with manufacturing processes and schedules.
• Lead or support technical issue resolution, root cause analysis, and follow‑up on corrective actions with suppliers.
• Drive cost‑down and value engineering initiatives without compromising performance, reliability, or safety.
• Support logistics and transportation considerations impacting CDU mechanical design and packaging.

Service Support

• Contribute to the definition of CDU service offerings, including scope, service content, and boundary conditions.
• Review and evaluate Installation, Operation, and Maintenance (IOM) manuals; coordinate technical alignment and revisions with suppliers.
• Support the development of service revenue models and evaluate service‑related profitability and cost structures.
• Gather customer service‑related needs and coordinate with suppliers and service partners to ensure readiness.
• Support the creation and proposal of Service Level Agreements (SLA) aligned with customer expectations and product capability.
• This list of responsibilities is not all-inclusive, and an employee may be required to perform other relevant duties as assigned.

MINIMUM REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, or equivalent experience.
• Experience: Minimum of twelve (12) years of experience with at least seven (7) years of minimum experience in mechanical system design and supplier‑facing technical leadership for industrial or packaged equipment such as pumps, heat exchangers, HVAC systems, skid‑mounted units, or thermal management systems.
• Ability to read, review, and interpret technical specifications and drawings, including P&IDs, general arrangements (GA), and mechanical schematics.
• Proven experience working across design, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and service organizations.
• Strong negotiation and coordination skills to support pre‑award alignment on scope, schedule, responsibilities, and commercial assumptions.
• Solid project management capabilities, including action, risk, and issue tracking, escalation management, and alignment across multiple internal and external stakeholders.
• Domain knowledge of data center cooling systems, with an understanding of centrifugal chiller applications and MCP/Dry Cooler configurations at a system and interface level.
• Ability to front‑end and triage customer and supplier specifications, clearly define scope and interface boundaries, and transition aligned inputs to internal engineering teams for downstream execution.
• Ability to effectively collaborate and communicate with Japanese stakeholders and team members in a global, cross‑cultural working environment.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Knowledge of CDU, liquid cooling systems, or data center thermal management solutions.
• Experience supporting Hyperscalers or large‑scale data center customers.
• Experience contributing to service design or lifecycle cost optimization.
• Familiarity with applicable U.S. standards and certifications, such as UL/CSA, ASME, NFPA, NEC, and how they impact system configuration and supplier deliverables.
• Experience with factory and site activities, including FAT/SAT, commissioning, and field troubleshooting support.
• Supplier audit or development experience, such as SQA/SDE activities, including evaluation of technical capability, quality systems, and execution readiness.
• Familiarity with U.S.-based tendering, RFQ, and proposal workflows, including front‑end technical clarification and alignment during bid phases.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Travel: 25%
• Standard Monday through Friday work week. Weekend/late‑night work if applicable
• Lifting/physical requirements: Regularly required to sit for long periods, stand, walk, talk, and/or hear.
• Frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds

Why Should You Apply?

• Excellent Benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision & 401K Matching)
• Excellent growth and advancement opportunities
• Paid vacation, sick time, and 15 holidays
• Committed to quality products and services.
• Great working environment and culture

MHIA is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer actively seeking to diversify the workforce and is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity. Therefore, all qualified applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.