Structural & Architectural Design Engineer
About the role
We are hiring a Structural & Architectural Design Engineer for our client — a company building a large-scale AI data center (with a planned capacity of 300 MW) in Poland, on a site currently undergoing active reconstruction into modern technological infrastructure. The first phase, with a capacity of 50 MW, is planned to go live this year.
Role description
The Structural & Architectural Design Engineer is responsible for the structural and architectural design of the company's data center facilities. The role covers building envelope, internal layout, structural load-bearing design, and life-safety/lighting considerations, ensuring the facility supports high-density AI GPU compute with liquid cooling while meeting local building codes, facility resilience standards, and operational/security requirements for a data center environment.
Responsibilities
- Design building envelope elements: exterior walls, façade, roofing systems, and thermal/moisture insulation appropriate for a data center environment
- Design internal partitioning and space planning: white space vs. gray space separation, security zoning, fire compartmentalization, corridors, and access control layout
- Perform structural load calculations for raised floors, POD racking areas, and rooftop-mounted mechanical equipment (coolers, pump skids)
- Calculate floor loading capacity for IT racks including high-density liquid-cooled racks and CDU placement zones
- Design tunnel works and technological infrastructure pathways (cable trays, piping routes)
- Develop lighting design for white space, gray space, office areas, and exterior/security lighting, per data center operational standards
- Coordinate structural and architectural drawings with the MEP team (equipment loads, ceiling heights, clearances for cooling piping and electrical distribution)
- Review architectural/structural sections of design-build packages, flag risks, inconsistencies, and value engineering opportunities
- Ensure compliance with local building codes, fire safety regulations, and facility resilience requirements
- Coordinate with local authorities on permitting matters related to structural and architectural design
- Support space planning for future data center scalability
Required experience
- 5+ years of structural and/or architectural design experience, including industrial, warehouse, or critical infrastructure facilities
- Experience designing load-intensive facilities (raised floors, heavy stationary equipment, high-load structural calculations) — data center experience is a plus but not required; equivalent experience from industrial, warehouse, or manufacturing facilities is fully acceptable
- Proficiency with AutoCAD and/or Revit, plus at least one structural calculation package (Tekla Structures, Autodesk Robot Structural Analysis, IDEA StatiCa, or Dlubal RFEM)
- Experience coordinating multidisciplinary design (structural/architectural/MEP interfaces)
- English proficiency sufficient for international project documentation
Nice to Have
- Working knowledge of local building codes and permitting processes
- Experience with Tier III/IV data center design standards
- Familiarity with modular/POD-based data center construction
- Experience designing for high-density liquid-cooled IT environments
- Polish language skills
- Experience on greenfield/brownfield construction-phase projects