Principal, Mechanical SME

Hut 8
Nueces County, TX
On-site

Who this role is best for

Best suited to experienced mechanical engineers with a focus on data center infrastructure working in a hands-on, on-site environment.

Best fit for

  • Experienced mechanical engineers with a background in data center cooling systems and commissioning
    — “Deep hands-on knowledge of chilled water plants, hydronic systems, and data center cooling topologies”
  • Candidates who have led or supported critical facilities through design review and turnover processes
    — “Verify mechanical turnover packages: O&Ms, as-builts, valve tags and system labeling, water treatment baselines, spare parts and consumables lists, and PM program inputs”
  • Individuals who can balance construction oversight with operational excellence and long-term system reliability
    — “Comfortable embedded with a construction team while holding the operations line”

Things to consider

  • Full-time on-site presence is required, with no indication of remote flexibility
    — “Full time on-site in Nueces County, TX”
  • The role demands a high level of detail orientation, particularly in documentation and verification
    — “You read the O&M before signing for it”

How to stand out

  • Highlight your experience with Level 3-5 commissioning and functional performance testing
    — “Witness Level 3-5 commissioning of mechanical systems: functional performance tests, staging and failover sequences”
  • Emphasize your ability to identify and resolve maintainability issues in design reviews
    — “Review mechanical and cooling designs ... through an operations lens: maintenance access and laydown, isolation and redundancy behavior”
  • Showcase your history of ensuring training and documentation readiness for operational teams
    — “Validate training actually equips operators to run the plant”
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · MediumAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • Reviewing mechanical and cooling designs
  • Witnessing commissioning of mechanical systems
  • Verifying mechanical turnover packages
  • Supporting early operations stabilization
Typical background
8+ years in critical facilities mechanical operations, commissioning, or chief-engineer-track roles

Skills & requirements

Required

Critical Facilities Mechanical OperationsCommissioningChilled Water PlantsHydronic SystemsData Center CoolingOperability Design ReviewConstruction-phase VerificationCommissioning WitnessTurnover ReadinessOperations Transition SupportProgram Feedback

Preferred

Cfc/epa CertificationsTrade LicensureEngineering Degree

Stack & domain

Mechanical OperationsCommissioningChief-engineer-track RolesChilled Water PlantsHydronic SystemsData Center Cooling TopologiesAir-cooledWater-cooledLiquid/direct-to-chipCommissioning FluencyOperability Design ReviewConstruction-phase VerificationCommissioning WitnessTurnover ReadinessOperations Transition SupportProgram FeedbackWater TreatmentCleanliness ProtocolCfc/epa CertificationsTrade LicensureEngineering DegreeRigorHumilityOwnershipTruth Over TraditionEntrepreneurialInnovationCuriosityCritical ThinkingTeamworkTrustGrowth MindsetEnergyTechnologyAIRoboticsAdvanced Manufacturing

About the role

Original posting from Hut 8 via Greenhouse

Hut 8 brings exceptional people together to solve the world’s most consequential problems at the intersection of energy and technology. Today, that means building infrastructure for AI at a pace and scale without precedent. Tomorrow, it could mean powering a new era of innovation through robotics, advanced manufacturing, or an industry that does not yet exist. Whatever the technology demands, our ambition holds: to build the defining physical infrastructure company of our generation.

We look for thinkers and builders with the rigor, humility, and ownership to solve problems at this scale. They start from zero and choose truth over tradition. They back the best idea, whatever its source. They bet on themselves and embrace the hard truths that force them to grow. Our commitment is to keep the path from idea to execution short, trust them with critical decisions and the work that follows, and surround them with colleagues whose curiosity extends beyond their expertise.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Mechanical Systems Expert is Managed Services' expert embedded in a data center build - supporting design review and commissioning to ensure cooling systems are operable and maintainable at turnover. Every design decision eventually becomes someone's 3 a.m. problem; this role reviews the design and witnesses the testing on behalf of that person.

Some of the key responsibilities you should expect are the following:

Operability Design Review

Review mechanical and cooling designs - chilled water plants, air and liquid cooling systems, CDUs, CRAHs, heat rejection, water treatment - through an operations lens: maintenance access and laydown, isolation and redundancy behavior, degraded-mode operation, instrumentation adequacy, and failure-mode consequences. File review comments that change designs, not just document concerns.

Construction-Phase Verification

Walk mechanical installations at key milestones: pipe routing and support, valve access, equipment clearances, insulation quality, and cleanliness/flushing protocol compliance - catching operability problems while they're still cheap to fix.

Commissioning Witness

Witness Level 3-5 commissioning of mechanical systems: functional performance tests, staging and failover sequences, failure scenarios, and integrated systems testing. Drive operational issues into the Cx log with clear acceptance criteria and verify closure personally.

Turnover Readiness

Verify mechanical turnover packages: O&Ms, as-builts, valve tags and system labeling, water treatment baselines, spare parts and consumables lists, and PM program inputs (frequencies, procedures, vendor contacts). Validate training actually equips operators to run the plant.

Operations Transition Support

Support early operations stabilization post-turnover: alarm tuning input, setpoint refinement, and first-months troubleshooting alongside the operations team.

Program Feedback

Feed operational lessons into Hut 8 mechanical design standards and the next project's basis of design.

ABOUT YOU

What we're looking for:

  • 8+ years in critical facilities mechanical operations, commissioning, or chief-engineer-track roles.
  • Deep hands-on knowledge of chilled water plants, hydronic systems, and data center cooling topologies - air-cooled, water-cooled, and liquid/direct-to-chip.
  • Level 1-5 commissioning fluency from the witness/operations side, including integrated systems testing.
  • Sharp eye for maintainability in design reviews: access, isolation, and instrumentation gaps.
  • Turnover documentation rigor - you read the O&M before signing for it.
  • Comfortable embedded with a construction team while holding the operations line.
  • Water treatment and cleanliness protocol experience for critical hydronic systems.
  • CFC/EPA certifications, trade licensure, or engineering degree all welcome paths.

ABOUT THE WORK ENVIRONMENT

  • Full time on-site in Nueces County, TX.

Source: Hut 8 careers (Greenhouse)

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