Mechanical Engineer – Customer Focused Team

Ecolab Inc.•San Francisco, OH

2d•$94,400 - $141,600

About The Position

The Mechanical Engineer on the Customer Focused Team works closely with key customers and a small, cross-functional advance team to develop innovative Coolant Distribution Units (CDUs). The role involves understanding customer needs, use cases, and product requirements; agreeing on project scope and design direction; and remaining a core team member throughout the CDU design and new product introduction (NPI) lifecycle. The engineer makes major contributions to mechanical design and works with internal and external teams to keep customer interests central to product development. The position calls for strong communication and interpersonal abilities, along with expertise in mechanical engineering, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics. The position is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and may involve frequent trips to customer facilities. Up to 30% domestic and international travel may be required. The stated salary range is $94,400 to $141,600, depending on the successful applicant’s experience and skills. Ecolab lists benefits including medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, a 401(k), pension plans, retirement healthcare benefits, incentives, vacation, holidays, parental leave, employee stock purchase plans for full-time associates, and other programs and services.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Engineering Physics, or a directly related discipline.
At least 7 years of relevant engineering and/or design experience.
Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
Strong time-management and organizational skills.
Strong analysis, problem-solving, and risk-mitigation skills.
Thermo-mechanical design calculation skills, including heat transfer, fluid mechanics, piping design, and HVAC.
Proficiency with CAD software such as SolidWorks for detailed mechanical design and drawings.
Knowledge of heat transfer in liquid-to-liquid and liquid-to-air systems.
Understanding of hydraulic and gas-fluid behavior, particularly in liquid-cooling systems, including building first-order fluid network models from component performance curves and predicting system-level pressure-flow curves.
Knowledge of datacenter design fundamentals, applicable standards, and facility design or operation best practices.
Knowledge of process piping, P&IDs, and building mechanical design, particularly HVAC and fluid transfer.
Understanding of pump, motor, heat exchanger, and sensor selection, testing, and validation.
Knowledge of technical product and design reviews, including competitive benchmarking, performance, estimated cost, Design for Manufacturability, Design for Assembly, and Design for Service.
Experience with engineering change management for NPI and sustaining products.
Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, customers, and external partners.
Ability to understand customer needs and translate them into functional engineering requirements that guide product design.
Ability to provide technical leadership for complex projects involving cross-functional teams.
Ability to perform engineering design calculations and FEA simulations for fluid mechanical, thermal, and/or seismic analyses.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally to the company headquarters in Calgary, customer sites, and industry conferences and trade shows.
Ability to travel up to 30% domestically and internationally.

Nice To Haves

Professional engineering designation, or eligibility to obtain one in California within 12 months.
Experience in the datacenter, high-performance computing, or liquid-cooling industries.
Experience in customer-facing roles such as technical sales, key account management, consulting, or engineering roles involving frequent customer interaction.
Experience in product design, technical sales, or engineering for thermal management and heat-transfer solutions, fluid dynamics, datacenter, or HVAC products.
Experience with rapid-prototyping manufacturing techniques and testing thermal or mechanical components or assemblies; familiarity with lab data-collection equipment.
Familiarity with NPI product design, PLM, and PDM processes and their role in engineering change management.
Proficiency with finite-element simulations for CFD, heat transfer, and stress/strain analysis.
Experience with seismic analysis.
Experience with Design for Lean Six Sigma or related statistical product-design methodologies.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain excellent working relationships with the key customer.
Lead early-stage NPI design of CDUs as part of a customer-focused team, supporting agreement on product specifications, requirements, and design approach.
Contribute substantially to initial product design using thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and mechanical engineering, and develop accurate performance models to support product architecture and design decisions.
Support rapid design iteration through technology assessment, feasibility analysis, and proofs of concept; oversee building and testing thermal, hydraulic, and integrated assembly prototypes.
Prepare engineering drawings, reports, design reviews, and other documentation to communicate design concepts, test results, and recommendations to internal teams and external stakeholders.
Work with core teams, customers, and industry partners to deliver CDU designs on time and meet or exceed market needs.
Review and approve designs, drawings, and other engineering documentation.
Advance CDU component and system design to improve Cool IT’s competitive position.
Collaborate with industry groups to help define and influence emerging standards and best practices.
Improve CDU performance, reliability, cost, and efficiency.
Mentor and guide junior team members.