Principal Data Center Forensic Engineer

Switch is a digital infrastructure company that designs, builds, and operates data centers. The Principal Data Center Forensic Engineer serves as the technical authority for investigating mission-critical infrastructure events, leading high-severity analyses across electrical, mechanical, cooling, and controls systems. The role determines root causes, drives fleet-wide corrective actions, and improves long-term reliability without direct people management responsibility.

Responsibilities:

• Lead forensic investigations into major incidents, equipment failures, and operational anomalies across all data center regions
• Reconstruct event timelines and failure sequences using physical evidence, telemetry, protection trip data, logs, and sequence-of-events records
• Produce clear, evidence-based forensic reports for executive and technical leadership
• Identify recurring patterns across sites, equipment classes, vendors, or configurations and define systemic risk statements
• Drive containment and corrective actions to ensure systemic issues are permanently resolved fleet-wide
• Apply structured root cause methodologies to determine underlying failure mechanisms
• Conduct on-site inspections, component evaluations, and condition assessments when required
• Validate findings against system design intent, operating constraints, and expected behavior
• Establish and maintain forensic investigation standards, templates, and documentation frameworks
• Partner with Operations, Controls, Engineering, Reliability, and OEM partners to implement durable corrective actions
• Mentor engineers and strengthen investigative capability across the organization

Requirements:

• Enterprise-level authority in forensic engineering and mission-critical failure analysis
• Ability to remain objective and disciplined during high-visibility investigations
• Strong systems thinking across electrical, mechanical, and controls domains
• Clear, direct communication of complex technical findings
• Commitment to eliminating systemic risk, not just resolving isolated events
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, or Controls Engineering required
• 12 or more years of experience in hyperscale or mission-critical environments
• Deep expertise in electrical and mechanical system behavior, protection schemes, and failure mechanisms
• Mastery of structured root cause analysis and forensic investigation techniques
• Strong ability to interpret large operational datasets and telemetry
• Experience investigating multi-site or fleet-wide incidents preferred
• Experience working with OEM engineering teams or third-party forensic specialists preferred