Systems Engineer

Ecolab Inc. • Tacoma, WA

6d • $140,000 - $200,000

About The Position

CoolIT is seeking an experienced Systems Engineer to join its CDU (Coolant Distribution Unit) team and develop advanced thermal management solutions for hyperscale data centers and high-performance computing systems. The role owns the end-to-end technical integrity of CDU platforms, bridging Electrical, Mechanical, and PLC disciplines to establish clear requirements, stable interfaces, managed risks, and integrated, certifiable, production-ready products.

This technical leadership position focuses on system architecture, interfaces, integration, and verification rather than component-level design. The Systems Engineer is accountable for system-level decisions, technical readiness recommendations, and evidence of integrated product conformance. Engineering disciplines remain responsible for detailed subsystem design and subsystem verification.

The position involves frequent travel to customer sites in Washington State, occasional travel to headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, and potential international travel based on business needs. Work takes place onsite at client facilities and at remote work 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

• Experience with high-volume production for industrial products.
• 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.

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, traceable system requirements.
• Define control interface ownership and integration across discipline boundaries, providing technical clarity and accountability between 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 performance, reliability, safety, compliance, cost, schedule, manufacturability, serviceability, scalability, and customer impacts, making decisions within delegated authority and escalating material impacts.
• Lead system hazard analysis, system DFMEA, and the technical risk register; integrate discipline mitigations, link risk controls to verification evidence, and recommend technical 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 confirm whether requirements are verified, failed, or require an approved deviation or waiver; approve the technical sufficiency and consistency of system evidence while Test Engineering retains responsibility for agreed test execution and recording.
• Promote systems engineering practices, Vee process development, and requirements management tools throughout NPI product development lifecycles.
• Collaborate with industry partners and critical component vendors to encourage continuous improvement and adoption of best-in-class technology.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Life, accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, auto, home, and pet insurance.
• Identity theft protection.
• Short-term and long-term disability.
• 401(k) and pension plans.
• 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.
• Employee assistance program.
• Employee discount program.
• Education assistance program.
• On-site childcare and fitness facilities may be available at select Ecolab locations.

What This Job Offers

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