Mechanical Associate Director

Mechanical Associate Director - Data Centre's

We are seeking a highly experienced Mechanical Associate Director specialising in data centre design to lead mechanical engineering delivery across hyperscale, colocation and enterprise data centre projects. This is a senior leadership role for an engineer who combines deep technical expertise in mission-critical mechanical systems with strong commercial, strategic and team-building capabilities.

As a Mechanical Associate Director, you will oversee concept, scheme and detailed mechanical design for some of the most complex data centre environments in the industry. You will work closely with clients, contractors and multidisciplinary teams to ensure resilient, scalable and energy-efficient solutions that meet stringent availability, redundancy and sustainability requirements.

Key Responsibilities

As a Mechanical Associate Director, your responsibilities will include:

Technical & Project Delivery

• Leading the full mechanical design lifecycle for Tier II–IV data centres, including cooling systems, ventilation strategies, containment, chilled water systems, heat rejection, and air distribution.


• Providing expert input on mechanical resilience strategies such as N+1, N+N and 2N redundancy.


• Ensuring designs comply with Uptime Institute standards, ASHRAE TC 9.9 guidelines and client-specific technical requirements.


• Solving complex engineering challenges around capacity planning, thermal performance and energy efficiency.


• Reviewing and validating CFD modelling, equipment selection, and mechanical load calculations.

Leadership & Management

• Managing and mentoring mechanical engineering teams, ensuring high performance and consistent technical excellence.


• Coordinating with electrical, structural, controls and commissioning leads to deliver cohesive mission-critical solutions.


• Driving knowledge-sharing and best practice adoption across data-centre programmes.


• Supporting staff development, training programmes and competency frameworks.

Commercial & Strategic Responsibilities

• Supporting business growth in the data centre sector through proposal development, client engagement and technical leadership.


• Managing budgets, margins and commercial performance for data-centre projects.


• Contributing to long-term planning for sector expansion, innovation and strategic partnerships.


• Building strong relationships with major data-centre operators, developers, contractors and hyperscale clients.

Operational Excellence

• Ensuring robust QA/QC processes specific to mission-critical facilities.


• Monitoring project delivery risks including thermal performance, resilience, and mechanical integration.


• Leading workshops, design reviews, technical audits and commissioning readiness activities.


• Ensuring timely delivery of all design outputs while maintaining highest standards of accuracy and clarity.

Skills, Qualifications & Experience

The ideal Mechanical Associate Director will bring:

• Chartered Engineer status (CEng) or equivalent.


• Extensive experience delivering mechanical designs for data centres, including hyperscale environments.


• Strong understanding of critical cooling technologies such as:


• CRAH/CRAC units


• Chilled water and DX systems


• Adiabatic and evaporative cooling


• Liquid cooling (rear door heat exchangers, direct-to-chip)


• Heat pump and heat recovery systems


• Proven ability to lead large multidisciplinary engineering teams.


• Strong commercial acumen and contractual awareness within mission-critical design.


• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Workplace Values

The Mechanical Associate Director will be expected to uphold and promote:

• Integrity: Fair, respectful and transparent behaviour.


• Accountability: Ownership of decisions and project outcomes.


• Simplicity: Practical, efficient and streamlined solutions.


• Supportiveness: Inclusive, collaborative leadership.


• Quality: Precision, reliability and excellence in all deliverables.