Design Manager – Mechanical

Position

The Design Manager – Mechanical is a full-time role within the DC Solutions & Innovation (SME) team and reports to the Senior Manager, DC Solutions & Innovation.

Location

Based in our offices in Batam, Indonesia, with travel to and time on project sites (including the BW Digital campus at Nongsa Digital Park, Batam) as required.

Overview

The Design Manager – Mechanical is the owner’s design authority for all mechanical and cooling infrastructure across BW Digital’s data centre portfolio – from heat rejection (cooling towers, condenser water and dry coolers), chilled water plant and thermal storage, to air handling and ventilation (PAHU, CRAH and fan walls), and the liquid-cooling / direct-to-chip (DLC/TCS) chain of heat exchangers, CDUs, secondary loops, manifolds and rack cooling interfaces – together with plumbing, fuel and fire suppression and detection systems. Reporting into the DC Solutions & Innovation (SME) team, which provides multi-project governance and technical assurance above all campus project teams, the role owns the mechanical Basis of Design, OPR and reference architectures, sets and enforces technical standards and specifications, directs external design consultants and specialist vendors, and leads structured design reviews and engineering analysis through every gate from concept to IFC, construction support and integrated commissioning.

The objective is the consistent delivery of cooling and mechanical infrastructure that is reliable, concurrently maintainable, fault-tolerant, cost-optimised and energy- and water-efficient – certified to Uptime Institute Tier III (TCDD/TCCF) and TIA-942 Rated 3, and aligned to tenant requirements for AI-ready, liquid-cooled, high-density deployments in a tropical climate. The role also supports pre-sales and RFP activity and drives continuous improvement of mechanical design standards across current and future campuses.

Key Responsibilities

The Design Manager – Mechanical has the following key responsibilities:

Design ownership & standards

• Basis of Design & standards – Own, develop and maintain the mechanical Basis of Design, OPR, reference architectures, design criteria and technical specifications covering heat rejection (cooling towers, condenser water, dry coolers), chilled water plant and thermal storage, air handling and ventilation (PAHU, CRAH, fan walls), liquid cooling / DLC (heat exchangers, CDUs, secondary loops, manifolds, rack interfaces), plumbing, fuel and fire protection.
• Redundancy & resilience – Define and validate mechanical redundancy topologies (N+1, 2N) across cooling plant and distribution, together with concurrent-maintainability and fault-tolerance strategies, single-point-of-failure analysis and loss-of-cooling / ride-through and thermal-storage scenarios.
• Codes & compliance – Ensure all designs comply with applicable international and local standards and codes (ASHRAE Thermal Guidelines and liquid-cooling guidance, OCP, NFPA, Uptime Institute and TIA-942, and Indonesian SNI), and own the mechanical scope of Tier certification (TCDD/TCCF).

Consultant, analysis & deliverable management

• Consultant management – Direct external mechanical design consultants and sub-consultants – defining scope of services, reviewing fee proposals and variation orders, agreeing deliverable schedules and BIM execution plans, and holding them accountable for quality, completeness and programme.
• Design reviews – Lead structured, multi-discipline design reviews at each gate (concept, schematic, detailed design and IFC) – reviewing P&IDs, mechanical schedules and sequences of operation, running issue and comment registers and driving them to close-out against the project’s design standards.
• Analysis & modelling – Specify, review and validate mechanical analysis – thermal capacity and heat-balance models, hydraulic / pressure-drop models, CFD (airflow, hot/cold-aisle, room ΔT), pump and heat-exchanger performance, water balance and PUE/WUE energy modelling – and use the results to steer topology and equipment selection.

Coordination & interfaces

• Multi-discipline coordination – Drive coordination between mechanical and the electrical, architectural, structural, ICT/BMS and controls disciplines, including BIM/Revit and Navisworks model coordination and clash detection to LOD 300–500 for a clash-free, constructible design.
• Interfaces & demarcation – Establish clear interface and demarcation (RACI) between base-build and fit-out, the general contractor, equipment OEMs and tenants, with every active component cross-referenced to its power source and BMS/BAS connection, and define the facility-to-rack cooling interface (TCS / facility water).
• Rack-level cooling & white space – Define the liquid-cooling distribution to racks (CDUs, manifolds, quick disconnects, hoses, cold-plate interface, leak detection, coolant chemistry / PG25, filtration and flow rate in lpm/kW) alongside containment and airflow management, validated against tenant rack densities.

