Principal Mechanical Engineer (CFD) – Data Centers

About the role

AECOM is seeking a hands‑on Principal Mechanical Engineer specialized in CFD to support its Data Center team. The role involves executing airflow, thermal, and equipment‑discharge studies with minimal oversight and translating complex simulation results into practical design actions.

Key responsibilities

• Own the full CFD study lifecycle: define scope, build geometry, mesh, set boundary conditions, solve, verify convergence, post‑process, and produce technical reports.
• Perform internal data‑hall analyses (rack inlet temperatures, airflow distribution, containment, cooling‑unit placement, failure modes) and external studies (cooling towers, chillers, exhaust, mechanical yards).
• Conduct steady‑state and transient analyses for outage, failure, and load‑change scenarios.
• Develop defensible modeling assumptions, apply verification and validation practices, and evaluate results against ASHRAE TC 9.9 and client requirements.
• Prepare concise, client‑ready reports and visualizations, present findings to multidisciplinary teams, and contribute to standardized templates and knowledge‑sharing initiatives.

Required profile

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, or a closely related engineering discipline.
• 5+ years of hands‑on CFD experience applied to data centers or similarly complex thermal‑management environments.
• Proven ability to deliver CFD studies independently from scoping through final report.
• Advanced written and spoken English.

Required skills

• Proficiency with CFD platforms such as Cadence 6SigmaDCX, ANSYS Fluent, ANSYS CFX, or OpenFOAM.
• Strong fundamentals in fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and turbulence modeling.
• Experience with HVAC system operation and data‑center cooling architectures.