Sr. Principal Engineer Mechanical Engineering

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the technical strategy for mission critical thermal advanced development projects from concept through prototype validation.
• Serve as the senior technical lead on cross-functional project teams, directing engineering activities, resolving complex technical challenges, and ensuring milestones are met on time and within budget.
• Develop and document comprehensive design guidelines and specifications for handover to NPDI teams when projects transition from advanced engineering to product development.
• Communicate complex technical information clearly and effectively to diverse audiences including senior leadership, cross-functional teams, external partners, and customers.
• Mentor and lead engineers and technicians on projects, fostering a collaborative and high-performance team environment and helping to develop the next generation of technical talent.
• Establish and maintain relationships with external research partners (e.g., universities, national labs) to identify and advance emerging thermal technologies.
• Conduct and oversee thermal analysis, modeling, and testing to validate advanced cooling concepts.
• Influence technology roadmaps and provide expert guidance on industry trends, competitive technologies, and regulatory developments in thermal management and refrigerants.
• Drove continuous improvement in advanced development methods, tools, and processes across the organization.
• Represent Vertiv as a subject matter expert at industry conferences, standards bodies, and customer engagements.
• Perform a variety of engineering calculations using traditional engineering methods to verify design requirements, which may include stress calculations, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics.
• Develop solutions to complex problems where little or no precedence exists - the use of ingenuity and creativity is regularly required.

Requirements

• Min 10-15 years of experience.
• Able to travel 10%.
• Highly self-directing with the ability to set priorities, define project scope, and drive results with minimal oversight.
• Extensive track record as a technical lead directing multi-disciplinary project teams from concept through prototype/validation, with demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent programs.
• Demonstrated leadership in guiding and developing others to complete projects efficiently and on schedule.
• Demonstrated record of meeting deadlines and project goals.
• Deep expertise in thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics.
• Strong ability to write clear, actionable design guidelines and technical documentation suitable for use by downstream product development teams.
• Demonstrated history of delivering quality products to market with understanding and respect for phases of the product development process.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to present complex technical concepts to executive leadership and non-technical stakeholders.
• Recognized as a technical authority within the organization or industry.
• Experience with 3D CAD software, preferred CREO 4.0 and greater.
• Preferred Experience in cryogenic cooling system development.
• Experience in programming and/or creating thermal system energy models to compare new ideas to baseline systems.
• Experience using AI design tools for thermal components or systems (e.g., generative design, topology optimization, AI-driven CFD).
• Experience with 2-Phase heat transfer fluids, including “natural” refrigerants, such as R744, R718, etc.
• Experience with 1-phase and/or 2-phase Liquid Cooling technologies.
• Knowledge of psychometric chart and refrigeration cycles.
• Experience with CFD and/or FEA software, preferred Ansys.
• Understanding of manufacturing limitations, break sheet metal and formed copper tubes.
• Familiarity with data center thermal architecture and critical infrastructure cooling requirements.
• Patent portfolio or published research in thermal management technologies.