Procurement & delivery

• Procurement & technical evaluation – Support the tendering of mechanical packages (chillers, cooling towers, pumps, heat exchangers, CDUs, fan walls / CRAH, PAHU, fuel and fire systems), preparing employer’s requirements and technically evaluating vendor and long-lead-equipment (LLE) submissions, performance curves and factory witness testing.
• Construction support – Provide design support during construction – reviewing shop drawings, RFIs, technical queries, method statements and variations – and verify as-built conformance to the approved design.
• Commissioning – Support integrated commissioning (Cx Levels 1–5), including FAT/SAT, load-bank and failure-scenario test plans, flushing, filling and water treatment, integrated systems testing and witnessing for mechanical and cooling systems.

Commercial, customer & governance

• Cost & schedule – Deliver the mechanical scope to budget and to aggressive programmes, applying value engineering to reduce cost, carbon and water use without compromising reliability or maintainability.
• Customer interface – Support pre-sales and RFP activity – translating tenant thermal requirements into compliant cooling solutions, compliance matrices and work-letters, and presenting to customers and senior stakeholders.
• Sustainability & efficiency – Optimise mechanical design for energy and water efficiency (PUE/WUE, free-cooling hours, water treatment and reuse, VFDs, refrigerant / GWP selection), supporting LEED/BCA and ESG objectives.
• Governance & standardisation – Contribute to multi-project governance and technical assurance across campuses, capturing lessons learned and continuously improving mechanical standards, checklists, templates and reference designs.
• Team leadership – Provide technical direction to, and in later phases line-manage, Mechanical SMEs within the team, building discipline capability and quality oversight.

Qualifications & Experiences

• Mandatory Requirements:
  • Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in Mechanical Engineering, Building Services Engineering or a closely related discipline.
  • Minimum 10 years’ experience in mechanical design and design management, including substantial experience on data centre or other mission-critical / critical-cooling facilities.
  • Demonstrated ownership or senior review of mechanical Basis of Design, OPR, reference architectures and design standards for Tier III / TIA-942 (or equivalent) data centres.
  • Expert knowledge of data centre cooling topology – chilled water and condenser water plant, cooling towers / dry coolers, thermal storage, pumps, heat exchangers, CRAH and fan walls, air handling and ventilation, humidity control – and of redundancy concepts (N+1, 2N).
  • Demonstrable experience with liquid cooling / direct-to-chip (DLC/TCS): CDUs, secondary loops, manifolds, quick disconnects, coolant chemistry, filtration, leak detection and facility-to-rack interfaces for high-density GPU racks.
  • Proven ability to specify, review and challenge thermal, hydraulic and CFD analysis and energy / water (PUE/WUE) modelling.
  • Strong command of international and local standards (ASHRAE Thermal Guidelines and liquid-cooling guidance, OCP, NFPA, Uptime Institute, TIA-942; Indonesian SNI an advantage).
  • Proven experience directing external design consultants and specialist vendors – scope, fee, deliverables and design reviews – in a client-side / owner’s-engineer capacity.
  • Working knowledge of BIM/Revit and Navisworks coordination (LOD 300–500, ISO 19650) and structured design-review / QA processes.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication in English, with the ability to produce clear technical reviews, registers, specifications and reports.
  • Willingness to travel to, and spend significant time at, project sites in Batam, Indonesia.
• Preferred / Desirable:
  • Chartered Engineer (CEng) / Professional Engineer (PE/PEng) or equivalent professional registration.
  • Uptime Institute Accredited Tier Designer (ATD) and/or a recognised commissioning credential (e.g. ATS), ASHRAE certification, Certified Energy Manager (CEM) or LEED AP.
  • Direct experience with AI / HPC, high-density and liquid-cooled (DLC) deployments (e.g. GB300 NVL72 at 128–135 kW/rack, TCS at approximately 1.2–1.5 lpm/kW).
  • Experience delivering data centre projects in Indonesia or the wider APAC region, including tropical-climate cooling optimisation and local water-utility interface.
  • Experience across the full commissioning lifecycle (Levels 1–5), integrated systems testing and load-bank programmes.
  • Familiarity with BMS/BAS controls, sequences of operation, DCIM and their mechanical interfaces.
  • Exposure to sustainability and efficiency frameworks (LEED, BCA, ISO 50001) and water-stewardship / carbon-reduction in mechanical design.
• Personal Attributes:
  • Decisive technical judgement, with the confidence to set clear positions and hold consultants and contractors to account.
  • Strong stakeholder management across owner, consultant, contractor, vendor and tenant interfaces.
  • Rigorous, evidence-based and detail-oriented, while keeping sight of the whole-system, plant-to-rack picture.
  • Comfortable working to aggressive programmes in a fast-moving, multi-project environment.
  • Collaborative and pragmatic, with a consistent focus on safe, reliable and buildable outcomes.