Job Ref: # 6832530
Date Posted: 9/21/2026
Location: Sterling, VA
Salary (USD): $135,000 - $145,000
Description
The Chief Engineer is responsible for leading the technical operation, maintenance, reliability, and performance of critical mechanical and electrical infrastructure supporting a mission-critical data center. This position provides technical leadership to a team of 6–10 Operating Engineers while ensuring critical facility systems remain safe, reliable, and available in a 24/7 high-availability environment.
The Chief Engineer will oversee critical power, cooling, building controls, and life-safety systems while managing preventive and predictive maintenance programs. This position also works closely with the Site Director on manpower planning, employee scheduling, maintenance programs, operating and capital budgets, emergency response, and overall facility operations.
Must-Have Skills, Experience, and Education:
- 7–10 years of experience managing critical mechanical and electrical facilities and technical staff
- Strong hands-on experience with critical mechanical and electrical infrastructure
- Experience leading and providing technical direction to operating engineers or other technical maintenance personnel
- Experience operating and maintaining centrifugal chiller plants
- Experience with cooling towers and heat exchangers
- Experience with CRAH units and critical cooling systems
- Experience with emergency generators
- Experience with UPS systems
- Strong knowledge of electrical distribution systems
- Experience implementing or managing preventive maintenance programs
- Experience implementing or managing predictive maintenance programs
- Experience with Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS)
- Working knowledge of Building Management Systems (BMS/BAS)
- Knowledge of fire detection systems
- Knowledge of gaseous fire-suppression systems
- Knowledge of pre-action sprinkler systems
- Strong mechanical and electrical troubleshooting skills
- Ability to respond to equipment failures, alarms, and emergency situations
- Ability to provide technical direction during emergency and abnormal operating conditions
- Ability to lead technical personnel in a 24/7 mission-critical environment
- Experience with maintenance planning and scheduling
- Strong manpower planning and employee scheduling skills
- Ability to assist with operating and capital budget preparation and management
- Strong understanding of equipment reliability and critical-facilities best practices
- Ability to communicate equipment status and technical issues to site leadership and engineering personnel
- Strong interpersonal, leadership, and communication skills
- Ability to work effectively with employees, contractors, site leadership, and other facility personnel
- Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook
- Ability to work effectively in a mission-critical, high-availability environment
- Availability to respond to facility emergencies on a 7x24 basis
Nice-to-Have Skills:
- Data center facilities experience
- Mission-critical or high-availability facilities experience
- Associate degree or technical school education
- Military electrical, mechanical, HVAC, power-generation, or facilities experience
- Experience leading teams of Operating Engineers or critical-facilities technicians
- Large-scale centrifugal chiller plant experience
- Critical power infrastructure experience
- Advanced UPS and emergency generator experience
- BMS/BAS controls and facility-monitoring experience
- CMMS implementation experience
- Preventive and predictive maintenance program development experience
- Critical-facility emergency-response experience
- Technical or facilities-related licenses and certifications
- Experience supporting large-scale data center cooling infrastructure
- Experience managing equipment reliability and uptime in a 24/7 environment
Job Posting
