Systems Engineer Data Center Thermal & Fluid Systems

Ecolab, Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401k plan

Vacation time

Parental leave

Employee stock purchase plan

Job summary

Ecolab, Inc. is seeking an experienced Systems Engineer to lead end-to-end CDU platform integrity across Electrical, Mechanical, and Control Systems.

You will own requirements, architecture, interfaces, and verification strategies to deliver a certifiable, production-ready system for next-generation coolant distribution solutions. The role emphasizes system-level decisions, technical readiness, and evidence of conformance while disciplines handle detailed design and subsystem verification.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering or similar engineering/physics field.
• Minimum 8 years in electromechanical or controls-based product development.
• Experience owning system architecture, interfaces, or integration.
• Deep understanding of electromechanical systems including power, controls/PLC, hydraulics/fluids, sensing and safety circuits.
• Knowledge of system safety and risk methods (HARA, DFMEA, HAZOP/FA).
• Strong grounding in systems engineering fundamentals: requirements decomposition, interface definition, functional analysis, verification planning.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain CDU system technical baseline: requirements, architecture, behavior, interfaces, risks, configuration, integration strategy, verification evidence.
• Author and maintain system-level ERDs for clear requirement decomposition and traceability.
• Translate inputs into clear, testable, traceable system requirements across disciplines.
• Define and validate system use cases and operational scenarios to anchor requirements and verification.
• Lead cross-discipline trade studies and document architecture decisions with risk considerations.
• Lead system function integration testing, fault behavior validation, and use-case testing.
• Define verification and validation strategy and support certification and mass production launches.
• Review verification results and approve technical sufficiency with engineering teams.

Skills

System architecture

Electromechanical systems

Requirements decomposition

DFMEA/HAZOP

Verification planning

Education

Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering/Engineering-Physics

Master's or PhD (preferred)

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Systems Engineer to join our CDU (Coolant Distribution Unit) team in pioneering advanced thermal management solutions that will power the next generation of hyperscale data centers and high performance computing systems.

The successful candidate will be responsible for defining, owning, and delivering the endtoend technical integrity of CoolIT's CDU platforms. This role bridges Electrical, Mechanical, and PLC disciplines to ensure product requirements are clear, interfaces are stable, risks are managed, and the final product behaves as an integrated, certifiable, and productionready system.

This is a technical leadership role focused on system architecture, interfaces, integration, and verification not component level design. It is accountable for system level decisions, technical readiness recommendations, and evidence of integrated product conformance, while the engineering disciplines retain responsibility for detailed subsystem design and subsystem verification.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the CDU system technical baseline, including requirements, architecture, operational behavior, cross discipline interfaces, system risks, integrated configuration, integration strategy, and system verification evidence.
• Author and maintain system level ERDs (Engineering Requirements Document) to ensure clear requirement decomposition, traceability, and allocation across Electrical, Mechanical, and Control Systems domains.
• Establish and maintain the requirements source register and technical assumptions log. Translate customer, product, regulatory, manufacturing, service, and compliance inputs into clear, testable, and traceable system requirements.
• Provide technical clarity and accountability at discipline boundaries through definition of control interface ownership & integration across discipline interfaces between technical project teams.
• Define and validate system use cases & operational scenarios (normal, degraded, faulted, maintenance) to anchor requirements, sequencing, and verification.
• Lead cross discipline trade studies and maintain architecture and technical decision records. Evaluate system performance, reliability, safety, compliance, cost, schedule, manufacturability, serviceability, scalability, and customer impacts, making decisions within delegated authority and escalating material impacts.
• Lead system hazard analysis, system DFMEA, and the technical risk register. Integrate discipline mitigations, link risk controls to verification evidence, and recommend technical risk disposition or escalation.
• Accountable for leading system function integration testing, fault behavior validation, and usecase testing.
• Define the system level verification and validation strategy, whilst supporting certification, and mass production launch activities with system level technical evidence.
• Review system verification results and confirm whether requirements are verified, failed, or require an approved deviation or waiver. Approve the technical sufficiency and consistency of system evidence while Test Engineering retains responsibility for agreed test execution and recording.
• Drive systems engineering thinking across the team, Vee process development & requirements management tools into the NPI product development lifecycles.
• Collaborate and build strong working relationships with key industry partners and critical component vendors to promote a culture of continuous improvement and the adoption of best-in-class technology.

Position Details

Travel

• Frequent travel to customer sites within designated client sites in Washington State
• Occasional travel to headquarters in Calgary, AB, Canada.
• Potential International travel as required based on business needs
• Onsite at client facilities and remote work locations

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, or similar Engineering/Physics based disciplines
• Minimum of 8 years in electromechanical or controlsbased product development.
• Demonstrated experience owning system architecture, interfaces, or integration.
• Deep understanding of electromechanical systems, including interactions between electrical power, controls/PLC, hydraulics/fluids, sensing, and safety circuits.
• Knowledge of system safety and risk methods, including HARA, system DFMEA, HAZOP/FMEA interfaces, mitigation verification, and residual-risk communication.
• Strong grounding in systems engineering fundamentals & tools: requirements decomposition, interface definition, functional analysis, and verification planning.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's or PhD
• Experience with Thermal Mechanical Engineering, Fluid Dynamics, or a related field.
• Exposure to hyperscale data centers and high performance computing systems
• Experience with high-volume production for industrial products

Annual or Hourly Compensation Range

$140,000-$200,000 Many factors are taken into consideration when determining compensation, such as experience, education, training, geography, etc. We comply with all minimum wage and overtime laws.

Benefits

Ecolab provides the following benefits: medical, dental, vision, life insurance, accident insurance, critical illness insurance, hospital indemnity insurance, auto insurance, home insurance, pet insurance, identity theft protection, short-term and long-term disability, 401k, pension plans, retirement health care benefits, short-term incentives, vacation (12 days), holidays, parental leave, employee stock purchase plans(Full-Time Associates), discount on day care services and caregiver services, adoption assistance, group legal services, employee assistance program, employee discount program, and education assistance program,on-Site childcare and fitness facilities may be available at select Ecolab locations.

Potential Customer Requirements Notice

To meet customer requirements and comply with local or state regulations, applicants for certain customer-facing roles may need to:

• Undergo additional background screens and/or drug/alcohol testing for customer credentialing.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Ecolab will provide reasonable accommodation (such as a qualified sign language interpreter or other personal assistance) with our application process upon request as required to comply with applicable laws. If you have a disability and require accommodation assistance in this application process, please visit the Recruiting Support link in the footer of each page of our career website.

Our Commitment to a Culture of Inclusion & Belonging

At Ecolab, we believe the best teams are inclusive. We are on a journey to create a workplace where every associate can grow and achieve their best. We are committed to fair and equal treatment of associates and applicants and recruit, hire, promote, transfer and provide opportunities for advancement based on individual qualifications and job performance. In all matters affecting employment, compensation, benefits, working conditions, and opportunities for advancement, we will not discriminate against any associate or applicant for employment because of race, religion, color, creed, national origin, citizenship status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expressions, genetic information, marital status, age, disability, or status as a covered veteran.

In addition, we are committed to furthering the principles of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) through affirmatif action (AA).

We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the New York City Fair Chance Act.