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Data Center Design Engineer Position Profile
ABOUT NORTHSTAR TECHNOLOGIES
Northstar Technologies Group is an industry-leading construction technology company that pioneers high-performance composite building solutions.
With a focus on innovation and precision, we serve the construction, infrastructure, and defense sectors, addressing complex challenges with advanced composite solutions.
Our cutting-edge technologies are designed to protect lives and critical assets while empowering our customers to succeed with confidence and resilience.
At Northstar Technologies Group, we are redefining the boundaries of construction and engineering by delivering sustainable, efficient, and highly durable solutions to meet the evolving demands of the modern world.
OUR BUSINESSES
Our corporation, headquartered in Bonita Springs, Florida, is organized around our core business areas specializing in infrastructure, defense, and construction.
MARKETS SERVED
Northstar Enterprise + Defense Mission Critical + Data Centers
Mission-critical international defense operation units and both modular and hyperscale data center solutions for enterprise.
Northstar Federal Mission Ready
Delivering modular and permanent infrastructure for U.S. military solutions designed specifically for mission-critical environments where uptime, security, and rapid deployment are non-negotiable.
Northstar Building Systems Advanced Composite Manufacturing
As a leading manufacturer of high-performance composite building systems, we specialize in developing advanced solutions that meet the demands of diverse industries, including construction, aerospace, infrastructure, and defense.
Northstar Commodore A Growing Demand
By leveraging high-performance composite building systems, we redefine traditional construction methods, offering superior strength, versatility, and efficiency to meet the demands of an evolving world.
Northstar Construction Build Better, Build Northstar
Northstar Construction Company is a full-service general contractor specializing in projects valued under $10 million USD, with a focused expertise in the construction and erection of advanced fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) building systems.
Northstar Realty Group Strategic Land Acquisition
With a commitment to turn-key project delivery, our strategic land acquisition process equips customers with comprehensive solutions that encompass site selection, design, construction, and final handover. This approach allows us to streamline the development process, reduce potential delays, and enhance cost efficiency.
POSITION OVERVIEW
Northstar is seeking a hands-on Data Center Design Engineer / Solutions Architect to help translate customer requirements into practical, buildable data center solutions.
Despite the Solutions Architect title, this is not an IT, cloud, software, or traditional sales role. This is a physical infrastructure design position focused on power, cooling, equipment, layout, and capacity planning for high-density data center deployments.
You will work directly with customers, Northstar’s commercial team, engineering partners, equipment vendors, and internal delivery teams to take projects from initial requirements through conceptual design and, increasingly, into post-contract execution.
You will be expected to personally develop layouts, evaluate equipment, calculate capacity requirements, build bills of materials, and help define the technical scope of customer projects.
This is a producing role. We are looking for someone who enjoys doing the work, solving problems quickly, and seeing their designs move from concept to deployment.
ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES
- Translate customer compute and capacity requirements into conceptual data center designs.
- Develop CAD layouts for modular and containerized data center deployments.
- Perform data center capacity calculations, including rack counts, IT load, facility load, electrical requirements, and cooling requirements.
- Support the design of electrical infrastructure including utility service, transformers, switchgear, UPS systems, PDUs, and rack-level power distribution.
- Support the design and specification of mechanical and cooling infrastructure for high-density compute environments.
- Design solutions incorporating direct-to-chip liquid cooling, air-cooled systems, and hybrid cooling architectures.
- Select and specify equipment based on project requirements, performance, capacity, availability, and cost.
- Develop bills of materials, equipment lists, and component-level project scopes.
- Produce ROM estimates and assist with budgetary pricing during active customer pursuits.
- Participate in customer meetings to understand requirements, answer technical questions, and help define the project scope.
- Work closely with licensed engineering partners who perform final engineering calculations, validation, and stamped design work.
- Collaborate with engineering and delivery teams after contract award to refine designs, equipment selections, sizing, and capacity.
- Coordinate with equipment manufacturers, engineering partners, procurement, and internal operations teams.
- Move quickly during active customer pursuits, including developing preliminary layouts and technical solutions with incomplete information.
- Take increasing ownership of projects as they move from presales design into detailed engineering and execution.
EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS
- Bachelor’s degree required; engineering, mechanical, electrical, or another technical discipline strongly preferred.
- 4–10+ years of progressive experience in data center design, mission-critical infrastructure, MEP engineering, modular infrastructure, or a closely related technical environment, with increasing responsibility for complex design and customer requirements.
- Demonstrated hands-on experience personally designing physical data center infrastructure, including developing layouts, specifying and sizing equipment, performing calculations, selecting components, and producing design documentation. Candidates whose experience has primarily involved reviewing or managing the work of others will not be the strongest fit.
- Strong hands-on CAD capability required, with the ability to personally create and modify technical drawings. AutoCAD experience is strongly preferred; Revit experience is valuable but not required for candidates with strong AutoCAD or comparable CAD capabilities.
