Senior Commissioning Engineer, Liquid-Cooled Data Centers

The challenge

A retrofit data hall is racked for AI densities and the CDUs arrive with the schedule already compressed. The loop has to be flushed, filled, and accepted on fluid chemistry before a single GPU rack sees coolant. Leak detection has to prove itself, and the full-load thermal test has to hold at design flow and temperature with the BMS agreeing. Commissioning a CDU is not commissioning a CRAH, and the client's go-live assumes the person running the test packages knows the difference.

Role overview

Commissioning the liquid side of high-density data center projects: pre-functional checks, functional performance tests, and integrated systems testing on DLC infrastructure, from CDUs and RDHx units to the closed-loop cooling systems serving GPU racks. The work runs from review of design documents through flush-and-fill and fluid chemistry acceptance, leak detection verification, and full-load and partial-load thermal tests, to the IST that proves failover and emergency shutdown before handover. You test what the design team drew, and you document what actually happened in the commissioning logs, punch lists, and issue registers.

Specializations

Technical requirements

• BS in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering, or equivalent commissioning field experience
• 7+ years commissioning mission-critical or data center facilities, from pre-functional checks through IST
• Direct experience commissioning DLC infrastructure: CDU functional testing, flush-and-fill, fluid chemistry acceptance, and leak detection verification
• Working knowledge of chilled water systems, hydronic systems, and testing and balancing on closed loops
• Experience running test packages in CxAlloy or Facility Grid and tracking schedules in Primavera P6 or Procore
• Site safety discipline: LOTO and Permit-to-Work around energized MV/LV electrical distribution and UPS systems

Preferred qualifications

• CxA, BCxP, NEBB, or AABC certification
• CDCP, CDCS, or Uptime Institute ATS/ATD credentials
• NFPA 70E electrical safety training
• Thermal-soak testing and FAT/SAT experience on high-density rack deployments

Key responsibilities

• Develop the project-specific pre-commissioning and commissioning plan, and define system boundaries and test packages for the DLC scope
• Lead pre-functional checks and functional performance tests on CDUs, RDHx units, and closed-loop cooling systems
• Execute full-load and partial-load thermal tests against high-density racks, verifying flow, pressure, and temperature at design conditions
• Plan and execute integrated systems testing (IST), proving failover and emergency shutdown across the cooling plant and BMS/EPMS
• Witness flush-and-fill, fluid chemistry, and water treatment acceptance on the liquid loop, and lead Factory Witness Testing (FWT) for CDUs
• Maintain detailed commissioning logs, punch lists, and issue registers from pre-functional checks through IST

Compensation & Benefits

• Base salary: $168,000 - $180,000
• Annual bonus target 10%
• Travel per diem on project assignments
• Continuing education budget ($4,000/year) toward commissioning certifications