Lead Fire and Life Safety Commissioning Engineer

Pay Range: $51.40hr - $66.71hr

Job Overview:

The Life Safety Commissioning Engineer serves as the senior technical authority and discipline lead for Fire and Life Safety Systems on large, complex, and mission-critical projects, including hyperscale data centers, semiconductor manufacturing facilities, and life sciences installations. This role is responsible for planning, coordinating, validating, testing, and commissioning critical life safety systems to ensure compliance with applicable codes, regulatory requirements, project specifications, and operational objectives.

Within semiconductor facilities, the Life Safety Commissioning Engineer is responsible for the verification and integration of highly specialized systems, including fire detection and suppression systems, hazardous gas monitoring, smoke control systems, emergency communications, and related life safety infrastructure. The engineer ensures these systems function as designed and meet the stringent safety, reliability, and operational requirements necessary before fabrication facilities become fully operational.

Acting as the primary on-site technical lead for life safety commissioning, this position works closely with engineering, construction, operations, vendors, equipment suppliers, commissioning teams, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) to develop and execute comprehensive testing and validation programs. The role provides technical leadership throughout system turnover, integrated systems testing, regulatory inspections, and operational readiness activities to ensure all life safety systems are fully functional, code-compliant, documented, and ready for safe occupancy and operation.

Competencies:

• Collaborate: Actively seeks out others' opinions and input and is open-minded to their views. Challenges others appropriately and is also open to being challenged on their own views.
• Communicate: Is effective at adapting communication style appropriately to the audience, providing context and using the right tone and level of information.
• Customer Focus: Prioritizes customer needs and puts these at the forefront of all interactions. Ensures that others within the team maintain this same approach.
• Deliver: Demonstrates making well thought out, timely decisions and prioritization that leads to successful outcomes. Includes the right people at the right time.
• Problem Solve: Accurately assesses a situation to find the best solution or way of working in order to resolve issues. Is focused on creating a long-term fix rather than a short-term solution.
• Role Model: Contributes to the culture by inspiring and motivating others through a positive approach and attitude. Comes to work determined to do a good job for themselves and for their team.

Work Arrangement:

This position is designated as part-time telework per the global telework policy and will require at least three days of in-person attendance per week at the assigned office or project site. Weekly in-person schedules will be determined by the individual and their supervisor, in consultation with functional or project leadership.

Major Responsibilities:

• Lead commissioning activities for fire and life safety systems from construction completion through startup and handover.
• Develop commissioning plans, test procedures, integrated systems testing protocols, test scripts, and acceptance criteria.
• Manage functional performance testing of fire alarm, clean agent suppression, sprinkler, foam, smoke control, emergency communication, hazardous gas detection, and related systems.
• Coordinate with contractors, subcontractors, vendors, design teams, operations personnel, QA/QC, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) to resolve deficiencies and achieve system acceptance.
• Verify compliance with applicable NFPA standards, International Building Code (IBC), International Fire Code (IFC), local regulations, and client-specific requirements.
• Support integrated systems testing to validate interactions between fire protection, building management, process safety, HVAC, emergency power, and control systems.
• Review design documents, submittals, sequence of operations, drawings, P&ID diagrams, control schematics, and test results to ensure alignment with project requirements and operational intent.
• Ensure complete turnover documentation, test records, deficiency tracking, and final acceptance documentation are maintained and delivered.
• Develop and maintain commissioning schedules, checklists, and test procedures.
• Witness factory acceptance tests (FATs) and site acceptance tests (SATs) as required.
• Perform functional testing, performance verification, and troubleshooting of Control Systems to ensure compliance with NFPA, NEC, IEEE, and project specifications.
• Scope project drawings.
• Support reviews of performance curves, metrics, trackers, and feedback to show trends and drive continuous improvements.

Education and Experience Requirements:

Requires a bachelor's degree (or international equivalent) and 8+ years of relevant experience, or 12+ years of relevant work experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Fire Protection Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Construction Management.
• 3+ years of hands-on U.S. experience in fire construction, building life safety systems, or semiconductor facility management.
• Deep understanding of codes, standards, and regulations including NFPA 72 (Fire Alarm), NFPA 13 (Sprinklers), NFPA 20 (Fire Pumps), NFPA 25 (Inspection & Testing), NFPA 70 (NEC), and NFPA 101 (Life Safety Code).
• Knowledge of semiconductor-specific fire code requirements for Group H-5 occupancies.

Required Knowledge and Skills:

• Proficiency with Fire Alarm Systems (FAS).
• Expertise in Fire Suppression Systems (Wet Pipe, Pre-Action, Deluge, Clean Agent).
• Knowledge of Smoke Detection and Smoke Control Systems.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and stakeholder engagement capabilities for coordination with engineering, operations, and cross-functional teams.
• Experience with Commissioning Software (Smart Completions) or Hexagon's Smart Completions Software.
• Experience in commissioning or a technical consulting field such as facility design, engineering, or construction management.
• Proven leadership and supervisory skills with a focus on mentorship and accountability, ideally leading a Construction Automation Team on a job site.
• Understanding of Emergency Power Interfaces, Mass Notification Systems, Hazardous Gas Monitoring Systems (HGMS), and Emergency Shutdown Systems (ESD).
• Ability to identify owner's goals, needs, and expectations for building operation and function while defining commissioning responsibilities.
• Familiarity with semiconductor facility standards and critical power systems.
• Demonstrated background working effectively with multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated time management and organization skills to meet deadlines and quality objectives.
• Understanding of Occupancy Evacuation and Emergency Response Systems.
• Knowledge of Clean Rooms, toxic, corrosive, pyrophoric, and flammable gas systems, and Hazardous Production Material (HPM) requirements.