MEP Associate Director – Data Centre Projects

Overview

MEP Associate Director (Data Centre Background) | AtkinsRéalis

This is a full-time role within AtkinsRéalis, a world-class engineering services and nuclear organization. The role leads the planning, design, delivery, and operational oversight of Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) systems for mission-critical data centre projects, ensuring technical excellence and system reliability.

• Leadership:
  Lead MEP design, engineering, and delivery for hyperscale, colocation, and enterprise data centre projects, providing strategic and technical direction across all relevant systems.
• Project Management:
  Drive project execution from concept design through construction, commissioning, and handover, managing multidisciplinary engineering teams, consultants, and contractors.
• Compliance & Quality:
  Ensure MEP designs meet reliability, redundancy, uptime, performance, and operational requirements while complying with Uptime Institute, TIA-942, ASHRAE, NFPA, IEC, and local regulatory requirements.
• Optimization & Sustainability:
  Lead value engineering initiatives to optimize cost, efficiency, sustainability, and operational performance, driving energy efficiency and PUE optimization.
• Stakeholder Engagement:
  Develop and maintain strong relationships with clients, stakeholders, regulatory authorities, and service providers, serving as a senior technical advisor for business development and client presentations.

• Background:
  Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Building Services Engineering, or a related discipline, with a focus on MEP engineering for mission-critical infrastructure.
• Experience:
  
  15+ years in MEP engineering, including proven experience leading teams on hyperscale, colocation, enterprise, or Tier III/Tier IV data centre developments, covering design management, project delivery, and commissioning.
• Skills:
  
  Strong expertise in electrical power distribution, UPS, backup power, generators, HVAC, cooling infrastructure, plumbing, fire detection/suppression, BMS, and DCIM platforms; extensive knowledge of data centre redundancy concepts (N, N+1, 2N, 2N+1); demonstrated ability to manage large-scale capital projects, budgets, and engineering resources.
• Bonus:
  Master’s Degree in Engineering, Project Management, or Business Administration; knowledge of sustainability frameworks, ESG principles, LEED certifications, and energy-efficiency initiatives; experience working with international consultants, contractors, and global project teams.