Job Title: Mechanical Discipline Lead
Location: Remote work from home opportunity, with preference for applicants based in the US Mid-Atlantic or Midwest regions, near a major metro airport. Our office is in Arlington, VA.
Travel Requirements: Occasional travel (up to 25%) for client meetings, site investigations, and project coordination is required.
Position Overview:
LVI Associates is seeking a dynamic and experienced Mechanical Discipline Lead with expertise in HVAC and Plumbing systems engineering to support a wide range of large-scale, design-build projects focused on energy and water sustainability solutions.
Our projects touch many aspects of the built environment, including central plant, HVAC solutions, on-site generation, building automation, and energy-efficient retrofits. This newly created lead role within our growing energy engineering team will deliver systems analysis and design from conceptual development through to construction support, ensuring sustainable and energy-efficient solutions for the built environment.
We are passionate about delivering innovative solutions that prioritize sustainability. Our team partners with clients to address their most critical infrastructure and energy needs, providing design-build solutions across the US. Our projects include work for clients such as national laboratories, NASA, hospitals, data centers, and manufacturing facilities.
We foster a collaborative, non-hierarchical work environment where creativity and teamwork are valued. The ideal candidate will have deep experience in Mechanical Design for building systems and a passion for sustainable energy solutions, coupled with critical thinking and creativity, and an entrepreneurial mindset.
Key Responsibilities:
Lead System Design: Oversee the design of HVAC, plumbing, and energy systems for large capital projects. Develop conceptual solutions and detailed mechanical system layouts, ensuring energy efficiency and sustainability goals are met.
Energy-Focused Design: Focus on integrating energy solutions, including high-performance HVAC systems, renewable energy systems (e.g., photovoltaics and fuel cells), and building automation controls. Use energy modeling and simulations as input to optimize designs for energy performance.
Collaborative Design Work: Collaborate with project leads and construction teams to integrate engineering designs with overall client goals, project budgets, and constructability concerns, ensuring smooth coordination of project delivery.
System Selection & Specification: Identify appropriate systems, equipment, and materials for engineering designs. Develop specifications and ensure compliance with relevant codes and standards (ICC, ASHRAE, NFPA, etc.).
Project Leadership: Manage and oversee the front-end engineering design deliverables, ensuring project timelines, budgets, and performance objectives are met. Create project-specific quality assurance plans and oversee coordinated reviews of deliverables.
Technical Expertise: Experience with energy modeling and analysis tools, engineering spreadsheets, including energy audits and feasibility studies, is highly desirable.
Mentorship: Provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior engineers, supporting their growth in design principles, technical skills, and project execution. We are committed to developing the next generation of engineers within your team.
Required Qualifications:
Education: Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field. A Professional Engineering (P.E.) License is required.
Experience: A minimum of 8 years of hands-on experience in designing HVAC and plumbing systems for a variety of commercial or industrial projects.
Technical Skills: Proficiency in engineering spreadsheets and other design tools for mechanical systems. Experience with energy projects and familiarity with energy modeling and analysis tools is a plus.
System Design Knowledge: Extensive experience in HVAC systems (such as chillers, cooling towers, boilers, air handling units) and plumbing systems (such as water reclaim, rainwater capture, domestic water pumping and hot water heating systems).
Leadership & Collaboration: Experience in managing design projects, interfacing with clients, and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams.
Regulatory Knowledge: Strong understanding of national and local codes and standards (ICC, ASHRAE, NFPA, etc.), with the ability to apply these to system designs.
Energy Expertise: Experience with life-cycle cost calculations for on-site generation and energy-efficient technologies for building scale and campus scale applications.
Preferred Qualifications:
Education: Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.
Certifications: LEED or other sustainability certifications.
Systems Design: Experience in building automation systems (BAS), control diagrams, and sequences of operation.
Renewable Energy: Familiarity with advanced renewable energy technologies, such as co-generation, fuel cells, and load-shifting strategies (e.g., thermal storage).
