Sr. Director, Validation Test Engineering

Flex•Austin, TX

12d•Onsite

About The Position

Flex is seeking a Sr. Director, Validation Test Engineering to establish and lead the validation, characterization, and qualification capability for SpinCo’s integrated data center platforms. SpinCo is a new, independent company planned for spin-off in Q1 2027, focusing on critical digital infrastructure, including end-to-end power and thermal management solutions for AI data centers. This role will define validation strategies, test plans, acceptance criteria, lab capabilities, test data infrastructure, and development lifecycle gates for advanced power, advanced cooling, controls, and integrated platform products. The objective is to ensure SpinCo ships reliable integrated systems at the rack, pod, and data-center levels. This is a hands-on technical leadership role where the individual will actively contribute to deliverables, shape test strategies, analyze test data, and establish lab capabilities. The ideal candidate is a leader who sets the technical bar by engaging directly in validation and data, and whose success is measured by the reliability of shipped products.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related technical discipline; advanced degree preferred or equivalent experience.
12+ years of validation, test engineering, systems engineering, product qualification, or reliability engineering experience.
Experience validating complex electromechanical systems, power systems, cooling systems, controls, data center infrastructure, or high-reliability hardware platforms.
Strong knowledge of DVT, reliability testing, test automation, instrumentation, data acquisition, certification testing, root-cause analysis, and development lifecycle gates.
Experience standing up lab capabilities, test infrastructure, or product development facilities.
Demonstrated ability to partner with manufacturing, quality, engineering, and customers to move products from prototype to production readiness.
Hands-on test design and execution background, having built test setups, instrumentation, and data pipelines yourself rather than only overseeing them.

Responsibilities

Define validation strategies, test plans, test standards, and acceptance criteria for advanced power, advanced cooling, control systems, and integrated platform offerings.
Stand up and operate test and characterization labs required to validate rack-level, pod-level, and platform-level performance and reliability.
Gate products through development lifecycle milestones from concept to design/development, validation, production introduction, and release.
Drive design verification testing, reliability testing, automated testing, regression testing, certification planning, and design-for-test requirements.
Partner with manufacturing, quality, and BUs on production-readiness reviews, first-article inspections, ramp readiness, and factory test alignment.
Build test data infrastructure that feeds back into design, predictive maintenance models, digital twins, qualification data, and complex controls systems.
Engage directly with customers and partners to understand performance, reliability, interoperability, and qualification requirements for AI data center infrastructure.