Principal Fire & Hydraulic Engineer

A Snapshot

As Principal Fire and Hydraulics Engineer, you will report to the Senior Director, Engineering and be based at our North Sydney headquarters. This newly created role will establish and lead AirTrunk's global fire protection and hydraulic engineering disciplines, supported by a lean team of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) scaled to business need and portfolio growth.

You will work across Design and Engineering, Design and Innovation, Development, Procurement, Construction, Commissioning and Operations. You will make an impact in an number of ways:

• Act as AirTrunk's senior fire and hydraulics technical authority, escalation point and delegated decision maker for material risks, deviations and design decisions.
• Own the fire and hydraulics requirements within the Global Minimum Standards - Engineering (GMS-E) and Global Minimum Standards - Construction (GMS-C), together with relevant Owner-Supplied Equipment (OSE) specifications.
• Prioritise and allocate fire and hydraulics capability across the global project pipeline according to project risk, design maturity and business need.
• Provide risk-based technical direction and independent design assurance from concept through IFC, confirming compliance with AirTrunk standards without owning day-to-day project design coordination or driving the general contractor's design development.
• Be accountable for discipline cost, technical compliance and engineering suitability, including life safety, reliability, operability, maintainability and lifecycle value.
• Drive global consistency and value engineering while protecting life safety, regulatory or FM Global compliance, customer commitments and operational performance.
• Use delivery, commissioning, incident and operational learning to improve standards, specifications, assurance practices and team capability.

Your Day to Day

• Own and maintain fire and hydraulics requirements within GMS-E and GMS-C, covering design criteria, performance, calculations, installation quality, inspection and testing, pre-commissioning readiness and handover; also govern relevant OSE specifications, change control and implementation guidance.
• Set the fire systems campus approach and technical direction for fire engineering and certifying authority requirements; pre-action and wet sprinkler systems; gas suppression; dry fire detection, smoke detection and alarm systems; occupant warning systems; fire indicator panels; nitrogen generation systems; sprinkler and hydrant pumps; fire-suppression water storage; and associated controls.
• Interpret and govern compliance with applicable fire codes, regulations, Authority Having Jurisdiction requirements, insurer requirements and FM Global standards across AirTrunk's regions.
• Own the technical requirements for fire cause-and-effect matrices and ensure coordinated interfaces with mechanical systems, smoke control, dampers, electrical systems, BMS, controls and automation, security, access control and emergency response functions.
• Set technical direction and design criteria for hydraulic equipment and systems, including domestic cold water, potable and non-potable water, water storage, piping and pumping, filtration and incoming water treatment, sanitary drainage, stormwater and siphonic drainage, leak detection, cross-connection control and associated water-quality requirements.
• Define and assure hydraulic analyses and calculations, including utility water flow data and supply analysis, used-water discharge quality, water storage, pump head, stormwater and sanitary pipework sizing, rainwater storage tank sizing and system
• Set the scope and depth of risk-based reviews from concept through IFC and review designs, calculations, cause-and-effect matrices and technical submissions for .
• Act as the senior escalation point and delegated decision maker for material risks, departures, waivers, substitutions and non-conformances, recording decisions, rationale, conditions and accountable owners.
• Maintain discipline cost benchmarks, challenge unnecessary complexity and assess system and equipment suitability across life safety, compliance, capacity, reliability, resilience, constructability, maintainability, operability, testability and lifecycle value.
• Partner with Procurement and Supply Chain to evaluate vendor proposals, technical deviations, equipment substitutions and quality risks, and provide senior technical input to factory acceptance testing and proof-of-concept activities.
• Lead discipline peer reviews and resolve interfaces with mechanical, electrical, controls and automation, civil, structural, architectural, security, commissioning and operational teams; champion Safety in Design and clear ownership of residual risks.
• Provide senior technical support for significant site, commissioning, integrated systems testing and operational issues, and ensure root causes and lessons learned are reflected in standards, specifications and future project assurance.
• Communicate complex fire and hydraulic matters clearly to executives, customers, authorities, insurers, commercial teams, delivery partners and non-technical stakeholders, including recommended options and trade-offs.

Measures of Success

• A clearly established fire and hydraulics discipline with effective governance, decision rights, stakeholder interfaces and a capable, right-sized SME team aligned to business
• Projects supported in line with risk and design maturity, with reviews, calculations and technical actions completed to required stage-gate timeframes.
• Fire and hydraulic requirements within GMS-E and GMS-C, together with relevant OSE specifications, reviewed to the approved cadence, consistently adopted across regions and improved using documented delivery and operational learning.
• Cost and design outcomes supported by transparent benchmarks and value engineering, with improved first-time-right quality and fewer repeated deviations, late changes, RFIs and commissioning defects.
• Material risks and decisions resolved promptly, with systems demonstrably suitable across life safety, regulatory and FM Global compliance, reliability, operability, maintainability, testability and lifecycle value.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Fire Safety, Fire Protection, Mechanical, Hydraulic or Building Services Engineering, or a closely related discipline; a relevant postgraduate qualification is advantageous.
• Typically 12+ years of progressive fire protection and hydraulic engineering experience, including leadership across complex, multi-project or multi-region portfolios; Chartered or Professional Engineer status or relevant fire-safety accreditation is preferred.
• Deep expertise in fire and smoke detection, alarm, occupant warning and notification systems, fire indicator panels, graphical interfaces, fire cause-and-effect development and multidisciplinary systems integration.
• Deep expertise in wet and pre-action sprinkler systems, gaseous suppression, hydrant systems, nitrogen generation, fire-water storage, pumps and associated controls.
• Strong knowledge of applicable fire standards, building and fire regulations, Authority Having Jurisdiction processes, insurer requirements and FM Global requirements.
• Deep expertise in domestic cold water, potable and non-potable water, water treatment, sanitary drainage, stormwater, siphonic drainage, water storage and pumping systems, including storage, flow, pump head and pipework sizing
• Strong experience in data centres, mission-critical facilities, industrial infrastructure or another high-availability operating environment.
• Demonstrated experience establishing a technical function and owning engineering and construction standards, equipment specifications, technical assurance, delegated authority and deviation governance.
• Commercially astute and decisive, with proven people leadership, resource planning, stakeholder communication and the ability to balance life safety, compliance, cost, programme and operational requirements across multiple regions; occasional overseas travel is required.