Mechanical Manager, Data Center Engineering

Posted 2 Hours Ago
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Richmond, CA, USA
In-Office
132K-164K Annually
Senior level
Artificial Intelligence • Cloud • Software • Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
DigitalOcean is the Inference Cloud built for production AI.
The Role
Leads the design, deployment, monitoring, and troubleshooting of cooling infrastructure for high-density data centers. Serves as the primary cooling subject matter expert and secondary power expert, establishes facility standards, selects scalable liquid-cooling systems, develops thermal monitoring and alerting capabilities, and partners with colocation, hardware, infrastructure, and operations teams. Manages, hires, mentors, and develops an engineering team while improving reliability and facility readiness for next-generation data center technologies.
Summary Generated by Built In

Dive in and do the best work of your career at DigitalOcean. Journey alongside a strong community of top talent who are relentless in their drive to build the simplest scalable cloud. If you have a growth mindset, naturally like to think big and bold, and are energized by the fast-paced environment of a true industry disruptor, you’ll find your place here.  We value winning together—while learning, having fun, and making a profound difference for the dreamers and builders in the world. 

We want people who are passionate about optimizing and troubleshooting data center hardware at mega-scale so our customers don’t have to worry!

Reporting to the Director of Datacenter Engineering, you will lead design, deployment, and monitoring of next-generation cooling infrastructure in high-density datacenter environments. The ideal candidate will be eager to face new challenges as DigitalOcean continues to scale its data center footprint and explore new technologies to bring to our customers.

What You’ll Be Doing:
  • Act as primary SME for all cooling-related engineering topics at DigitalOcean
  • Act as secondary SME for all power-related engineering topics at DigitalOcean
  • Evangelize cooling technologies throughout the Infra organization and company
  • Develop and maintain standards and practices for DigitalOcean datacenter facilities
  • Lead, hire, train, mentor and develop a high-performing team, driving accountability, performance, and career growth
  • Inform facility design requirements with best practices for both air and liquid cooling
  • Liaise with colocation facility engineering teams regarding mechanical system designs
  • Liaise with vendor hardware engineering teams regarding hardware solution designs
  • Lead selection of liquid cooling systems during the hardware design, ensuring designs not only meet our current needs but can scale with us
  • Develop cooling monitoring tooling and systems to aggregate thermal monitoring information and provide alerting capabilities
  • Coordinate with operations on monitoring thresholds, failure modes and alerting
  • Assist in troubleshooting cause of failures and work to prevent them in the future
  • Work closely with Infra teams such as DC Operations and Machine Design to ensure facility readiness for next-generation solutions
What We’ll Expect From You:
  • Technical Degree (BS Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or Manufacturing Engineering) or equivalent practical experience 
  • Hands-on experience deploying and operating cooling infrastructure at scale (including experience with facility cooling loops and designs, pumps, chiller systems, heat exchangers, CDUs(Cooling Distribution Units), Direct Liquid Cooling, rear-door heat exchangers, etc.)
  • Experience with leading, mentoring and developing staff
  • An in-depth understanding of facility cooling technologies (free-air/adiabatic, closed loop air, cold aisle/hot aisle containment strategies, direct liquid cooling, immersion cooling, etc.)
  • Strong understanding of thermal management principles in mission critical environments and knowledge of best practices around thermal monitoring and alerting
  • Clear communication and collaboration across key stakeholders
  • An insatiable passion for constant improvement
Compensation Range: 
  • $132,000 - $164,000

*This is a onsite role

JR: 2026-7651

#LI-Onsite

Why You’ll Like Working for DigitalOcean
  • We innovate with purpose. You’ll be a part of a cutting-edge technology company with an upward trajectory, who are proud to simplify cloud and AI so builders can spend more time creating software that changes the world. As a member of the team, you will be a Shark who thinks big, bold, and scrappy, like an owner with a bias for action and a powerful sense of responsibility for customers, products, employees, and decisions.
  • We prioritize career development. At DO, you’ll do the best work of your career. You will work with some of the smartest and most interesting people in the industry. We are a high-performance organization that will always challenge you to think big. Our organizational development team will provide you with resources to ensure you keep growing. We provide employees with reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and education. All employees have access to LinkedIn Learning's 10,000+ courses to support their continued growth and development.
  • We care about your well-being. Regardless of your location, we will provide you with a competitive array of benefits to support you from our Employee Assistance Program to Local Employee Meetups to flexible time off policy, to name a few. While the philosophy around our benefits is the same worldwide, specific benefits may vary based on local regulations and preferences.
  • We reward our employees. The salary range for this position is based on market data, relevant years of experience, and skills. You may qualify for a bonus in addition to base salary; bonus amounts are determined based on company and individual performance. We also provide equity compensation to eligible employees, including equity grants upon hire and the option to participate in our Employee Stock Purchase Program.
  • DigitalOcean is an equal-opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, national origin, caste, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, age, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic makeup, marital status, or military service.

Application Limit: You may apply to a maximum of 3 positions within any 180-day period. This policy promotes better role-candidate matching and encourages thoughtful applications where your qualifications align most strongly.

Skills Required

  • Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
  • Hands-on experience deploying and operating cooling infrastructure at scale
  • Experience with facility cooling loops, pumps, chiller systems, heat exchangers, Cooling Distribution Units, direct liquid cooling, and rear-door heat exchangers
  • Experience leading, mentoring, and developing staff
  • In-depth understanding of facility cooling technologies, including free-air or adiabatic cooling, closed-loop air cooling, aisle containment, direct liquid cooling, and immersion cooling
  • Strong understanding of thermal management principles in mission-critical environments
  • Knowledge of best practices for thermal monitoring and alerting
  • Clear communication and collaboration skills across key stakeholders
  • Passion for continuous improvement

What the Team is Saying

DigitalOcean Compensation & Benefits Highlights

  • Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is described as comprehensive, spanning medical, dental, vision, and mental-health insurance. Feedback suggests this area stands out as a core strength of the package.
  • Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity participation is emphasized through performance grants and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Feedback suggests these programs add meaningful value alongside base pay.
  • Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time off is positioned as flexible or unlimited, with above-average parental leave highlighted across sources. Feedback suggests this flexibility supports work-life balance.

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The Company
HQ: Broomfield, CO
1,400 Employees
Year Founded: 2012

What We Do

DigitalOcean is the Inference Cloud — a full-stack, production-ready cloud platform built to run AI applications with predictable performance, sustainable economics, and radically simpler operations at scale. We are built for teams turning AI into real products — not just training models. Our advantage is not fewer features, but fewer failure modes when operating AI at scale — combining minimal operational overhead, predictable cost efficiency, and a full-stack cloud that works as a system. Hyperscalers are broad by design. Neoclouds are infrastructure-first. DigitalOcean is inference-first — with a real cloud underneath. It combines inference-optimized compute, managed inference software, and integrated cloud capabilities that reduce operational burden for teams running real workloads. Inference is the foundation—not the boundary. Everything else builds on top of it.

Why Work With Us

At DO, we do career-defining work. We innovate with AI and build cutting-edge tech. Our rewards to match that intensity - to motivate you, recognize your impact, and give you what you need to thrive. If you have a growth mindset, like to think big and bold, and are energized by the fast-paced environment, you'll find your place here.

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DigitalOcean Offices

Hybrid Workspace

Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.

We commit to both remote work and in-person collaboration. These ways of working are dependent on specific roles and are mutually agreed upon by employees. In the US, we are mainly remote. In our APAC locations, we have a hybrid in-office approach.

Typical time on-site: Not Specified
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HQBroomfield, CO
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Hyderabad, Telangana
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