Systems Engineer Data Center Thermal & Fluid Systems

Ecolab•San Jose, CA

About The Position

The Systems Engineer will join the CDU (Coolant Distribution Unit) team to develop thermal management solutions for hyperscale data centers and high-performance computing systems. The role owns and delivers the end-to-end technical integrity of CDU platforms, bridging Electrical, Mechanical, and PLC disciplines so requirements are clear, interfaces are stable, risks are managed, and the integrated product is certifiable and production-ready. It is a technical leadership role focused on system architecture, interfaces, integration, and verification rather than component-level design. The position is accountable for system-level decisions, technical readiness recommendations, and evidence of integrated product conformance; discipline teams retain responsibility for detailed subsystem design and subsystem verification. The role is based onsite at client facilities and remote work locations, with frequent travel to designated customer sites in Washington State, occasional travel to headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and potential international travel as business needs require. The stated annual compensation range is $140,000–$200,000. Benefits listed by Ecolab include medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, auto, home, pet, and identity theft protection insurance; short- and long-term disability; 401(k), pension plans, retirement health care benefits, and short-term incentives; 12 vacation 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; an employee assistance program; employee discounts; and education assistance. On-site childcare and fitness facilities may be available at select Ecolab locations.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering or a similar engineering- or physics-based discipline.
At least 8 years of experience in electromechanical or controls-based product development.
Demonstrated experience owning system architecture, interfaces, or integration.
Deep understanding of electromechanical systems, including interactions among electrical power, controls/PLC, hydraulics/fluids, sensing, and safety circuits.
Knowledge of system safety and risk methods, including HARA, system DFMEA, HAZOP/FMEA interfaces, mitigation verification, and residual-risk communication.
Strong grounding in systems engineering fundamentals and tools, including requirements decomposition, interface definition, functional analysis, and verification planning.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or PhD.
Experience with Thermal Mechanical Engineering, Fluid Dynamics, or a related field.
Exposure to hyperscale data centers and high-performance computing systems.
Experience with high-volume production for industrial products.

Responsibilities

Own and maintain the CDU system technical baseline, including requirements, architecture, operational behavior, cross-discipline interfaces, system risks, integrated configuration, integration strategy, and system verification evidence.
Author and maintain system-level Engineering Requirements Documents (ERDs), ensuring clear requirement decomposition, traceability, and allocation across Electrical, Mechanical, and Control Systems domains.
Establish and maintain the requirements source register and technical assumptions log.
Translate customer, product, regulatory, manufacturing, service, and compliance inputs into clear, testable, and traceable system requirements.
Define control-interface ownership and integration across discipline boundaries and technical project teams.
Define and validate system use cases and operational scenarios, including normal, degraded, faulted, and maintenance conditions.
Lead cross-discipline trade studies and maintain architecture and technical decision records.
Evaluate system performance, reliability, safety, compliance, cost, schedule, manufacturability, serviceability, scalability, and customer impacts; make decisions within delegated authority and escalate material impacts.
Lead system hazard analysis, system DFMEA, and the technical risk register; integrate discipline mitigations, link risk controls to verification evidence, and recommend risk disposition or escalation.
Lead system function integration testing, fault-behavior validation, and use-case testing.
Define the system-level verification and validation strategy and support certification and mass-production launch activities with system-level technical evidence.
Review system verification results and determine whether requirements are verified, failed, or require an approved deviation or waiver.
Approve the technical sufficiency and consistency of system evidence; Test Engineering retains responsibility for agreed test execution and recording.
Promote systems engineering practices, Vee process development, and requirements-management tools in NPI product development lifecycles.
Collaborate with industry partners and critical component vendors to support continuous improvement and adoption of best-in-class technology.