Mechanical Commissioning Lead - Mission Critical

Position Summary

This role is GMC's technical authority for critical cooling. You own how GMC commissions mechanical systems across Levels 1 through 5 in mission-critical environments: chilled water plants, thermal storage, air-side cooling, and, increasingly the deciding factor on these projects, direct-to-chip liquid cooling.

This is a build-the-practice role, not a staff-the-practice role. Expect your first year to run roughly 70 percent authorship and standards development, 20 percent field support and escalation, and 10 percent business development. That balance shifts toward field leadership and team management as the group grows.

What You Will Own

• Test development (≈70% of year one). Author L2A installation, L2B static, and L3 prefunctional checklists and L4 functional and L5 integrated test scripts for chillers, chilled and condenser water pumps and variable frequency drives, cooling towers, thermal energy storage, coolant distribution units, fan wall units, computer room air handlers, rear-door heat exchangers, leak detection, and chilled water plant controls. This also covers the mechanical MOP/SOP template library and L0 commissionability review.
• Liquid cooling authority. Own GMC's technical position on direct-to-chip cooling: facility water and technology cooling loop separation, heat exchanger approach performance, secondary loop fill medium and water quality, quick-disconnect and dripless coupling verification, redundant pump failover, and the dual supply-temperature control valve interaction that is a recurring source of instability in coolant distribution unit control loops.
• Heat load test strategy. Define staged heat load application, load bank and rack simulation approach, instrumentation, data capture intervals, and acceptance criteria against design flow, differential temperature, and capacity.
• Hydronic pre-conditions. Set and enforce the pipework prerequisites that gate everything downstream: sectional and system pressure testing, chemical cleaning, flushing and passivation, laboratory sampling and water quality acceptance, and water balancing. Review test and balance reports against design schedules and specification tolerances.
• Controls and sequences. Review sequences of operation for commissionability; verify point-to-graphic completeness, controller and network redundancy, control loop tuning, and that tuned values are retained as defaults after power loss. Author the cooling side of L5 scenarios: response to power events, valve fail position and timing, rapid restart and locked-rotor amperage recovery, and capacity maintenance through failure conditions.
• Field support and escalation (≈20% of year one). Serve as the technical escalation point when a test fails, a control loop will not tune, or a vendor's result does not reconcile with the design. Review contractor methods of procedure for mechanical tie-ins and cutovers.
• Business development (≈10% of year one). Act as the technical voice on pursuits, scoping mechanical commissioning effort for proposals, presenting GMC's approach in interviews, and building the client and industry relationships that generate repeat work.
• Team development. Interview and hire mechanical commissioning staff; build the training curriculum with GMC's Training Administrator; mentor field staff toward independent test leadership. Hiring volume ramps as the practice wins work; expect to be building the team rather than managing a full one in year one.
• Travel. Roughly 30–50%, concentrated around test windows.

Required Qualifications

• Six or more years in mechanical commissioning, HVAC startup, test and balance, or controls, including at least three years on mission-critical facilities or high-density cooling.
• Demonstrated authorship, not just execution, of L4 functional test scripts and prefunctional checklists. Be prepared to discuss a test you wrote and what it exposed.
• Deep chilled water plant knowledge: air- and water-cooled chillers, primary and variable primary configurations, cooling towers, waterside economizer or free cooling transitions, and thermal storage.
• Hydronic flushing, water quality, and test and balance review experience sufficient to reject a deficient report and defend the rejection.
• Ability to read and interpret sequences of operation, mechanical schedules, piping and instrumentation diagrams, and building automation trend data.
• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, or equivalent depth earned in the field through startup, balancing, or controls work.
• Authorization to work in the United States without sponsorship.
• Valid driver's license, ability to rent vehicles, and ability to pass owner- and site-specific background screening; some clients require additional clearance for defense-adjacent work.
• OSHA 30 (or ability to obtain within 90 days) and working familiarity with NFPA 70E, PTW/LOTO, and arc-flash PPE requirements.
• Ability to work in active construction environments: extended standing and walking, ladders and lifts, elevated and confined spaces, mechanical rooms and electrical rooms, temperature extremes, and periodic night or weekend test windows.
• Strong technical writing in English: GMC deliverables are read and relied on by owner executives, engineers of record, and authorities having jurisdiction.
• Demonstrated independence: GMC verifies the work of general contractors and equipment vendors on behalf of owners, and does not advocate for installing parties.

Preferred Qualifications

• NEBB or AABC test and balance certification.
• EPA Section 608 Universal certification.
• Accredited commissioning credential: CxA (ACG), CCP (BCxA), BCxP (ASHRAE), or QCxP.
• Direct-to-chip or immersion liquid cooling commissioning experience.
• Building automation fluency (Niagara, Distech, Johnson Controls, or Schneider) and comfort working in an analytics platform such as SkySpark.
• Life science or healthcare mechanical commissioning: cleanroom and containment classification, vivarium systems, pressurization compliance, ASHRAE 170, or USP requirements.
• Professional Engineer license (mechanical).

About GMC Commissioning, Inc.

GMC Commissioning, Inc. is an independent commissioning, energy and analytics, and qualification and validation firm headquartered in San Diego, California. We work owner-side: we author the checklists and test scripts, witness and verify the work of others, and sign off only when the installation demonstrably meets design intent. We hold no ownership, financial, or contractual affiliation with any general contractor or equipment vendor.

Our portfolio spans mission-critical, laboratory and research, healthcare, and institutional facilities including multi-megawatt critical power and cooling systems, 2N electrical topologies, standby generation with paralleling switchgear, and liquid-cooled high-density deployments. We also operate a monitoring-based commissioning practice built on SkySpark, which means the systems we commission are often the systems we continue to hold accountable after turnover.

Why This Team Now

This is a ground-floor build. The people in these three roles will define how GMC commissions mission-critical facilities: the templates, the standards, the technical positions, and the teams. Larger firms in this space will offer you a mature process to execute inside of. We are offering the opposite: you write the process, then you lead the group that runs it. If that is not what you want, this is the wrong role. If it is, there are very few seats like it.

Compensation & Benefits

Annual Salary Exempt $145,000 – $180,000

GMC offers:

• Annual 10% performance bonus
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) with company match 100% contribution up to 4% salary
• Paid time off and holidays
• Professional development support: exam and credential fees, continuing education units, and dues for ACG, BCxA, ASHRAE, and 7x24 Exchange.
• Per diem and travel expense coverage on assignment

How to Apply

Submit a resume and a short cover letter identifying which position you are applying for to careers@gmccx.com. For the two Lead positions, please include one paragraph on a test you authored, what system, what failure mode you were trying to expose, and what the test found.

Equal Employment Opportunity

GMC Cx is an equal opportunity employer. GMC Cx will extend equal opportunity to all individuals without regard to race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, disability, age, genetic information, or any other status protected under applicable federal, state, or local laws. Our policy reflects and affirms GMC Cx’s commitment to the principles of fair employment and the elimination of all discriminatory practices.