Jones Engineering
Mechanical Commissioning Lead - London - 145434
Get notified of more jobs like this · No spam, ever
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Mechanical Commissioning Lead – Data Centre
Location: London, UK
Sector: Data Centres / Mission Critical
Reporting to: Commissioning Manager / Project Manager
Role Summary
We are seeking an experienced Mechanical Commissioning Lead to take ownership of the mechanical commissioning delivery on a major Data Centre project in London.
The successful candidate will lead the project through mechanical completion, pre-commissioning, functional testing, integrated commissioning and IST readiness, ensuring all mechanical systems are fully tested, documented and demonstrated in accordance with the project requirements and commissioning programme.
This is a senior site-based role requiring strong technical and practical knowledge of mission-critical cooling systems, including chilled water/glycol systems, CRAHs/CRACs, AHUs, pumps, pressurisation systems, controls, BMS interfaces and associated mechanical infrastructure.
The Mechanical Commissioning Lead will work closely with the Construction, Electrical, Controls/BMS, QA/QC, Commissioning and Client teams, as well as specialist vendors, to drive systems from construction completion through to final acceptance and handover.
The role requires a delivery-focused individual capable of identifying commissioning constraints early, coordinating multiple stakeholders and driving the project towards key commissioning and IST milestones.
Key Responsibilities
Commissioning Leadership
- Take overall responsibility for the mechanical commissioning strategy and execution.
- Lead and coordinate Mechanical Commissioning Engineers, subcontractors, vendors and specialist commissioning providers.
- Develop and maintain the mechanical commissioning programme aligned with the overall project master programme.
- Drive mechanical systems through the agreed Level 1–5 commissioning process, where applicable to the project.
- Ensure commissioning activities are planned, sequenced and executed safely and efficiently.
- Establish clear system and area priorities based on energisation, cooling availability and IST requirements.
- Lead daily and weekly commissioning coordination meetings.
- Provide clear reporting on progress, constraints, risks and recovery actions.
Mechanical Systems
Lead the commissioning and verification of mechanical systems including:
- Chilled water systems
- CRAHs / CRACs
- AHUs and ventilation systems
- Pumps and pump skids
- Pressurisation and expansion systems
- Heat exchangers
- Dry coolers / heat rejection equipment
- Mechanical plant rooms
- Control valves and actuators
- Flow, pressure and temperature instrumentation
- Leak detection interfaces
- Water treatment systems
- Drainage systems
- BMS-controlled mechanical equipment
- Packaged mechanical plant and associated controls
Construction to Commissioning Transition
- Work closely with the Mechanical Construction Manager to establish a structured transition from construction completion to commissioning.
- Define and manage mechanical completion requirements at system and subsystem level.
- Ensure installations are inspected and sufficiently complete before commissioning activities commence.
- Review outstanding construction snags and identify items that prevent or impact commissioning.
- Drive completion of commissioning-critical snags.
- Ensure equipment is correctly installed, labelled, accessible and ready for testing.
- Confirm all required utilities, permanent power, controls and communications are available before testing.
Pre-Commissioning
Coordinate and manage mechanical pre-commissioning activities including:
- Pipework flushing and cleaning
- Pressure testing
- Chemical cleaning and treatment
- Filling and dosing
- Water quality verification
- System venting
- Pump alignment and rotation checks
- Strainer inspections
- Valve position verification
- Equipment start-up checks
- Sensor and instrumentation verification
- TAB / air and water balancing
- Flow verification
- Equipment vendor start-up
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Ensure all pre-commissioning documentation and test records are completed and accepted before progressing to functional testing.
Functional Performance Testing
- Develop, review and execute mechanical Functional Performance Test (FPT) scripts.
- Coordinate testing between Mechanical, Electrical, Controls/BMS and specialist vendors.
- Verify correct operation of mechanical systems under normal and abnormal operating conditions.
- Confirm duty/standby equipment sequencing.
- Test automatic changeover and redundancy arrangements.
- Verify control sequences against approved Sequence of Operations (SOO).
- Confirm alarms, interlocks, permissives and setpoints.
- Verify system response to equipment failures and simulated fault conditions.
- Ensure mechanical systems achieve required design flow rates, temperatures, pressures and cooling capacities.
BMS & Controls Integration
Work closely with the BMS/Controls team to verify:
- Point-to-point testing
- Sensor calibration
- Valve and actuator operation
- Equipment start/stop commands
- Alarm generation
- Alarm escalation
- Setpoint control
- Duty/standby rotation
- Automatic changeover
- Trending
- System graphics
- Control sequences
- Interlocks between mechanical and electrical systems
Ensure BMS functionality accurately reflects the approved design and commissioning requirements.
IST & Integrated Systems Testing
- Lead the mechanical preparation for Integrated Systems Testing (IST).
- Confirm mechanical systems are fully commissioned and ready before entry into IST.
