Lead HVAC Design Engineer (Presales)

Role & responsibilities

Presales & Solutioning:

• Lead HVAC design solutioning for presales activities, including preparation of concept designs, technical proposals, and tender documentation.
• Collaborate with business development and sales teams to understand client requirements and translate them into technical solutions.
• Participate in client meetings, presentations, and technical discussions to demonstrate domain expertise.
• Support bid management teams with HVAC-related inputs for RFPs, RFQs, and tenders.

Design & Engineering:

• Develop heat load calculations, equipment sizing, airflow management strategies, and cooling infrastructure design for data centers.
• Prepare and review HVAC layouts, schematics, BOQs, and technical specifications.
• Evaluate and recommend energy-efficient cooling technologies including chilled water systems, precision cooling, economizers, and free cooling systems.
• Ensure compliance with global standards (ASHRAE, ISHRAE, NFPA, etc.) and client-specific requirements.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Management:

• Work closely with electrical, mechanical, ELV, and fire-fighting teams to ensure integrated solutions.
• Liaise with OEMs, vendors, and consultants for product selection, technical clarifications, and compliance reviews.
• Provide value-engineering proposals to optimize cost, efficiency, and sustainability of solutions.

Governance & Quality:

• Ensure all deliverables meet Sterling & Wilsons design quality standards and project timelines.
• Conduct design risk assessments and ensure HVAC solutions are reliable for mission-critical applications.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of industry trends, innovations, and evolving cooling technologies in data centers.

Key Skills & Competencies:

• Strong expertise in HVAC design engineering for large-scale infrastructure, preferably data centers.
• Excellent knowledge of psychrometrics, CFD modeling, chilled water systems, precision cooling, and airflow management.
• Proficiency in HVAC design software (e.g., HAP, TRACE, AutoCAD, Revit, CFD tools).
• Strong presales acumen ability to understand client requirements and propose optimized solutions.
• Effective communication and presentation skills for client-facing interactions.
• Ability to lead, mentor, and guide junior design engineers.

Preferred candidate profile

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering (Master’s preferred).
• 10–15 years of experience in HVAC design engineering, with at least 5 years in presales/design roles for mission-critical facilities (data centers, telecom facilities, pharma, etc.).
• Proven experience in handling end-to-end presales design activities, technical proposals, and client engagements.
• Exposure to international codes and standards (ASHRAE, ISHRAE, NFPA, LEED, etc.).