Senior Manager or Director, Mechanical Engineering (Design)

Location:

US, Remote

Position Type:

Full-Time, Permanent

About Nscale

NScale is the GPU cloud engineered for AI. We provide cost-effective, high-performance infrastructure for AI start-ups and large enterprise customers. NScale enables AI-focused companies to achieve superior results by reducing the complexity of AI development. Our GPU cloud bolsters technical capabilities and directly supports strategic business outcomes, including cost management, rapid innovation, and environmental responsibility.

At NScale, our Design & Construction team plays a critical role in delivering data center facilities that are optimized for AI deployments.

We thrive on a culture of relentless innovation, ownership, and accountability, where every team member takes pride in their work and drives it with excellence and urgency. As an NScaler, you’ll build trust through openness and transparency, where everyone is inspired to do their best work. If you join our team, you’ll be contributing to building the technology that powers the future

About the Role

• This is a senior, hands-on leadership role responsible for the mechanical basis of design and engineering governance across multiple U.S. sites.
• Own the mechanical basis of design for U.S. data centers, including cooling plant architectures, heat rejection, piping design, water treatment, and control system interfaces.
• Lead the development of facility infrastructure purpose-built for liquid-cooled GPU hardware, including liquid cooling readiness standards (direct-to-chip and/or rear-door heat exchangers as applicable), CDU/HX integration, piping and materials strategy, water quality and treatment, leak detection/containment, and commissioning/acceptance criteria.
• Support mechanical technical due diligence for potential greenfield, brownfield, or colocation sites, including assessment or definition of cooling architecture deployments.
• The candidate shall be able to work in a dynamic, high-intensity environment and support the DC team achieving project deliverables

What You’ll be Doing (Responsibilities)

Technical Leadership and Design Ownership

• Lead concept, schematic, and detailed design reviews for new builds and expansions.
• Establish and maintain design standards and reference architectures to enable repeatable, rapid deployment across the U.S.
• Ensure designs meet availability, maintainability, and efficiency targets, and are suitable for high-density AI workloads.
• Provide engineering support through LLE Equipment procurement, submittals, RFIs, field changes, and issue resolution during construction.
• Vendor and consultant leadership: Select and manage architectural & engineering consultants throughout design process from schematic to construction documents. Enforce quality and documentation standards through document issuance reviews.
• Lead review of internal and external third-party CFD studies to validate airflow management, temperature compliance, and thermal resilience throughout the site, both inside and outside of the facility.
• Partner cross-functionally with construction, commissioning, operations, procurement, and product/platform stakeholders to ensure mechanical systems meet business and customer requirements.
• Continuous improvement: Implement lessons learned from deployments, improve reliability and maintainability, and push innovation in cooling and energy efficiency.
• Partner cross-functionally with construction, commissioning, operations, procurement, and product/platform stakeholders to ensure mechanical systems meet business and customer requirements.
• Build and lead a high-performing team of engineers including hiring, mentoring, performance management, and career development.

Colocation Leasing Support

• Support mechanical technical due diligence for potential colocation sites, including assessment of cooling architecture, redundancy, capacity headroom, maintainability, and operational maturity.
• Review and validate landlord/operator-provided documentation, including basis of design, one-lines/P&IDs (where available), sequences of operation, maintenance records, incident history, and commissioning reports.
• Define and negotiate mechanical lease exhibits and technical schedules (capacity commitments, metering approach, operating envelopes, maintenance windows, response SLAs, and change control requirements).
• Evaluate fit for high-density AI workloads, including constraints on inlet temperatures, liquid cooling readiness (if applicable), heat rejection limitations, and expansion pathways.

Site Acquisition Support

• Support early-stage site screening by defining mechanical utility and constructability requirements (cooling approach, water strategy, heat rejection constraints, climate considerations, expansion capacity).
• Lead mechanical due diligence for greenfield and brownfield acquisitions, including evaluation of existing infrastructure condition, remaining useful life, maintainability, and upgrade pathways.
• Assess site constraints and risks that impact mechanical design and delivery including heat rejection feasibility (air-cooled vs evaporative vs hybrid) and Space planning for plant rooms, yards, and equipment setbacks

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering
• Professional Engineering License
• 5+ years of mechanical engineering experience in mission-critical facilities, with significant time in data center design.
• 3+ years in engineering leadership (people leadership and/or leading large multi-site programs)
• Strong understanding of Cooling systems for high-density compute (air and liquid-cooled strategies, heat rejection options, redundancy models) as well as hydronic systems, piping design, equipment selection, and controls sequences
• Experience working with U.S. engineering firms, AHJs, and code environments (state/local variations).

Leadership Profile

• Strong presence and decision-making capability
• Pragmatic, risk-based leadership style suited to fast-paced construction environments
• High judgment in high-consequence scenarios
• Ability to challenge delivery teams while maintaining partnership

Equal Opportunities Statement

At NScale, we are committed to fostering an inclusive, diverse, and equitable workplace. We believe that a variety of perspectives enriches our work environment, and we encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds, experiences, and abilities.  We strongly encourage applications from people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, parents, carers, and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

If there’s anything we can do to accommodate your specific situation, please let us know.