- Review IST scripts and identify mechanical prerequisites and dependencies.
- Coordinate mechanical participation during IST execution.
- Verify cooling-system response during simulated electrical and mechanical failures.
- Support testing of scenarios including:
- Loss of utility power
- Generator operation
- UPS/EPDU dependencies
- Pump failure
- CRAH failure
- Loss of cooling
- BMS communication failure
- Duty/standby changeover
- System recovery following failure
- Ensure all mechanical issues identified during IST are recorded, rectified and successfully retested.
Programme & Planning
- Develop detailed commissioning programmes and look-ahead plans.
- Produce 6-week, 3-week and weekly commissioning plans.
- Identify commissioning dependencies and constraints.
- Track system readiness against required milestone dates.
- Coordinate vendor attendance in accordance with the commissioning sequence.
- Review manpower requirements and ensure sufficient commissioning resources are available.
- Develop recovery plans where commissioning activities fall behind programme.
- Maintain clear visibility of the critical path to commissioning completion and IST.
Commissioning Documentation
Ensure the development, review and completion of:
- Commissioning plans
- Commissioning procedures
- Method statements
- Inspection and test plans
- Pre-commissioning check sheets
- Functional test scripts
- Cause & Effect testing
- Sequence of Operations verification
- TAB reports
- Flushing records
- Pressure-test certificates
- Water-treatment reports
- Vendor commissioning reports
- Calibration certificates
- Commissioning trackers
- Snag / punch lists
- System completion certificates
- IST documentation
- Final commissioning reports
Ensure documentation is completed progressively rather than being left until final handover.
Quality & Close-Out
- Ensure commissioning activities comply with project specifications, approved drawings and client requirements.
- Manage commissioning defects and punch-list items through to closure.
- Ensure failed tests are formally recorded, investigated, rectified and retested.
- Maintain clear traceability of test results and commissioning records.
- Support final system acceptance and client witnessing.
- Ensure all mechanical commissioning documentation is incorporated into the final handover package.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Coordination & Stakeholder Management
Work closely with:
- Project Director
- Commissioning Manager
- Mechanical Construction Manager
- Electrical Commissioning Lead
- Electrical Construction Manager
- Controls / BMS Lead
- CSA Team
- QA/QC Team
- Planning Team
- Design / Engineering Team
- Specialist subcontractors
- Equipment vendors
- Client Commissioning Team
- Independent Commissioning Authority / CxA
Maintain strong communication between construction and commissioning teams to ensure constraints are identified and resolved before they affect key milestones.
Health & Safety
- Ensure all commissioning activities are undertaken in accordance with project H&S requirements.
- Review and approve commissioning RAMS where required.
- Ensure appropriate controls are implemented for live systems, pressurised systems, rotating equipment and energised plant.
- Coordinate commissioning activities with LOTO procedures.
- Ensure commissioning personnel understand system boundaries and energisation status.
- Stop activities where unsafe conditions exist.
Reporting
Provide regular reporting covering:
- Systems available for commissioning
- Systems under commissioning
- Systems completed
- Tests passed / failed
- Outstanding commissioning activities
- Construction constraints
- BMS/controls constraints
- Vendor issues
- Commissioning snags
- Resource requirements
- Programme risks
- IST readiness
- Recovery actions
Maintain accurate commissioning dashboards and trackers showing the actual physical and functional status of each system.
Essential
Experience & Qualifications
- Significant experience in Mechanical Commissioning within Data Centres or Mission Critical environments.
- Previous experience as a Mechanical Commissioning Lead, Senior Commissioning Engineer or Commissioning Manager.
- Strong knowledge of critical cooling systems and associated controls.
- Demonstrable experience commissioning chilled water and/or glycol systems.
- Strong understanding of CRAHs, AHUs, pumps, valves and mechanical plant.
- Experience with BMS and controls integration.
- Experience developing and executing commissioning procedures and functional test scripts.
- Understanding of commissioning Levels L1–L5 and IST processes.
- Strong understanding of construction-to-commissioning handover.
- Ability to read and interpret:
- Mechanical schematics
- P&IDs
- Control schematics
- Cause & Effect matrices
- Sequence of Operations
- Commissioning specifications
- Strong planning, coordination and problem-solving capability.
- Ability to manage subcontractors, vendors and commissioning specialists.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills.
Desirable
- Previous commissioning experience on large-scale London/UK data centre projects.
- Experience delivering hyperscale or colocation facilities.
- Experience working directly with client commissioning teams and Commissioning Authorities.
- Familiarity with systems such as BMS, EPMS and DCIM.
- Relevant Mechanical Engineering qualification.
- Commissioning management qualifications/certification.
- SMSTS / SSSTS.
- Relevant CSCS card.
- LOTO / Authorised Person experience.
Key Competencies
The successful candidate will demonstrate:
- Strong technical mechanical knowledge
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Location