Lead Critical Facility Engineer

Salute•Royse City, TX

5d•$114,400 - $125,000•Onsite

About The Position

Salute is seeking a Lead Critical Facility Engineer to serve as the primary technical and operational authority at an onsite, mission-critical data center facility in Royse City, Texas. The position reports directly to the Data Center Manager and oversees four 12-hour rotational shift teams on a 4-on, 3-off schedule, ensuring continuous 24x7x365 coverage, consistent procedures, and technical standards across all shifts. The Lead Engineer governs electrical, mechanical, Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC), fire and life safety, and operational technology systems, including BMS, EPMS, and CMMS. The role owns site-wide preventive and corrective maintenance governance, procedure authoring and approval, third-party vendor oversight, and technical training progression. It includes onsite day operations, rotational oversight of all four shifts, and 24x7x365 on-call escalation availability for critical emergencies, outages, and high-risk maintenance. The role requires at least eight years of directly related hands-on experience, including three or more years in a chief engineer, lead engineer, or multi-shift supervisory capacity. Candidates should have relevant engineering education, trade credentials, military technical training, or an equivalent combination of education and field experience. Relocation assistance is available for candidates who are not local. The stated base pay range is $114,400–$125,000 per year.

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 (such as US Navy Nuclear); or an equivalent combination of technical education and field experience.
Expert hands-on proficiency operating, maintaining, and troubleshooting medium- and low-voltage switchgear (13.8kV/480V/208V), standby diesel generators and paralleling gear, static UPS systems, multi-string VRLA/Li-Ion batteries, 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, FWS, 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 RCAs, and govern OEM vendor scopes.
Ability to lift and carry equipment and tools weighing up to 40 pounds.
Ability to climb ladders up to 16 feet and multiple flights of stairs.
Ability to stand and walk for extended periods, and to bend, stoop, kneel, and reach while performing maintenance.
Basic physical fitness and mobility to move efficiently within work environments and respond to emergencies.
Good hand-eye coordination and manual dexterity for work with small components, test instruments, and connectors.
Clear vision, with or without correction, to perform detailed tasks while wearing required PPE, including safety glasses and arc-flash gear.
Ability to work indoors in varied 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

Lead safety and regulatory compliance across shift personnel and subcontractors, including LOTO, arc-flash protection, applicable NFPA and NEC codes, and OSHA standards; champion Stop Work Authority and serve as primary Authorizing Engineer for complex switching and annual de-energized outages.
Manage, schedule, and audit four 12-hour shift teams to maintain 24x7x365 coverage; enforce shift turnover, watch rounds, and staffing minimums.
Govern operations, monitoring, and anomaly remediation for electrical, mechanical, and controls systems, including power distribution, generators, UPS, cooling systems, and DLC infrastructure.
Direct DLC operations, including Facility Water Systems, Coolant Distribution Units, secondary loops, PG-25 chemistry and pH testing, and nitrogen pressurization systems for RMA and warranty shipping.
Coordinate operational interfaces at the Grey Space/Customer White Space boundary, including flow, pressure, temperature, setpoints, alarm routing, and restoration sequencing, while respecting White Space IT exclusions.
Serve as Incident Commander during critical facility events and lead emergency stabilization within delegated authority and contractual response standards.
Lead forensic root cause analyses following abnormal events or excursions, compiling telemetry and BMS/EPMS trend logs and documenting causal responsibility.
Own the site Reference Library and procedural lifecycle, including authoring, peer review, and approval of SOPs, MOPs, and EOPs.
Audit CMMS practices across all shifts and ensure on-time completion of daily, weekly, and monthly self-performed preventive maintenance, accurate anomaly ticketing, and semi-annual audits of critical spare parts and 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 shift leads and support technical progression for CFE 2 and CFE 1 engineers.
Provide onsite day operations, rotational oversight across all four shifts, and 24x7x365 on-call escalation for critical emergencies, planned outages, and high-risk maintenance windows.

Benefits

Eight company-paid holidays, two floating holidays, and PTO.
Medical, dental, and vision insurance; enrollment is available starting on Day 1, with coverage beginning the first of the month following 30 days of employment.
Employee Assistance Program available to all employees.
Employer-supported 401(k) with immediate 100% vesting, a 3% employer match, and a 50% match on the next 2%.
Health Savings Account (HSA), mental health resources, and gym discounts.
Discounted group programs for 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 is available for candidates who are not local.