Design-to-Order Engineering Manager – HVAC & Data Center Cooling Systems
About The Position
Lead a multidisciplinary engineering team responsible for translating complex customer specifications into reliable, manufacturable HVAC cooling solutions. The role manages approximately 8–10 engineers supporting custom and modified equipment and helps expand the engineering organization, recruit talent, and strengthen technical capabilities. The position oversees specialized air-cooled chiller engineering for data center cooling applications. It balances customer requirements with product performance and manufacturing feasibility, guides customization of existing platforms and specialized designs, and coordinates engineering resources across multiple concurrent projects. The manager works with Manufacturing, Product Management, Quality, Supply Chain, Sales, and Operations throughout product development and manufacturing, while improving engineering processes, execution, and team capabilities.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related engineering discipline.
- At least 5 years of engineering experience involving HVAC equipment, thermal management systems, refrigeration, custom industrial equipment, or related engineered products.
- At least 2 years of engineering leadership experience as a people manager, engineering supervisor, technical team lead, or engineering project lead.
- Demonstrated experience with engineered-to-order, design-to-order, configured-to-order, or customer-specific product development.
- Strong technical understanding of HVAC equipment and components, including system performance, integration, thermal considerations, and application-specific engineering requirements.
- Experience supporting product engineering in a manufacturing or equipment production environment.
- Ability to interpret customer specifications and translate complex requirements into engineering designs, documentation, and executable work plans.
- Familiarity with engineering change management, design verification, technical documentation, and product release processes.
- Experience collaborating with manufacturing, quality, sourcing, and commercial stakeholders to address engineering and production challenges.
- Ability to coordinate competing engineering priorities while maintaining quality, cost, and delivery expectations.
- Strong interpersonal, organizational, and technical problem-solving capabilities.
- Effective communication skills with the ability to engage customers, suppliers, technical specialists, and business stakeholders.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with air-cooled chillers.
- Experience with industrial refrigeration.
- Experience with mission-critical cooling equipment.
- Experience with data center thermal management.
- Direct experience developing engineering teams.
Responsibilities
- Lead, mentor, and develop a team of 8–10 engineers responsible for customer-specific HVAC equipment designs, product modifications, and engineered configurations.
- Oversee engineering activities for specialized air-cooled chillers used in data center cooling applications, balancing customer requirements with product performance and manufacturing feasibility.
- Translate technical specifications from customers, engineering consultants, suppliers, and commercial partners into engineering deliverables.
- Guide customization of existing equipment platforms and development of specialized designs to meet unique functionality, performance, and feature requirements.
- Set priorities, allocate engineering resources, and coordinate concurrent projects to meet technical, quality, and delivery commitments.
- Partner with Manufacturing, Product Management, Quality, Supply Chain, Sales, and Operations to resolve design challenges and support product releases.
- Strengthen processes for design reviews, technical documentation, configuration control, engineering changes, and design validation.
- Evaluate technical risks, component compatibility, system performance, and manufacturability throughout the engineering lifecycle.
- Support engineering investigations and product modifications resulting from customer requests, field performance concerns, or supplier constraints.
- Recruit, coach, and develop engineering talent, establishing expectations for accountability, collaboration, and technical excellence.
- Drive continuous improvement in engineering efficiency, design consistency, problem-solving, and cross-functional execution.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
