Mechanical Engineer Data Center – Customer Focused Team

Ecolab Inc.•Seattle, WA

1d•$150,000 - $200,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Mechanical Engineer on the Customer Focused Team works closely with a key customer and a small, advanced team to design innovative Coolant Distribution Units (CDUs). The engineer helps establish a shared understanding of customer needs, use cases, product requirements, project scope, and initial design direction, then remains a core team member throughout the full CDU design and new product introduction (NPI) lifecycle. The role makes major contributions to CDU mechanical design and collaborates with internal and external teams and partners to keep customer interests central to product development. It calls for strong interpersonal and communication skills, as well as expertise in mechanical engineering, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics. The position is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and may involve frequent trips to key customer facilities. Up to 30% domestic and international travel may be required, including travel to CoolIT headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, customer sites, and industry conferences and trade shows. The stated salary range is $150,000–$200,000, depending on the successful applicant’s experience and skills, among other factors. The posting describes paid time off, flex days, a company-wide holiday shutdown, benefits, company-funded 401(k) contributions, and an annual professional development allowance. It also includes a separate benefits list attributed to Ecolab.

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.
Excellent 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 using CAD software, such as SolidWorks, for detailed mechanical designs and drawings.
Technical product and design review skills, 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.
Strong urgency and responsiveness, with the ability to drive projects to closure.
Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, customers, and external partners.
Ability to understand customer needs and requirements and translate them into functional engineering requirements that guide product design.
Ability to provide technical leadership on complex projects with cross-functional teams.
Ability to perform engineering design calculations and FEA simulation for fluid mechanical, thermal, and/or seismic analyses.
Ability to travel 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 work such as technical sales, key account management, consulting, or engineering roles with frequent customer interaction.
Experience in product design, technical sales, or engineering involving thermal management and heat-transfer solutions, fluid dynamics, datacenter, or HVAC products.
Knowledge of fundamentals of heat transfer in liquid-to-liquid and liquid-to-air systems.
Proven understanding of hydraulic and gas-fluid behavior, particularly in liquid-cooling systems, including ability to build first-order fluid network models from component performance curves and predict system-level pressure-flow curves.
Knowledge of datacenter design basics, relevant 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.
Experience with rapid-prototyping manufacturing techniques and testing thermal/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 computer simulations, including CFD, heat transfer, and stress/strain; seismic analysis experience is also preferred.
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, establishing a shared understanding of product specifications, requirements, and design approach.
Contribute substantially to initial product design using thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and mechanical engineering principles, and develop accurate performance models to support decisions about product architecture and direction.
Support rapid iteration of design concepts through technology assessment, feasibility analysis, and proofs of concept.
Oversee the building and testing of thermal, hydraulic, and integrated assembly prototypes for validation.
Create engineering drawings, reports, design reviews, and other documentation that communicate design ideas, 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 the state of the art and maintain the company’s competitive advantage.
Collaborate with industry groups to define and influence emerging standards and best practices.
Improve CDU performance and reliability while reducing costs and increasing efficiency.
Mentor and guide junior team members.
Travel domestically and internationally, including to customer facilities, company headquarters, and industry events, as required.

Benefits

Generous paid time off, flex days, and a paid company-wide shutdown during the holiday season.
Comprehensive benefits plan, with the majority of premiums funded by CoolIT.
Company-funded 401(k) contributions.
Annual professional development allowance.
Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance.
Accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity insurance.
Auto, home, and pet insurance; identity theft protection.
Short-term and long-term disability.
401(k), pension plans, and retirement health care benefits.
Short-term incentives.
Vacation (12 days) and holidays.
Parental leave.
Employee stock purchase plans for full-time associates.
Discounts on day care and caregiver services.
Adoption assistance.
Group legal services and employee assistance program.
Employee discount program and education assistance program.
On-site childcare and fitness facilities may be available at select Ecolab locations.