Chief Mechanical Engineer

ABOUT POOLSIDE

In this decade, the world will create Artificial General Intelligence. There will only be a small number of companies who will achieve this. Their ability to stack advantages and pull ahead will define the winners. These companies will move faster than anyone else. They will attract the world's most capable talent. They will be on the forefront of applied research, engineering, infrastructure and deployment at scale. They will continue to scale their training to larger & more capable models. They will be given the right to raise large amounts of capital along their journey to enable this. They will create powerful economic engines. They will obsess over the success of their users and customers.

poolside exists to be this company - to build a world where AI will be the engine behind economically valuable work and scientific progress.

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About the role

The Chief Mechanical Engineer is responsible for the full mechanical infrastructure supporting a mission-critical facility. This includes the chilled water and condenser water systems, pumps, heat exchangers, air-handling equipment, CRAC/CRAH units, and mechanical controls. The role also has full ownership of the liquid-cooling systems required for high-density AI and HPC environments. This includes CDUs, modular CDUs, direct-to-chip cooling, rear-door heat exchangers, coolant manifolds, and distribution loops. The Chief Mechanical Engineer ensures system reliability, leads engineering strategy, supports staff development, oversees maintenance programs, and ensures all mechanical systems operate safely and in compliance with internal standards and regulatory requirements.

Responsibilities

• Provide daily operational guidance for mechanical, electrical, controls, and life-safety systems, maintaining full awareness of facility condition and operational risks.

• Monitor, review, and approve maintenance activities, contractor work, and corrective actions, ensuring all critical alarms, events, and incidents are properly escalated and managed.

• Oversee electrical, mechanical, controls, and facilities technicians, leading shift coordination, staffing schedules, and task assignments.

• Support ongoing training, development, performance evaluations, and provide mentorship to technical leads and technicians.

• Manage preventive and predictive maintenance programs for all facility systems, reviewing and approving work orders and PM schedules.

• Ensure documentation of all maintenance activities in the CMMS and coordinate vendor resources for specialized testing or repairs.

• Review and approve all MOPs, SOPs, and EOPs before execution, ensuring compliance with NEC, NFPA, OSHA, and internal safety standards.

• Support lockout/tagout governance, enforce proper safety protocols, and maintain accurate facility records, drawings, and system documentation.

• Coordinate daily activities for all onsite contracted service providers, reviewing vendor scope, performance, and adherence to SLAs.

• Participate in contract evaluations and renewal discussions.

• Assist with facility upgrades, retrofits, and expansion projects, reviewing design documents for operational impact and maintainability, and supporting commissioning and integrated systems testing.

• Lead onsite response to facility incidents or events, coordinate with engineering leads for technical analysis and recovery actions, and oversee incident reports, corrective actions, and post-event reviews.

Skills & Experience

• 7+ or more years of experience in data centers, utilities, industrial facilities, energy, or similar mission-critical environments

• Strong understanding of MEP systems and their interactions

• Experience overseeing facility operations staff or contracted service providers

• Working knowledge of electrical and mechanical safety practices

• Ability to review and approve operating procedures and maintenance plans.

• Experience in multi-building or large-scale mission-critical environments is a plus

• Prior supervisory or management experience is a plus

• Familiarity with CMMS, BMS, EPMS, and monitoring tools is a plus

• Background in electrical, mechanical, or controls engineering is a plus

• This is a full-time onsite position in Fort Stockton

• Participation in an on-call rotation as needed is required

• Must be available for occasional night, weekend, or holiday work during maintenance windows or incidents

Process

• Interview w/William Gauthier our Director of Critical Facilities

• Interview w/Molly Anderson, Senior Manager of People Operations

• Interview w/Lance Smith our VP of Data Centers