Mechanical Engineer – Liquid Cooling NPI

Mechanical Engineer – Liquid Cooling NPI

Location: Santa Clara, CA (On-site)

Type: Contract-to-Hire | 6–12 Month Contract

Contract Rate: $100–$150/hr

COMPANY

Our client is a global leader in data center networking — a well-established, publicly traded technology company known for innovation in cloud and AI infrastructure. This role is confidential at the client's request.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are looking for a Mechanical Engineer with hands-on liquid cooling experience to support the NPI and manufacturing scale-up of next-generation liquid-cooled network switches. This role sits at the intersection of design, thermal/mechanical integration, and high-volume manufacturing.

This is not a systems-level role. We need someone who understands both the liquid cooling hardware and the component manufacturing side — materials, tooling, DFM — so that designs are built for how they will actually be produced at scale.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

• End-to-end NPI for liquid-cooled networking equipment (cold plates, CDUs, manifold loops)

• Scale-up from prototype to hundreds–thousands of units per week

• Line bring-up with global factories in Mexico, Malaysia, and Vietnam

• Coolant charging, leak testing, flushing, and filtration processes

• SOPs, build guides, test procedures, and operator training documentation

• Cross-functional collaboration with thermal, test, electrical, and commodity engineering teams

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 3–10 years of mechanical or manufacturing engineering experience

• Hands-on experience with product-level liquid cooling: cold plates, CDUs, manifolds, hydronic loops, coolant chemistry (PG25/LC25)

• Full NPI ownership through PVT — not just prototype exposure

• Strong manufacturing fundamentals: materials selection, hard/soft tooling, plating, DFM/DFx

• Mechanical, Manufacturing, or Industrial Engineering degree (or equivalent)

• Strong foundation in thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics

• Might require minimal travel

PREFERRED BACKGROUNDS

Candidates from Nvidia, Google, Meta, Cisco, Juniper, Tesla, Rivian, or similar companies with liquid-cooled electronics at scale are strongly encouraged to apply. Data center facility cooling experience (chillers, pump redundancy, ASHRAE) is a plus.

NOTE ON FIT

Strong liquid cooling systems knowledge alone is not enough. We are specifically looking for engineers who also own the manufacturing side — someone who understands what it takes to design a component that can be built reliably at volume, not just validated in a lab.