Principal Delivery Engineer

Job Title:
Principal Delivery Engineer

Reports to:
Engineering Manager

Location:
Frankfurt-Site-based

About the Company

A long-established global data centre operator with a strong reputation for delivering large-scale, carrier-neutral, multi-customer facilities across key international markets. The organisation provides high-performance, resilient, and connected infrastructure for a wide range of enterprise, public sector, and cloud clients.

The company has invested heavily in sustainable design and operations, integrating clean energy technologies and environmental responsibility throughout its portfolio. With a workforce of around 300 professionals located across major data centre campuses and a central corporate office, the business continues to set benchmarks for quality, efficiency, and innovation in mission-critical environments.

Role Purpose

The
Principal Delivery Engineer
is responsible for the technical oversight and coordination of engineering design across projects. Working closely with the delivery team, this role ensures that all design, installation, and commissioning activities meet the company's standards for resilience, quality, and compliance.

This involves collaborating with consultants and contractors, resolving design challenges, providing technical direction, reviewing installations, and supporting commissioning efforts. The position also supports knowledge sharing across regional projects to promote consistency and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

Precision and Quality

• Define Client Technical Requirement (CTR) briefs for new projects.
• Contribute to identifying and resolving actual or potential defects in technical infrastructure.
• Conduct independent assessments of data centre infrastructure integrity, addressing single points of failure.
• Support the development of capital project programs and budgets for major upgrades or repairs.
• Review and evaluate external design submissions for technical and cost efficiency.
• Identify design risks and ensure they are captured in project risk registers.
• Coordinate all technical design aspects to ensure compliance with local regulations and standards.
• Implement contingency plans to recover project slippage where required.
• Prepare regular progress and technical reports for management.
• Review operations and maintenance documentation to ensure complete handover to operations teams.
• Support investigations into equipment failures and latent defects.

People and Collaboration

• Provide design-related guidance to project and site operations teams.
• Promote teamwork and continuous improvement across project teams.
• Maintain a calm, professional approach under pressure.
• Collaborate effectively with colleagues, consultants, and contractors.
• Manage workloads and time effectively to deliver high-quality results.

Sustainability and Impact

• Maintain awareness of the organisation's sustainability goals.
• Support the adoption of cost-effective and energy-efficient technologies.
• Participate in CPD and manufacturer learning sessions related to sustainable design.

Continuous Improvement

• Capture and share lessons learned to ensure ongoing design optimisation and efficiency.

Person Specification

Technical Knowledge & Experience

Essential:

• Relevant Engineering Degree or recognised Engineering Diploma.
• Strong knowledge of power, cooling, and associated systems within data centre environments.
• Understanding of data centre design parameters and efficiency metrics.

Desirable:

• Accredited Tier Designer Certification (Uptime or equivalent).
• Additional qualifications in risk, asset management, or sustainability.
• Familiarity with permitting regulations relevant to data centre design.
• Experience with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis.
• Chartered or working toward chartered engineer status.
• Broad experience in overall data centre design (MEP/CSA disciplines).

Personal Attributes

• Fluent in English (written and verbal) with strong technical communication skills.
• Analytical, detail-focused, and consistent under pressure.
• Demonstrates initiative and logical problem-solving.
• Collaborative and respectful in interactions with internal and external stakeholders.
• Committed to quality, accuracy, and professional standards.
• Self-motivated with a proactive, improvement-focused mindset.
• Maintains a high level of attention to detail and personal accountability.