- Meaningful technical expertise in data center electrical/power distribution and/or mechanical/thermal/cooling infrastructure. Expert-level knowledge of both disciplines is not required, but candidates should understand how electrical, mechanical, and IT infrastructure interact as a complete data center system.
- Demonstrated understanding of high-density compute infrastructure and the relationship between server/GPU requirements, rack density, IT load, facility power requirements, electrical distribution, cooling capacity, and overall data center capacity.
- Ability to perform practical “data center math”, translating compute and customer requirements into power, cooling, equipment, space, and capacity requirements. Experience supporting modern high-density AI/GPU environments is strongly preferred.
- Prior experience supporting or designing at least one liquid-cooled data center deployment required. Direct-to-chip liquid cooling experience is strongly preferred, including exposure to equipment specification, physical layout, capacity planning, customer requirements gathering, and/or bill of materials development.
- Experience with cooling distribution units (CDUs), associated thermal infrastructure, and air-cooled or hybrid cooling architectures is highly valuable.
- Proven ability to develop physical infrastructure designs from incomplete or evolving customer requirements, making sound technical decisions while maintaining speed, accuracy, and design integrity.
- Experience developing component-level cost estimates, ROM estimates, bills of materials, and equipment selections, with the ability to connect engineering decisions to project cost, constructability, and commercial requirements.
- Experience working directly with equipment manufacturers and vendors to evaluate, specify, and select appropriate infrastructure components.
- Customer-facing technical experience strongly preferred, including presales/solutions engineering, technical discovery, requirements gathering, solution development, and post-contract design support.
- Experience collaborating cross-functionally with commercial, engineering, operations, vendors, and customer teams to move infrastructure projects from initial concept through detailed design and deployment.
- Experience with modular or containerized data centers, hyperscale or colocation environments, mission-critical facilities, high-density AI/GPU infrastructure, or data center OEM/equipment organizations strongly preferred.
- Familiarity with relevant data center standards and design principles, including Uptime Institute and/or TIA-942, is valuable. A Professional Engineer (PE) license is not required.
- Candidates may come from hyperscale data center operators, colocation providers, mission-critical MEP design firms, modular data center manufacturers, containerized infrastructure companies, data center OEMs/equipment providers, or high-density compute infrastructure organizations.
- Willingness and ability to relocate to Southwest Florida, with the position ultimately based alongside Northstar’s expanding Fort Myers operations. Initial remote onboarding may be considered depending on circumstances, with reasonable relocation timing and potential relocation assistance discussed with the successful candidate.
ABOUT SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
The position will ultimately be based with Northstar’s team in Southwest Florida, with operations transitioning toward the company’s expanding Fort Myers presence.
Candidates may initially onboard remotely depending on circumstances, but relocation to Southwest Florida will be required. Northstar is willing to discuss relocation assistance and reasonable transition timing with the successful candidate.
Southwest Florida, spanning Lee, Collier, and Charlotte counties, offers an exceptional combination of lifestyle, opportunity, and year-round sunshine. With 271 days of sunshine, no state income tax, and world-class beaches from Sanibel and Captiva to Naples and Marco Island, it’s easy to understand why thousands of people choose to relocate here each year.
The region offers something for nearly every lifestyle—from the upscale character of Naples and the renewed energy of downtown Fort Myers to the laid-back island atmosphere of Sanibel. Add strong healthcare, a growing and diverse economy, and an outdoor lifestyle built around boating, fishing, golf, beaches, and year-round recreation, and Southwest Florida becomes more than a destination.
It’s a place to build a career, raise a family, and call home.
CRITICAL COMPETENCIES FOR SUCCESS
Hands-On Technical & Systems Acumen
The successful candidate must be a hands-on designer and problem solver, not simply a reviewer or manager of engineering work. This individual should be comfortable personally developing layouts, performing calculations, sizing and selecting equipment, and translating GPU/server requirements, rack density, IT load, power, cooling, and capacity requirements into practical, deployable data center infrastructure designs.
Results-Oriented & Accountable
This individual must take ownership of technical deliverables and drive projects forward in a fast-moving environment. They should balance speed with accuracy, make sound decisions when requirements are incomplete or evolving, and remain accountable from initial customer requirements through design development and deployment support.
Communication & Customer Orientation
This individual should possess strong communication and listening skills and be credible with both technical and commercial stakeholders. They must effectively lead technical discovery, translate customer needs into infrastructure solutions, clearly communicate design decisions and tradeoffs, and collaborate across customers, vendors, engineering, and commercial teams.
Agility, Urgency & Team Orientation
The successful candidate must thrive in an entrepreneurial environment where priorities and customer requirements can change quickly. They should demonstrate urgency, adaptability, and strong judgment while working collaboratively across functions. This individual will lead through technical credibility and execution, proactively solve problems, and contribute to a culture of accountability, responsiveness, and continuous improvement.
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