Head Mechanical Engineer- Critical Facilities

Who are we?

Equinix is the world’s digital infrastructure company®, shortening the path to connectivity to enable the innovations that enrich our work, life and planet.

A place where bold ideas are welcomed, human connection is valued, and everyone has the opportunity to shape their future.

Joining our operations team means being at the center of everything – maintaining and evolving critical infrastructure that powers the digital world and delivers real impact for our customers, communities and society. You’ll find belonging, purpose, and a team that welcomes you – because when you feel valued, you’re empowered to do your best work.

We are looking for a highly mechanically proficient Critical Facilities Specialist to join our UK Operations team, supporting the reliability, performance and continuous improvement of our data centre infrastructure.

This role is a mixture of hands‑on, technically focused skills with stakeholder engagement at the highest level and being an analytical problem solver. The role is suited to someone with strong experience in mechanical systems in critical environments such as data centres, the military, hospitals, manufacturing, or similar high‑availability sites.

You will play a key role in maintaining and optimising cooling infrastructure, supporting incident response, and driving operational excellence across site facilities at our most critical data centre in the UK and, where needed, supporting the campus across Slough.

This role carries no line management responsibilities. It is designed for a technically credible individual who operates at a leadership level influencing outcomes, supporting others, and driving standards without formal people‑management accountability.

Operate, maintain and troubleshoot critical mechanical infrastructure, including:

• CRAC/CRAH units
• Chillers and cooling plant
• Cooling towers
• Liquid cooling systems / CDUs
• Air flow management
• Drive improvements in cooling efficiency and environmental performance (e.g., PUE optimisation)
• Support root cause analysis (RCA) for mechanical failures and contribute to long‑term solutions
• Use CAFM systems to manage maintenance activities, asset data and reporting

• Support planned maintenance, upgrades and infrastructure projects across the site
• Assist with planning and execution of switching activities and mechanical works
• Collaborate with vendors and contractors, ensuring safe and high‑quality delivery
• Contribute to project planning, scheduling and technical reviews

• Act as a technical specialist during incidents involving mechanical systems
• Diagnose faults, identify failed components and support rapid resolution
• Contribute to post‑incident reviews and continuous improvement actions

• Work closely with cross‑functional teams including electrical, operations, and project teams
• Effectively communicate technical issues and solutions in a clear and practical way
• Support and share knowledge across the team, contributing to a strong learning environment

• Manage and oversee specialist mechanical maintenance contractors on site
• Review and validate contractor deliverables, sign‑off reports and PPM records
• Ensure contractor compliance with site rules, security and safety standards

• Maintain up‑to‑date O&M documentation, single‑line diagrams and standard operating procedures (SOPs)
• Develop and review emergency response procedures for mechanical systems
• Support onboarding and technical training of team members

• Strong background in mechanical engineering within a critical infrastructure environment
• Proven experience working with complex cooling systems (CRAC/CRAH, chillers, cooling towers, liquid cooling)
• Experience supporting uptime‑critical environments with strict SLA requirements
• Solid understanding of root cause analysis methodologies

• Strong analytical and problem‑solving capability
• Ability to adapt quickly in a fast‑paced, high‑availability environment
• Clear communicator,…