Lead Fire and Life Safety Commissioning Engineer

Cynet Systems • Chandler, AZ

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Life Safety Commissioning Engineer serves as the senior technical authority and discipline lead for Fire and Life Safety Systems on large, complex, and mission-critical projects, including hyperscale data centers, semiconductor manufacturing facilities, and life sciences installations. The role plans, coordinates, validates, tests, and commissions critical life safety systems to ensure compliance with applicable codes, regulations, project specifications, and operational objectives. In semiconductor facilities, the engineer verifies and integrates specialized systems such as fire detection and suppression, hazardous gas monitoring, smoke control, emergency communications, and related life safety infrastructure.

As the primary on-site technical lead for life safety commissioning, this position works with engineering, construction, operations, vendors, equipment suppliers, commissioning teams, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) to develop and execute testing and validation programs. The role provides technical leadership through system turnover, integrated systems testing, regulatory inspections, and operational readiness, ensuring systems are functional, code-compliant, documented, and ready for safe occupancy and operation.

The position is designated as part-time telework under the global telework policy and requires at least three days of in-person attendance per week at the assigned office or project site. Weekly schedules are determined by the individual and supervisor in consultation with functional or project leadership.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree or international equivalent and 8 or more years of relevant experience, or 12 or more years of relevant work experience.
• Proficiency with Fire Alarm Systems (FAS).
• Expertise in wet pipe, pre-action, deluge, and clean agent fire suppression systems.
• Knowledge of smoke detection and smoke control systems.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and stakeholder engagement capabilities.
• Experience in commissioning or a technical consulting field such as facility design, engineering, or construction management.
• Proven leadership and supervisory skills focused on mentorship and accountability.
• Understanding of emergency power interfaces, mass notification systems, hazardous gas monitoring systems (HGMS), and emergency shutdown systems (ESD).
• Ability to identify owners' goals, needs, and expectations for building operation and function and define commissioning responsibilities.
• Familiarity with semiconductor facility standards and critical power systems.
• Ability to work effectively with multidisciplinary teams.
• Time management and organizational skills to meet deadlines and quality objectives.
• Understanding of occupancy evacuation and emergency response systems.
• Knowledge of clean rooms, toxic, corrosive, pyrophoric, and flammable gas systems, and Hazardous Production Material (HPM) requirements.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor's degree in Fire Protection Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Construction Management.
• At least 3 years of hands-on U.S. experience in fire construction, building life safety systems, or semiconductor facility management.
• Deep understanding of NFPA 72, NFPA 13, NFPA 20, NFPA 25, NFPA 70 (NEC), and NFPA 101.
• Knowledge of semiconductor-specific fire code requirements for Group H-5 occupancies.
• Experience with commissioning software such as Smart Completions or Hexagon's Smart Completions Software.
• Experience leading a Construction Automation Team on a job site.

Responsibilities

• Lead commissioning activities for fire and life safety systems from construction completion through startup and handover.
• Develop commissioning plans, test procedures, integrated systems testing protocols, test scripts, and acceptance criteria.
• Manage functional performance testing of fire alarm, clean agent suppression, sprinkler, foam, smoke control, emergency communication, hazardous gas detection, and related systems.
• Coordinate with contractors, subcontractors, vendors, design teams, operations personnel, QA/QC, and AHJs to resolve deficiencies and achieve system acceptance.
• Verify compliance with applicable NFPA standards, IBC, IFC, local regulations, and client-specific requirements.
• Support integrated systems testing to validate interactions between fire protection, building management, process safety, HVAC, emergency power, and control systems.
• Review design documents, submittals, sequences of operations, drawings, P&ID diagrams, control schematics, and test results for alignment with project requirements and operational intent.
• Maintain and deliver complete turnover documentation, test records, deficiency tracking, and final acceptance documentation.
• Develop and maintain commissioning schedules, checklists, and test procedures.
• Witness factory acceptance tests (FATs) and site acceptance tests (SATs) as required.
• Perform functional testing, performance verification, and troubleshooting of control systems to ensure compliance with NFPA, NEC, IEEE, and project specifications.
• Scope project drawings.
• Support reviews of performance curves, metrics, trackers, and feedback to identify trends and drive continuous improvements.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Senior