Senior Principal Engineer, Solutions Architecture

Principal Engineer, Solutions Architect – Liquid Cooling (RDHx & CDU Systems)

When our customers are looking for consultative IT expertise, where else would they turn but to the company driving human progress through technology? Our Solutions Architecture team within Professional Services are specialists in package customization and integration as well as total, end-to-end solutions in targeted industry segments. After detailed consultation with our customers and careful analysis, we develop new IT systems or replace existing systems that support customers’ strategic, operational and financial goals.

Join us to do the best work of your career and make a profound social impact as a Principal Engineer, Solutions Architect – Liquid Cooling (RDHx & CDU Systems) on our Solutions Architecture Team in Austin, Texas. (Ability to travel to customer locations)

What you’ll achieve

We are seeking a Senior Solutions Architect (SA) specializing in Data Center Liquid Cooling, with emphasis on rear‑door heat exchangers (RDHx) and cooling distribution units (CDUs). This is a new capability within our organization, and you will serve as our primary expert in liquid‑based thermal solutions for high‑density compute environments.

In this post‑sales architecture role, you will work directly with customers to understand their requirements, design full liquid cooling solutions, support field teams during deployments, and help shape our internal best practices around liquid cooling technologies.

You will:

Customer Engagement & Post‑Sales Architecture

• Lead technical discovery sessions with customers to gather thermal, environmental, mechanical, and operational requirements
• Design end‑to‑end liquid cooling solutions featuring rear‑door heat exchangers, CDUs, manifolds, hoses, fittings, and facility water loop considerations
• Produce detailed solution designs including schematics, BOMs, system flow diagrams, thermal performance expectations, and installation guidelines
• Translate customer requirements into scalable, supportable, and reliable architectures

Deployment & Field Support

• Support field engineering teams during installation, commissioning, and validation of RDHx and CDU systems
• Provide technical oversight on-site or remotely, ensuring the deployed system aligns with the approved design
• Troubleshoot flow rates, pressure drops, temperature deltas, coolant quality, sensor behavior, and CDU operational parameters
• Assist with acceptance testing, monitoring configurations, and integration with facility cooling infrastructure

Internal SME & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Serve as the internal authority on liquid cooling within engineering, operations, sales, and product
• Develop internal documentation: reference architectures, best practices, safety guidelines, and deployment playbooks
• Train field teams and adjacent groups unfamiliar with liquid cooling practices
• Collaborate with OEMs and vendors to stay aligned with the latest RDHx and CDU technologies

Practice Development

• Define standards and repeatable processes for liquid cooling implementations.
• Contribute to service offerings that support deployment, maintenance, and ongoing optimization of liquid cooling systems
• Help shape long-term strategy and roadmap as our liquid cooling practice grows

Take the first step towards your dream career
Every Dell Technologies team member brings something unique to the table. Here’s what we are looking for with this role:

Essential Requirements

• 7+ years in data center infrastructure, solutions architecture, mechanical/thermal engineering, or HPC environments
• Hands-on experience with:
  • Rear-door heat exchangers (enclosed or active systems)
  • Cooling Distribution Units (CDUs), Secondary Fluids Network (SFN) design and fabrication
  • Coolant loop design, manifolds, flexible hose routing, connectors, drip‑less fittings, sensors, etc.
  • Rack and system level liquid cooling technologies, including multiple cooling loops, and direct-to-chip cooling
• Strong understanding of:
  • Heat transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics
  • Facility water loops and integration points
  • Flow balancing, delta‑T analysis, and pump performance curves
  • Leak detection and safety best practices
• Familiarity with data center power/cooling concepts (rack-level thermals, airflow management).

Architecture & Customer-Facing Skills

• Experience conducting customer requirement gathering and converting needs into detailed solution architectures
• Ability to write clear architectural documentation, diagrams, and BOMs
• Comfort supporting deployments hands‑on and resolving technical issues in the field
• Ability to travel to customer’s locations1

Soft Skills

• Excellent communication and customer engagement skills
• Ability to simplify complex engineering topics for non‑technical audiences
• Self‑starter comfortable defining processes and building practice maturity
• Working cross-functionally across different teams

Desirable Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, or similar field
• Proficiency with Thermal Simulation tools (ANSYS Icepak, FloTHERM, FloEFD, ANSYS Mechanical)
• Experience with high‑density compute environments (AI/ML, HPC, GPU racks)
• Data center‑related certifications (CDCP, CDCS, DCEP Generalist, DCEP-HVAC Specialist etc.)
• Familiarity with RDHx and CDU vendors such as Vertiv, Schneider Electric, Motivair, Liebert, Rittal, nVent, CoolIT, etc.
• Knowledge of monitoring and control systems (Modbus, BACnet, SNMP, CDU controllers)

Compensation: Dell is committed to Fair and Equitable compensation practices. The Base Salary Range for this role is $170,850 to $ 221,100.

Benefits and Perks of working at Dell Technologies

Your life. Your health. Supported by your benefits. You can explore the overall benefits experience that awaits you as a Dell Technologies team member — right now at MyWellatDell.com

Who we are

We believe that each of us has the power to make an impact. That’s why we put our team members at the center of everything we do. If you’re looking for an opportunity to grow your career with some of the best minds and most advanced tech in the industry, we’re looking for you.

Dell Technologies is a unique family of businesses that helps individuals and organizations transform how they work, live and play. Join us to build a future that works for everyone because Progress Takes All of Us.

Dell Technologies is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. Read the full Equal Employment Opportunity Policy here.