Mechanical Engineer- Data Centers
The Infrastructure Acquisition Group
The Infrastructure Acquisition Group secures the land, power, and data center capacity that enables the Nebius AI Cloud. We identify where Nebius should grow next, structure the commercial agreements that make that growth possible, and partner across engineering, energy, finance, legal, and development to bring new AI infrastructure online.
We're a small, founding team building this function from the ground up across the Americas, leading the acquisition of colocation, build-to-suit, powered land, and other strategic infrastructure opportunities as one of the world's fastest-growing AI cloud platforms scales.
Examples of Problems We're Solving
Validate technical feasibility before commercial commitment. A site or agreement is only as good as its ability to support the mechanical infrastructure required to run it. You'll lead mechanical due diligence, cooling capacity analysis, and equipment feasibility review to inform Go / No-Go decisions before deals close.
Keep mechanical design decisions ahead of development. Coordinate with Site Selection, Development, Engineering, and Delivery so cooling topology, capacity assumptions, and equipment strategy are validated early enough to protect schedule and budget once construction begins.
Build a repeatable technical evaluation program. Help establish the standards, design criteria, and technical readiness gates that will support mechanical engineering review across every AI infrastructure acquisition in the Americas.
About the Role
As a Mechanical Engineer, you'll provide the technical mechanical engineering perspective across the acquisition and development lifecycle — from initial site and deal evaluation through construction readiness. Working within the Infrastructure Acquisition Group, you'll partner with Site Selection, Technical Due Diligence, Development, Energy, Finance, and Delivery to ensure every project's mechanical systems, cooling strategy, and equipment assumptions are technically sound before they move forward.
This is a build-phase role on a build-phase team. Many of the technical evaluation standards, design criteria, and readiness gates you'll use are still being written — in some cases, you'll help write them. We're looking for someone who can independently assess complex mechanical infrastructure while helping build the systems that make every future evaluation faster, more predictable, and more scalable.
What You'll Own
Lead mechanical engineering evaluation of prospective sites, colocation capacity, and build-to-suit opportunities.
Own technical assumptions for cooling topology, capacity, and equipment strategy feeding the pre-construction risk register.
Assess liquid cooling, air cooling, and hybrid strategies against site conditions, power density, and AI/hyperscale load requirements.
Recommend Go / No-Go input on mechanical feasibility as projects advance through key development milestones.
Deliver technically validated mechanical scope to the Delivery organization with complete documentation and minimized risk.
Technical Due Diligence & Feasibility
Lead mechanical due diligence on prospective sites, existing facilities, and colocation capacity under evaluation.
Evaluate cooling capacity, chiller plant strategy, CRAH/CRAC configuration, and liquid cooling readiness against projected IT load.
Assess mechanical equipment availability, lead times, and vendor constraints that could affect schedule or capex.
Ensure mechanical assumptions are fully integrated into project budgets, capacity models, and schedules.
Design & Equipment Strategy
Partner with Engineering to define cooling topology and mechanical system strategy appropriate to each site and deal structure.
Evaluate BMS controls integration and mechanical system commissioning requirements early in the acquisition process.
Provide technical input on equipment selection, redundancy strategy, and capex trade-offs across candidate sites.
Ensure mechanical design intent is preserved as deals move from negotiation into development.
Construction Readiness
Establish mechanical technical readiness criteria as part of project handoff standards.
Verify mechanical design assumptions, equipment specifications, and capacity commitments are complete before turnover to Delivery.
Identify and resolve mechanical technical risks before they impact construction.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Serve as the primary mechanical engineering technical interface across Site Selection, Technical Due Diligence, Development, Energy, and Delivery.
Coordinate with consulting engineers, equipment vendors, and commissioning agents to validate executable mechanical strategies.
Align internal stakeholders and external consultants to prevent technical scope drift as projects move from acquisition into development.
What Success Looks Like
Ensure every acquisition is grounded in sound mechanical engineering judgment before commercial commitment.
Deliver predictable, technically validated cooling and mechanical strategies across the portfolio.
Identify and resolve mechanical technical risks before they impact construction.
Build trusted relationships with equipment vendors, consulting engineers, and commissioning partners.
Help build the technical standards and evaluation processes the Infrastructure Acquisition Group runs on as it scales.
What You'll Bring
You're comfortable operating in ambiguity and building technical evaluation processes where none exist. You know how to independently assess complex mechanical infrastructure while helping define how future projects should be evaluated.
8+ years of experience in data center mechanical engineering, MEP design, or mission-critical mechanical systems.
Experience with cooling topology design, liquid cooling systems, chiller plants, and CRAH/CRAC systems for high-density AI/hyperscale environments.
Strong understanding of mechanical capacity planning, equipment selection, and capex trade-offs in data center design.
Experience evaluating mechanical feasibility of sites or facilities prior to commercial commitment.
Excellent communication and executive presentation skills.
Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent experience.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience supporting hyperscale data center or AI infrastructure development.
Experience with BMS controls integration and mechanical systems commissioning.
Professional Engineer (PE) license or similar professional certification.
Experience evaluating colocation or build-to-suit mechanical infrastructure in a due diligence capacity.
Why Join Nebius
The infrastructure supporting AI is being built now. This is an opportunity to help define how Nebius evaluates and designs the mechanical systems behind every AI infrastructure acquisition while helping build the function itself — the technical standards, design criteria, and evaluation framework that will support infrastructure investments across the Americas. You'll work on some of the industry's largest and most complex AI infrastructure developments while helping shape the physical foundation of the global AI economy.