Mechanical Commissioning Project Manager

Mechanical Commissioning Project Manager

Vertex Innovations is seeking a Mechanical Commissioning Project Manager to lead the mechanical commissioning effort on large-scale, mission-critical data center construction projects. In this role you will serve as the senior commissioning authority for mechanical and cooling systems, coordinating the full commissioning lifecycle—from design review and factory witness testing through integrated systems testing (IST) and turnover—on behalf of our clients in an Owner's Representative and Construction Management capacity.

You will be the single point of accountability for mechanical commissioning quality, schedule, and documentation, working closely with general contractors, commissioning agents, equipment vendors, and the owner's operations team to verify that cooling and heat-rejection systems maintain critical environmental conditions and perform reliably under load before turnover and occupancy.

This is a field-based position requiring regular weekly travel and on-site work at client project locations, as assigned. The initial assignment is near Abilene, TX. The initial assignment is expected to last several months, with future assignments varying based on project needs and client requirements. Candidates must maintain a permanent residence and be willing to travel to assigned project sites on a weekly basis.

The company offers travel expense reimbursement in accordance with company policy.

Commissioning Leadership & Process

• Lead and own the mechanical commissioning program across all levels (Level 1 factory testing through Level 5 integrated systems testing) in accordance with the project commissioning plan, owner's project requirements (OPR), and basis of design (BOD).
• Develop, maintain, and enforce commissioning schedules that align with the overall construction sequence, ensuring mechanical commissioning milestones are integrated into the master project schedule.
• Author and review commissioning documentation including pre-functional checklists, functional performance test scripts, IST scripts, issues logs, and final commissioning reports.
• Chair commissioning meetings and provide regular status reporting to the owner, design team, and Vertex project leadership, escalating risks and deviations promptly.

Mechanical Systems & Testing

• Oversee commissioning of critical cooling infrastructure including air-cooled and water-cooled chiller plants, cooling towers, condenser and chilled-water pumping systems, CRAC/CRAH units, air handling units, and associated piping and valving.
• Commission advanced and high-density cooling systems such as economizer/free-cooling modes, glycol and waterside systems, coolant distribution units (CDUs), rear-door heat exchangers, and direct-to-chip / liquid cooling where applicable.
• Direct integrated thermal and load testing including load bank and thermal-load testing, "pull-the-plug" / loss-of-cooling and loss-of-utility scenarios, and failure-mode and recovery testing across redundancy configurations (N+1, 2N).
• Verify airflow management and environmental performance including hot/cold aisle containment, static pressure control, temperature and humidity setpoints, and compliance with ASHRAE TC 9.9 thermal guidelines.
• Validate BMS and controls integration confirming sequences of operation, monitoring, alarming, trending, and automatic failover perform correctly during normal, maintenance, and failure scenarios.
• Witness and document factory acceptance testing (FAT) at vendor facilities for chillers, CRAH/CRAC units, and CDUs, and reconcile findings with site acceptance testing (SAT).

Quality, Safety & Coordination

• Enforce QA/QC standards for mechanical installation and testing—including pipe flushing, hydrostatic and pressure testing, cleanliness, and TAB (testing, adjusting, and balancing) verification—ensuring nonconformances are tracked to closure.
• Champion jobsite safety during mechanical startup and testing, including lockout/tagout, confined-space and rigging procedures, and compliance with site safety protocols.
• Coordinate cross-discipline dependencies with electrical commissioning, controls, and the general…