Design Phase Manager

ThermalWorks LLC has an exciting opportunity for a Design Phase Manager to join our team, focusing on managing open design issues and owning the submittal process. This role is client-facing and project-focused, responsible for the quality, completeness, and timely release of design packages for US projects.

Responsibilities:

• Own the design phase of every active ThermalWorks project from pre-contract award through issued-for-construction release, including milestone management, scope control, and change tracking, and finally through L5 commissioning
• Establish and enforce design phase gates, deliverables, and review checkpoints; ensure every package meets ThermalWorks technical standards and customer requirements before release
• Serve as the escalation point for design issues raised by Project Managers, Commissioning, field teams, and customers; drive design and construction coordination issues to closure
• Partner with the Director of Project Management to integrate design status into the live Deployment Dashboard, providing accurate, current visibility into every project's design progress
• Manage relationships with ThermalWorks’ external design consultant partners and construction teams, facilitating the effective, accurate, and complete resolution of all design issues
• Own the submittal process, ensuring timely submission of all technical deliverables
• Leverage AI to build technical tools and systems to streamline all design workflows
• Drive down rework, changes, design questions and construction coordination volume through root-cause analysis and targeted process changes
• Coordinate with the Quality Team, leveraging the Quality Management System (QMS) to build the feedback loop from field execution, commissioning, Service and operations back into design
• Partner closely with Commissioning/Startup and Quality within the Delivery function to ensure design packages set up downstream phases for success
• Coordinate with Estimating on design assumptions embedded in proposals; flag deviations early
• Represent ThermalWorks design in customer-facing technical discussions, including design reviews, submittal negotiations, and issue resolution

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related discipline
• 10+ years of experience in design or design management for mission-critical, industrial, or mechanical/electrical infrastructure projects
• 5+ years leading design teams and coordination. Direct management of engineers or drafters is a plus
• Demonstrated ownership of design phase delivery on multi-site portfolios or programs, not just individual projects
• Strong working knowledge of HVAC, cooling systems, mechanical plant design, or adjacent mission-critical infrastructure
• Proven ability to establish and enforce design standards, gates, and quality controls in a scaling environment
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including comfort in customer-facing technical conversations
• High standard for organization with the ability to set priorities autonomously
• PE license (Mechanical or Electrical) or an architectural degree
• Direct experience with data center cooling infrastructure, thermal management, or waterless/dry cooling technologies
• Experience scaling a design function during a period of rapid portfolio growth
• Familiarity with SharePoint-based project controls, Power BI dashboards, AI tools, and Microsoft 365 collaboration tooling
• International work experience
• Experience working within a unified Delivery, Deployment, or Project Execution function that integrates Design with Commissioning and Quality