Lead Engineer - Mechanical Design Build

National Design Build Services•Maryland Heights, MD

21h

About The Position

The Lead Engineer leads mechanical design for data centers, mission-critical facilities, and large industrial plants delivered through design-build and design-assist. The role translates owner and process requirements into HVAC, process, and piping systems, carrying design from concept and milestone reviews through issued-for-construction documents and supporting construction through submittals, RFIs, and commissioning. The engineer also coordinates with fabrication partners when prefabrication can improve project outcomes. The position works with preconstruction, general contractors, trade partners, sub-consultants, and field operations. The Lead Engineer may lead a team of engineers or work independently and is responsible for delivering design assignments on time, within budget, and in accordance with client contracts. The role is full-time, reports to the Director of Engineering, has direct reports, and requires 20% travel. It is based in St. Louis, Missouri, or may be performed remotely within the United States. Work is mostly office-based or remote design work, with regular time on active construction sites and in fabrication shops. Site and shop visits require standard PPE and compliance with NDBS and client safety programs.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in an engineering field; mechanical engineering is preferred.
At least 8 years of HVAC/R design experience, including data centers, mission-critical facilities, or large industrial facilities.
Professional Engineer (PE) license, or ability to obtain one within 12 months.
Hands-on experience with chilled water, hydronic, and process piping design.
Working knowledge of ASHRAE, International Codes, NFPA, and ASME piping codes.
Ability to meet deadlines while managing several projects and changing priorities.
Self-motivated, with strong time and task management skills.
Strong leadership, organizational, and communication skills, and ability to work well in a team.

Nice To Haves

Industrial process experience, including paint shops, process exhaust, compressed air, boilers, and natural gas systems.
Liquid cooling and high-density AI/HPC data center experience.
Experience with design-build and design-assist delivery, Procore, and Autodesk Construction Cloud.
Experience with prefabricated mechanical systems such as skids, pipe spools, or utility racks.
Fluency in Revit MEP and AutoCAD, and experience with Navisworks clash detection.
Commissioning experience on critical facilities, including FAT, SAT, and integrated systems testing.

Responsibilities

Own engineering deliverables from basis of design and P&IDs through milestone design reviews, issued-for-construction drawings, and turnover documents.
Manage or coordinate multidisciplinary scope across mechanical, plumbing, structural, electrical, civil, and controls.
Manage engineering scope, fees, and budgets; prepare design services proposals, track engineering hours against budgets, and price engineering change orders.
Coordinate with controls partners on PLC logic, Building Management Systems, and sequences of operation.
Lead client and design coordination meetings, address review comments and RFIs, and maintain deliverable and submittal trackers.
Lead mechanical design for data center cooling systems, including chilled water plants, chillers, CRAH/CRAC units, fan walls, economizers, and hot/cold aisle containment.
Design liquid cooling infrastructure for high-density and AI workloads, including CDUs, technology cooling systems, facility water loops, and rear-door and direct-to-chip heat removal.
Apply redundancy and reliability concepts, including N, N+1, and 2N, concurrent maintainability, and fault tolerance, to meet owner requirements and Uptime Institute tier objectives.
Perform heat load, hydraulic, and psychrometric calculations and support energy and PUE/WUE analysis.
Design HVAC and process systems for large manufacturing facilities, including process exhaust, compressed air, boiler and hot water plants, and chilled water plants.
Design natural gas, compressed air, process, and utility piping based on process load data, and resolve gaps in owner and process-equipment data through RFIs.
Coordinate equipment pads, foundations, and structural supports with structural engineers to support phased construction schedules.
Identify opportunities for prefabricated pipe spools, skids, and modules, and design them for constructability and repeatability.
Confirm design concepts early to enable prefabricated piping to be released without rework.
Review and witness factory acceptance tests and support commissioning and integrated systems testing.
Run internal turnover meetings to define project scope, risks, resources, communications, schedule, and budget.
Work with preconstruction to carry bid scope into design packages and support estimating, budgets, and buyout.
Lead design-build and design-assist coordination with owners, general contractors, and trade partners using Procore and Autodesk Construction Cloud.
Review trade-partner submittals, coordinate responses from sub-consultants, and drive quality control through site visits and punch lists.
Mentor and review the work of junior engineers and designers.