Senior Principal Rack Development Manager

Role Overview

• Serve as the lead architect and development manager for complex rack-level solutions, owning system-level design decisions across mechanical, electrical, power, thermal, networking, and software integration domains.
• Lead customer-facing technical engagements from RFI/RFQ all the way to first hardware delivery, including design reviews, trade-off discussions, and executive-level conversations.
• Translate ambiguous or evolving customer requirements into clear program frameworks, ensuring alignment between customer expectations and engineering execution.
• Demonstrate strong commercial awareness by effectively managing customer expectations, pushing back when requirements introduce risk or inefficiency, and confidently addressing challenging technical and cost-related questions.
• Drive cross-functional alignment across all departments (executives, engineering, supply chain, manufacturing, and program) to ensure cohesive solution development with emphasis on Bill of Materials (BOM) management and scheduling.
• Own rack-level architecture including power distribution design, thermal strategies (air and liquid cooling), cable routing, serviceability, and manufacturability.
• Provide deep technical guidance on rack infrastructure including PDUs, busbars, liquid cooling systems (CDUs, manifolds, QDs), airflow design, and high-density compute integration.
• Oversee architecture decisions impacting performance, cost, scalability, and deployment efficiency.
• Drive program execution from concept through production, ensuring schedules are clearly defined, tracked, and met.
• Apply strong program management discipline: define milestones, identify risks early, escalate issues proactively, and hold cross-functional teams accountable to commitments.
• Drive readiness support calls internally from initial NPI scoping to prototyping to mass production, ensuring all systems are operable together from a power, thermal, and software standpoint.
• Partner with customers and internal stakeholders to continuously refine designs based on deployment feedback and operational learnings.
• Collaborate with compliance and certification teams to ensure mechanical designs meet global regulatory requirements (e.g., UL, CE, ISTA, ASTM).
• Mentor and guide engineers across disciplines, establishing best practices in rack system architecture and integration.
• Understanding of rack installation constraints, maintenance access, and serviceability in rack mechanical infrastructure.
• Conduct root cause analysis and corrective actions for mechanical failures or field issues.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related field is required
• Minimum of 10 years’ experience in engineering, systems integration, or data center hardware design.
• Minimum of 3 years’ rack-level (L11) solution design and integration experience.
• Minimum of 3 years’ switch/server (L10) experience, including compute, storage, or networking hardware integration.
• Proven ability to drive the development and execution of complex rack solutions for hyperscale or large-scale data center environments, managing 12-18 month lifecycles and portfolios valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.
• Familiarity with industry standards (EIA, ORV3, OCP) and global power architectures.
• Demonstrated experience working directly with customers in technical and commercially sensitive environments.
• Strong background in program execution, including schedule ownership, risk management, and cross-functional leadership.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills – a must.
• Strong understanding of mechanical systems, integration strategies, and program management.
• Hands-on experience with prototype fabrication and testing (mechanical S&V, software burn-in and test validation).

Tech Stack

• Airflow

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, Prescription Drug, and Vision Insurance with HRA and HSA options
• 401K Match
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Paid Time Off
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Life, AD&D, and Disability Insurance
• Commuter Benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• Pet Insurance
• Adoption Assistance
• Annual Merit Increases
• Community Volunteer Opportunities