Lead Critical Facility Engineer

Salute•Dallas, TX

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Lead Critical Facility Engineer is an onsite role in Royse City, Texas, with relocation assistance available for candidates who are not local. Reporting directly to the Data Center Manager, this position serves as the primary technical and operational authority at a mission-critical data center facility. The role manages four 12-hour rotational shift teams on a 4-on, 3-off schedule, ensuring continuous 24x7x365 coverage, procedural discipline, and technical consistency. The Lead Engineer governs electrical, mechanical, Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC), fire/life safety, and Operational Technology systems, including BMS, EPMS, and CMMS. Responsibilities include site-wide maintenance governance, authoring and approving MOPs, SOPs, and EOPs, overseeing third-party vendors, and managing technical training and qualification progression. The position also provides on-call escalation coverage for critical emergencies, planned outages, and high-risk maintenance windows. The role requires day-to-day oversight of mission-critical infrastructure and coordination at the Grey Space/Customer White Space boundary to maintain uninterrupted power and thermal delivery while respecting White Space IT exclusions. It includes safety leadership, incident command, emergency stabilization, forensic root cause analysis, procedural and reference-library ownership, CMMS and spare-parts governance, and mentorship of shift leads and engineers. The position involves physically demanding work, including lifting and carrying equipment up to 40 pounds, climbing ladders and stairs, and working in varied indoor and outdoor conditions, including temperature extremes and elevated noise levels.

Requirements

At least 8 years of directly related hands-on experience operating, maintaining, and troubleshooting mission-critical data center infrastructure, industrial power generation, or high-availability facilities.
At least 3 years in a Chief Engineer, Lead Engineer, or multi-shift supervisory role managing senior shift leads and multi-tiered technicians.
Associate or bachelor's degree in Electrical/Mechanical Engineering or Engineering Technology, a verified Journeyman/Master Electrician or HVAC/Mechanical license, military nuclear/power propulsion training, or an equivalent combination of technical education and field experience.
Expert hands-on proficiency with medium- and low-voltage switchgear (13.8kV/480V/208V), standby diesel generators and paralleling gear, static UPS systems, VRLA/Li-Ion battery systems, ATS/STS units, overhead busway distribution, chillers, CRAHs, DOAS units, and VFDs.
Direct hands-on experience with Liquid-to-Chip/Direct Liquid Cooling infrastructure, CDUs, Facility Water Systems, PG-25 closed-loop glycol/water chemistry testing, nitrogen pressurization systems, PLC/relay logic controls, EPMS, and BAS/BMS platforms.
Working knowledge of NEC, NFPA 70E, NFPA 72, NFPA 25, OSHA standards, and electrical/mechanical one-line diagrams.
Demonstrated ability to manage contractual SLAs, enforce Grey/White Space scope demarcation, author defensible technical root cause analyses, and govern OEM vendor scopes.
Ability to lift and carry equipment and tools up to 40 pounds.
Ability to climb ladders up to 16 feet and multiple flights of stairs, and to stand and walk for extended periods.
Ability to bend, stoop, kneel, and reach while performing equipment maintenance.
Basic physical fitness and mobility to move efficiently through work environments and respond to emergencies.
Good hand-eye coordination and manual dexterity for working with small components, test instruments, and connectors.
Clear vision, with or without correction, for detailed tasks while wearing required PPE.
Ability to work indoors in varying temperature zones and outdoors in varying weather, including extreme temperatures, rain, or snow.
Ability to work in elevated-noise environments while wearing required hearing protection.
Valid driver's license for work-related travel, as required.

Responsibilities

Enforce safety requirements and applicable codes and standards, including LOTO, NFPA 70E, NEC, NFPA 72, NFPA 25, and OSHA; champion Stop Work Authority and serve as the primary Authorizing Engineer for complex switching evolutions and annual de-energized outages.
Manage, schedule, and audit four 12-hour shift teams on a 4-on, 3-off rotation to maintain 24x7x365 engineering coverage; enforce shift-turnover practices, watch rounds, and staffing minimums.
Oversee daily operations, condition monitoring, and anomaly remediation for electrical, mechanical, and other covered facility systems, including switchgear, generators, UPS systems, fuel systems, busways, chillers, CRAHs, DOAS units, and VFDs.
Direct Direct Liquid Cooling operations, including Facility Water Systems, Coolant Distribution Units, secondary loops, PG-25 chemistry and pH testing, and nitrogen pressurization systems.
Coordinate operational interfaces at the Grey Space and Customer White Space boundary, including flow, pressure, temperature, setpoints, alarm routing, and restoration sequencing.
Serve as Incident Commander during critical facility events and lead immediate stabilization in accordance with contractual response standards and delegated emergency authority.
Lead forensic root cause analyses after abnormal events or excursions, compiling telemetry, BMS/EPMS trend logs, and causal-responsibility information.
Own the site Reference Library and procedural lifecycle, including authoring, peer review, and approval of SOPs, MOPs, and EOPs.
Audit CMMS records across all shifts, ensuring timely completion of preventive maintenance, accurate anomaly ticketing, and semi-annual audits of critical spare parts, attic stock, and normal stock.
Direct third-party OEMs and specialty contractors, emphasizing site risk mitigation.
Partner with subject matter experts and training managers to administer the Qualification Card framework, practical drills, and emergency operations playbooks.
Coach CFE 3 Shift Leads on watch command and support structured technical progression for CFE 2 and CFE 1 engineers.
Provide rotational oversight across all four shifts and 24x7x365 on-call escalation availability for critical emergencies, planned outages, and high-risk maintenance.

Benefits

Eight company-paid holidays and two floating holidays.
Paid time off.
Medical, dental, and vision insurance, with enrollment available starting on Day 1; coverage begins the first of the month after 30 days of employment.
Employee Assistance Program available to all employees.
401(k) with immediate 100% vesting, a 3% employer match, and a 50% match on the next 2%.
Health Savings Account.
Mental health resources.
Gym discounts.
Discounted group legal services, home and auto insurance, pet insurance, and identity theft protection.
Discounted Group Life and AD&D insurance.
Discounted Group Short- and Long-Term Disability insurance.
Parental leave.
Relocation assistance for candidates who are not local.