Reliability Engineer Advisor, Thermal Systems & Cooling

Job Type: Full Time |
Location: Dallas/Fort Worth |
Department: Engineering |
Reporting to: Senior Manager, Asset Management |
Work Location Type
: #hybrid

IRENis a vertically integrated AI Cloud provider, delivering large-scale datacenters and GPU clusters for AI training and inference. IERN's platform is underpinned by its expansive portfolio of grid-connected land and power in renewable-rich regions across North America, Europe and APAC.

The Reliability Engineering Advisor, Thermal Systems & Cooling is the function's technical authority for IREN's data center thermal and cooling infrastructure, from the central utility plant to the IT heat load: chilled-water and dry-cooler plants, hydronics, pumps and heat exchangers, CRAH/CRAC and air-side systems, liquid cooling loops and coolant distribution units, and the cooling-water and coolant chemistry behind them.

The role owns the enterprise thermal asset strategies, operating envelopes and water-quality limits; owns the cooling-water and coolant chemistry program; leads failure analysis for thermal and cooling assets; defines what is monitored on each thermal asset class and the technical basis for OEM service decisions. It is hands-on with the site teams: supporting incidents, conducting cooling readiness reviews at each campus stage and witnessing commissioning, approving fit-for-purpose deviations from Regional Asset Managers, and giving functional direction and mentoring to the site reliability engineers, who execute to its strategies and elevate to it.

With 100% renewable energy, we build, own and operate our data centers and take pride in being at the forefront of sustainable solutions for the ever-evolving applications of high-performance compute. We believe that human progress is invaluable, but it should be done in the right way - responsibly, sustainably and having a positive impact on the communities we operate in.

• Degree in mechanical or process engineering; professional registration an asset.
• 10+ years in reliability or plant engineering on mission-critical or industrial cooling and utility plant; liquid cooling experience or the ability to transfer similar knowledge and come up to speed on it quickly.
• Cooling-water and coolant chemistry: treatment programs, water-quality limits and their monitoring.
• Process and thermal engineering: heat and mass balance, plant optimization, redundancy philosophies and the consequence of a cooling failure for IT load.
• Reliability method: RCM/FMECA, criticality-based maintenance strategies, operating limits, failure analysis and RCA; has loaded strategies into a CMMS.
• Working literacy in controls (BMS/SCADA) and electrical systems sufficient to coordinate with the controls and electrical engineers; condition monitoring for rotating and thermal equipment.
• Non-authoritative technical leadership: sets and defends a standard with site engineers and operations managers through functional direction; clear technical writing; at home on the plant floor and in a design review.
• Preferred: mechanical engineering plus mission-critical chiller plant. Chemical/process engineering plus industrial utilities and water treatment advisable; CMRP/CRL, CEM or refrigeration credentials.

• Pre-employment screening, including background check and substance testing may be required according to company policies.
• Regular travel to the Childress campus and other IREN sites is required, including extended periods on site during commissioning and start-up; availability to support cooling incidents outside normal hours as needed.

• Own the asset strategies for the thermal and cooling asset classes across the portfolio: criticality-based maintenance strategies, spares criticality and OEM service requirements, loaded into the CMMS and adopted at every operating campus.
• Set the operating envelopes and limits for thermal systems and the water-quality limits for cooling water and coolant; hold technical accountability for deviations from them; elevate enterprise-level deviations to the Senior Manager and the Global Director.
• Own the cooling-water and coolant chemistry program: treatment specifications, vendor performance requirements, monitoring and audit, and the response when limits are exceeded.
• Provide the functional direction for the campus mechanical and HVAC reliability engineers: profile, hiring panel, onboarding, technical objectives and appraisal input; mentor and develop them in the discipline.
• Lead failure…