Facilities HVAC Technician - Senior Lead

Firefly Aerospace•Briggs, TX

36d•Onsite

About The Position

The Facilities HVAC Technician IV – Senior Lead is a hands-on technical leadership role responsible for the reliability, troubleshooting, maintenance, commissioning, and continuous improvement of mission-critical HVAC and mechanical systems across Firefly’s Texas facilities. The position is the senior technical escalation point for complex HVAC, refrigeration, controls, building automation, and environmental system issues. It provides technical guidance and mentorship to HVAC Technicians I–III and supports maintenance, reliability, projects, commissioning, and contractor oversight. The role is based at Firefly’s rocket production and test facility in Briggs, Texas, north of Cedar Park. Participation in an on-call rotation is required. The position also requires the ability to work overtime and weekends and to provide senior technical support during critical after-hours failures. This is a technical leadership role and does not inherently include formal people-management responsibilities.

Requirements

12+ years of progressive commercial or industrial HVAC experience, or equivalent education and experience.
Extensive hands-on experience troubleshooting and maintaining commercial or industrial HVAC systems.
Advanced experience with HVAC systems ranging from approximately 5 to 100+ tons.
Strong knowledge of refrigeration, airflow, psychrometrics, electrical systems, controls, and HVAC sequences of operation.
Ability to troubleshoot mechanical, refrigeration, electrical, and control failures using schematics, meters, gauges, BAS data, and diagnostic equipment.
Demonstrated ability to independently lead complex troubleshooting and provide technical guidance to other technicians.
Experience with root cause analysis/root cause corrective action and permanent corrective actions.
Experience in industrial, manufacturing, mission-critical, or similarly demanding environments.
Ability to read mechanical drawings, electrical schematics, control diagrams, and specifications.
EPA Section 608 Universal Certification required.
Strong communication, documentation, and recordkeeping skills.
Ability to work independently and make sound technical decisions during critical failures.
Ability to work overtime and weekends and participate in an after-hours on-call rotation.
Ability to stand, walk, bend, kneel, climb ladders, work from elevated platforms, use HVAC tools and diagnostic equipment, lift and carry required materials, and work indoors and outdoors in active industrial and aerospace environments while wearing required PPE.
Must meet U.S. Government space technology export authorization requirements: be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Nice To Haves

Experience in aerospace, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, advanced manufacturing, laboratory, or test facilities.
Advanced BAS troubleshooting and programming experience.
Experience with major HVAC or controls platforms such as Trane, Carrier, Daikin, Johnson Controls, Siemens, or Honeywell.
Experience with chillers, chilled water, hydronic/glycol systems, process cooling, clean rooms, and controlled environments.
Experience with dehumidification/humidification, VFDs, compressed air, vacuum, and process exhaust systems.
Experience with HVAC commissioning, contractor oversight, RCA/RCCA documentation, CMMS, and reliability/lifecycle planning.
Plumbing and general mechanical experience.
Ability to operate forklifts, scissor lifts, boom lifts, skid steers, or similar equipment.

Responsibilities

Serve as the senior technical resource for complex HVAC and mechanical system failures.
Provide technical direction, mentoring, and hands-on training to HVAC Technicians I–III.
Troubleshoot, repair, maintain, install, and optimize commercial and industrial HVAC systems ranging from approximately 5 to 100+ tons.
Support RTUs, split systems, package units, air handlers, chillers, exhaust, make-up air, dehumidification, humidification, and process cooling systems.
Troubleshoot HVAC electrical systems, refrigeration circuits, VFDs, sensors, actuators, controls, and BAS.
Support controlled environments, including production, test, laboratory, and clean-room spaces.
Lead root cause analysis and root cause corrective action for significant or recurring failures and drive permanent corrective actions.
Support preventive and predictive maintenance programs, equipment criticality assessments, reliability improvements, and spare-parts planning.
Provide technical oversight for HVAC installations, replacements, retrofits, capital projects, commissioning, and equipment acceptance.
Oversee contractors, OEM technicians, controls vendors, and mechanical service providers.
Maintain accurate CMMS documentation, work orders, equipment histories, and corrective-action records.
Ensure compliance with Firefly safety requirements and applicable OSHA, EPA, mechanical, electrical, and refrigeration standards.
Participate in the HVAC on-call rotation and provide senior technical support during critical after-hours failures.
Communicate equipment risks, failures, restoration timelines, and corrective actions to Facilities leadership.
Take ownership of complex HVAC issues through resolution and lead critical troubleshooting and RCCA activities.
Identify reliability risks and recurring failures before they affect operations; recommend equipment replacement, redundancy, and system improvements.
Maintain high standards for safety, workmanship, troubleshooting, and documentation.
Provide technical oversight of contractors and support equipment commissioning.