COWI
Technical Director (Mechanical- Datacentres)
Technical Director (Mechanical- Datacentres) at COWI, based in London. This is a contract role with hybrid working.
- Pay
- Not given by the employer
- Hours and contract
- Contract · Hybrid
- Location
- London
- Closing date
- Sector
- Mechanical Engineer
Reference 634543616129900296
About the role
Position: Technical Director ( Mechanical – Datacentres)
Location: London
Permanent
Office /Home Hybrid working
Do you want to be a part of a growing M&E team? Can you collaborate with colleagues across UK and International projects? Are you experienced in Mechanical Design of data centres? Then, this could be the next adventure in your career.
Create Solutions that will enable a better tomorrow
To further our mechanical capability on data centre projects, we are looking for a Mechanically biased Technical Director to join us.
Your primary responsibility will be to lead and contribute to the detailed mechanical design of data centre and mission critical facilities, with particular focus on design of cooling, ventilation, and associated mechanical services. This will include the development of system concepts, detailed design, calculations, schematics, equipment selection, and technical specifications in accordance with relevant standards and client requirements.
Working as part of a multidisciplinary delivery team, you will act as the primary Subject Matter Expert (SME) for mechanical engineering systems, coordinating stakeholders including clients, designers, contractors, vendors, commissioning agents, and operations teams.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead and contribute to the mechanical design of data centre projects for a range of hyperscale, colocation, and enterprise clients
- Develop detailed designs for mechanical systems, including calculations, layouts, and specifications
- Lead the development of large-scale cooling strategies including:
- Direct-to-Chip (DTC) liquid cooling.
- Chilled water systems.
- Air-cooled and water-cooled plant.
- Heat reuse and energy recovery systems.
- Validate cooling capacity, resilience, maintainability, and future scalability.
- Ensure mechanical systems support current and future AI/HPC workloads.
- Undertake technical assurance of designs, including the use of relevant engineering and analysis software
- Coordinate closely with electrical, structural, architectural, fire engineering, and other disciplines to ensure fully integrated solutions
- Provide technical guidance and mentoring to junior engineers and designers
- Contribute to design reviews, value engineering, risk management, and constructability discussions as required
Your skills. Our team. Together we design the future.
The first step to success in this role is that you are eager to collaborate with the people around you, whether they are colleagues, partners, or customers. Developing ties with others is something you do by acting respectfully and delivering on your promises. And you never get set in your ways but keep exploring new insights and ways to improve.
On top of that, you’ll have:
- A degree in relevant engineering discipline
- Achieved Chartered Engineer status (or equivalent)
- Relevant experience in the design of mechanical systems for mission-critical data centre environments, including cooling and heat rejection systems, redundancy strategies, and selection and specification of mechanical equipment.
- The ability to provide technically sound solutions alone and as a discipline lead
- A good understanding of systems and technology including white space, high density & AI cooling systems
- Experience on specifying these systems and installations
- Experience of working with codes of practice in the UK; also experience with related international codes and standards
- Exposure to other mechanical systems such as control systems and hydraulic systems would be an advantage
- Experience with 3D modelling and BIM
- Knowledge of CDM regulations
Reference: 634543616129900296 · Posted 3 days ago · Closes 1 Dec 2026 · Listed via COWI
Apply for this job
This role is listed via COWI. Applications are handled on the employer's site.
Apply on employer siteOpens the employer's website in a new tab.
Signed in? Every job you apply for counts toward your weekly goal and badges. How it works
Safe applying: a genuine employer will never ask you to pay for a DBS check, training or equipment, or move you onto WhatsApp before you are hired. If this listing does, report it and do not pay anything.