HVAC Engineer (3926)

Navarro Research and Engineering is an award-winning provider of turnkey solutions, delivering comprehensive nuclear, environmental, and technical services to federal agencies, commercial enterprises, and private clients across the United States. Our expertise supports organizations such as the Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Defense, and NASA, as well as commercial industries and private sector partners facing complex engineering, technical, and environmental challenges.

About the role

The HVAC Engineer will support ventilation, heating, cooling, air handling, heat exchanger, fan, rotating equipment, piping, and ducting systems for a new nuclear fuel facility. This role involves developing and reviewing HVAC design deliverables for nuclear, chemical, high-hazard, and regulated facility areas where ventilation performance, confinement, reliability, maintainability, and safety requirements are critical. The position requires experience coordinating ventilation systems with process equipment, hot cells, building ducting, mechanical systems, nuclear safety requirements, construction, commissioning, and operations.

Responsibilities

• Develop, review, and maintain HVAC calculations, airflow diagrams, equipment sizing, duct layouts, piping layouts, equipment specifications, design criteria, and technical basis documents.
• Support HVAC systems involving nuclear ventilation, confinement ventilation, process exhaust, heat exchangers, fans, rotating equipment, coils, dampers, filters, ducting, and piping interfaces.
• Evaluate ventilation performance, pressure relationships, heat loads, equipment capacity, system reliability, maintainability, and field routing constraints.
• Review vendor submittals for fans, heat exchangers, air handling units, filtration equipment, rotating equipment, dampers, coils, instrumentation interfaces, and related HVAC components.
• Coordinate HVAC design interfaces with process engineering, piping, mechanical, I&C, electrical, civil/structural, fire protection, safety basis, radiological controls, quality, construction, commissioning, and operations teams.
• Support design reviews, hazard reviews, constructability reviews, field walkdowns, commissioning planning, functional testing, and turnover activities.
• Prepare engineering calculations, specifications, technical evaluations, field change documents, and issue-resolution packages.
• Maintain configuration control, quality expectations, safety requirements, and clear communication with project leadership.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, architectural engineering, or a closely related engineering discipline.
• 5+ years of HVAC engineering experience supporting nuclear, DOE, chemical, high-hazard, industrial, laboratory, manufacturing, or regulated facility projects.
• Experience with nuclear or high-consequence ventilation systems, heat exchangers, fans and rotating equipment, piping, ducting, airflow calculations, and equipment sizing.
• Ability to interpret HVAC drawings, P&IDs, duct layouts, equipment specifications, vendor data, safety requirements, and field conditions.
• Knowledge of ventilation design, ductwork, pressure control, heat transfer, mechanical equipment, testing, balancing, and commissioning principles.
• Strong technical writing, analytical, communication, and cross-discipline coordination skills.
• Ability to obtain and maintain required site access, training, and security clearances.
• US citizenship is required due to government contract and clearance requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with nuclear fuel facilities, hot cells, gloveboxes, confinement ventilation, HEPA filtration, process exhaust, GTS support systems, or radiological facilities.
• Experience with ASHRAE, SMACNA, ASME, DOE nuclear ventilation expectations, or safety significant ventilation systems.
• Professional Engineer license, Engineer-in-Training certification, or commissioning/test experience.
• Active DOE L or Q clearance.

Benefits

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k)
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation & Public Holidays)
• Short Term & Long Term Disability