System Controls Solution Architect

Vertiv • Westerville, OH

22h • Remote

About The Position

The Thermal System Controls Architect will be responsible for defining the technical and commercial architecture of Vertiv’s system-level thermal controls and optimization solutions for customer projects. The role will cover the full thermal chain, including CDU systems, secondary fluid network management, pumps, chillers, heat rejection systems, heat reuse applications and plant-level optimization solutions. This position will translate customer requirements, project specifications and site constraints into a complete controls solution, including hardware architecture, software scope, integration requirements, commercial assumptions, economics, risks, exclusions and upselling opportunities. The Architect will act as a bridge between Offering Management, Sales, Application Engineering, Controls Development, Project Execution, Commissioning and Service teams, ensuring that each opportunity is properly scoped, costed, documented and handed over for successful execution.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Automation, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Energy Engineering or equivalent technical experience.
• Experience in HVAC controls, liquid cooling controls, BMS, chiller plant controls, data center infrastructure, industrial automation or mission-critical thermal systems.
• Strong understanding of hydronic and liquid cooling systems, including CDU systems, secondary loops, pumps, valves, chillers, heat rejection equipment, buffer tanks and heat reuse applications.
• Ability to interpret customer specifications, P&IDs, control diagrams, sequence of operation documents, I/O lists and electrical/control architecture.
• Good understanding of PLCs, SCADA, HMI, industrial networks and communication protocols.
• Ability to translate technical requirements into commercial scope, cost assumptions and project deliverables.
• Experience working with Sales, Application Engineering, Offering Management, Engineering, Project Management, Commissioning and Service teams.
• Ability to manage technical clarification, scope definition and customer expectation alignment.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex controls topics to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Good written and verbal communication skills in English.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with chilled water plant management, liquid cooling systems, secondary fluid networks or data center thermal infrastructure.
• Experience with system-level controls, supervisory control platforms, optimization layers, energy management or analytics.
• Familiarity with Ignition, Unify, Codesys, Modbus TCP, BACnet, MQTT or similar technologies.
• Experience in technical sales support, solution architecture, application engineering, offering management or project engineering.
• Knowledge of energy optimization, plant sequencing, control stability, heat reuse strategies and lifecycle service opportunities.
• Experience supporting global projects across multiple regions.

Responsibilities

• Define the system architecture for Vertiv’s thermal controls and optimization solutions on customer projects.
• Support solutions such as the Chilled Water Manager and Optimizer, Secondary Fluid Network Manager and future system-level thermal control platforms.
• Analyze customer specifications, sequence of operation documents, P&IDs, system architecture, equipment lists and project requirements.
• Define the required hardware and software scope for each project.
• Identify required PLC/control hardware, I/O architecture, communication interfaces, HMI/SCADA requirements, software modules and integration points.
• Define how the controls solution interfaces with CDU systems, secondary fluid networks, pumps, chillers, heat rejection equipment, heat reuse systems and higher-level supervisory platforms.
• Support the commercial definition of the offering for specific opportunities, including scope, assumptions, exclusions, risks and deliverables.
• Support project economics, budgetary estimates, cost build-up, pricing inputs and margin analysis.
• Identify upselling opportunities related to advanced control features, optimization, monitoring, analytics, energy efficiency, serviceability and lifecycle support.
• Manage requirement intake, clarification and alignment with Offering Management, Sales, Engineering and technical teams.
• Translate customer and project needs into clear technical requirements for the Controls Development team.
• Support preparation of technical proposals, architecture descriptions, compliance responses and customer-facing documentation.
• Collaborate with Sales and Application Engineering during pre-sales, tender and customer clarification phases.
• Collaborate with Platform Engineering and Business Unit teams to align project needs with standard platform capabilities and future roadmap synergies.
• Support project execution from initial definition through engineering alignment and handover to commissioning.
• Ensure a clear handover package to commissioning, including scope, controls architecture, requirements, open points, assumptions, risks and project-specific constraints.
• Capture lessons learned from projects and provide feedback to Offering Management for roadmap and product improvement.

Benefits

• The stability of a global leader in a growing industry and the opportunity of a startup.

What This Job Offers

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