Principal Mechanical Engineer (Mission Critical / Data Centers)

This is a practice-building hire, not a seat on an existing bench. Inovi is standing up a mission-critical mechanical practice in Richmond, and we’re hiring the person who will own it - technically, commercially, and legally. You will be the mechanical engineer of record on our data center work, you will set the standards the rest of the discipline designs to, and you will hire and build the team beneath you. If you’ve been the person doing this work inside a larger firm without the title, the authority, or the upside, that’s the gap we’re offering to close.

Virginia is the most competitive data center market in the world right now, and we intend to compete in it seriously - that starts with the seal. Our work won’t stop at the state line; expect projects across the Mid-Atlantic and into other major data center markets. Virginia licensure is required on day one, and we fund and support additional state licensure as our project geography grows.

Essential Job Function and Key ResponsibilitiesTeam Leadership

Technical Authority

Serve as mechanical engineer of record on mission-critical projects - full seal authority, no oversight layer above you

Set the firm’s mechanical design standards, calculation methods, drawing conventions, and specification library for mission-critical work

Own discipline QA/QC - you are the final checkset, and you decide what leaves the office

Make the topology calls: air versus liquid, chilled water versus DX versus evaporative, economizer strategy, thermal storage sizing, and the redundancy scheme that meets the client’s availability target without gold-plating it

Adjudicate the hard ones - where the cooling plant actually rides through a generator transfer, what containment does to a partial-load failure mode, and whether the site’s water and climate make evaporative viable at all

Own the firm’s position on liquid cooling as AI and HPC density reshapes what clients ask for

Practice Leadership

Build the mechanical team: define the roles, run the hiring, and mentor the engineers you bring in toward their own licensure

Own discipline utilization, fee development, and project profitability

Represent the mechanical discipline in go/no-go decisions and pursuit strategy

Establish and maintain relationships with AHJs in Virginia and our other project states, state environmental agencies, and the commissioning agents we work alongside

Guide the firm’s multi-state licensure strategy - which states we pursue Certificates of Authorization in, which engineers carry which licenses, and how we staff a project in a state where we’re new

Business Development

Lead technical positioning in pursuits - interviews, proposal narratives, and the credibility that wins mission-critical work

Grow and bring client relationships; a principal is expected to influence the top line, not just deliver against it

Serve as the senior technical voice in front of owners, hyperscale and colocation clients, and their engineering representatives

Delivery

Author Basis of Design documents and respond to Owner’s Project Requirements

Direct load, psychrometric, hydraulic, and CFD analysis; own the PUE and WUE targets and the tradeoffs between them

Ensure compliance with the IMC, IECC, and applicable NFPA standards including NFPA 75, NFPA 855, NFPA 2001, and NFPA 92 as adopted and amended in each project’s jurisdiction - code cycles and state amendments diverge, and getting the applicable edition right on every project is your responsibility

Apply the ASHRAE TC 9.9 Thermal Guidelines and ASHRAE Standards 90.1, 90.4, 62.1, 15, and 188; lead 90.4 compliance through the Mechanical Load Component path

Navigate the AIM Act A2L refrigerant transition and its effect on DX and CRAC equipment selection

Validate designs against Uptime Institute Tier objectives and lead Tier Certification of Design Documents submissions where clients pursue them

Lead water strategy - withdrawal permitting, drought contingency, and the WUE-versus-PUE argument, which lands differently in Virginia than in Phoenix or Central Ohio

Direct generator air permitting with the relevant state environmental agency (Virginia DEQ and its counterparts elsewhere)

Lead commissioning support through Level 4 functional performance testing and Level 5 integrated systems testing, including load bank and failure-mode scenarios

Active Professional Engineer license in Virginia - if licensed elsewhere, Inovi will fund and expedite comity through DPOR’s APELSCIDLA board, but Virginia licensure is a condition of the role

Willingness to pursue licensure in additional states as our project geography demands - Inovi covers the fees and the administrative lift

15+ years of consulting or design-build experience, with 8+ years in mission-critical facilities

Prior engineer-of-record experience on at least one data center at Tier III-equivalent concurrent maintainability or better - you sealed it, and you can walk us through the decisions and what you’d change

Demonstrated ownership of a discipline’s technical standards and QA/QC process

Central utility plant design at campus scale

A clean licensure record in every state you hold, verifiable through the applicable board

Willingness to travel to project sites in Virginia and out of state (roughly 20-25%)

Strongly Preferred

Licensure in additional states and an active NCEES Record - the more jurisdictions you can already seal in, the better

Experience sealing in multiple jurisdictions and working to divergent adopted code editions and state amendments

Accredited Tier Designer (ATD), current

A commissioning credential - ACG CxA or ASHRAE BCxP; field time during integrated systems testing is what separates a design that works from one that only calculates

Liquid cooling design experience for AI and HPC deployments - direct-to-chip, CDUs, and hybrid air/liquid topologies

Design experience in other major data center markets - Central Ohio, Atlanta, North and Central Texas, Phoenix, Salt Lake, or the Chicago corridor - and familiarity with those climates, water regimes, and AHJs

Pulled from the full job description

• License reimbursement
• 401(k)
• Health insurance
• Retirement plan
• 401(k) matching
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance, Base salary: $158,000 - $195,000, depending on experience, breadth of licensure, and the depth of the mission-critical portfolio you bring.
• Annual performance bonus, target 15-25% of base
• Ownership track - principals at Inovi have a defined path to equity, discussed openly at offer stage
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid time off and paid holidays
• Relocation assistance
• Employer-paid licensure in every state we ask you to seal in, including application fees, renewals, and NCEES Record maintenance, plus professional society dues and continuing education across all jurisdictions
• Employer-paid ATD certification and renewal, plus commissioning credentials
• Hybrid schedule out of our Ashland/Richmond office

Inovi is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Inovi will use e-Verify to confirm work authorization.

Pay: $158,000.00 - $195,000.00 per year, * 401(k)

• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance