Lead Life Safety Engineer

Lead Life Safety Engineer

Location: Chandler, AZ

Onsite Flexibility: Onsite

Contract Details

• Position Type: Contract
• Contract Duration: 12 months
• Pay Rate: $51.40 $66.71 / Hour (USD)
• Work Authorization: Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

Job Summary

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.

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. Weekly in-person schedules will be determined by the individual and their supervisor, in consultation with functional or project leadership.

Key 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, 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, vendors, design teams, operations personnel, and 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, 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.
• Develop and implement commissioning plans, test scripts, and acceptance criteria in alignment with project requirements.
• Review and interpret drawings, P&ID diagrams, control schematics, and project specifications.
• Coordinate with engineering, construction, QA/QC, and operations teams to ensure a seamless transition from construction to operations.
• Perform functional testing, performance verification, and troubleshooting of Control Systems to ensure compliance with NFPA, NEC, IEEE, and project specifications.
• Coordinate with Commissioning Team, Design Engineers, Construction teams, vendors, and owner representatives to resolve technical issues.
• Scope project drawings.
• Support reviews of performance curves, metrics, trackers, and feedback to show trends, and use in improvements.
• Coordinate contractors, subcontractors, and vendors during testing and commissioning activities.

Required Skills

• Fire Alarm Systems (FAS)
• Fire Suppression Systems (Wet Pipe, Pre-Action, Deluge, Clean Agent)
• Smoke Detection and Smoke Control Systems
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills for coordination with engineering, operations, and client teams
• Experience with Commissioning Software (Smart Completions) and/or Digital Software
• Experience in Commissioning or a technical consulting field such as facility design, engineering, construction management, or related area
• Proven leadership and supervisory skills with a focus on mentorship and accountability
• Emergency Power Interfaces
• Mass Notification Systems
• Hazardous Gas Monitoring Systems (HGMS)
• Emergency Shutdown Systems (ESD)
• Ability to identify owner's goals, needs, and expectations for building operation and function; identifies the Commissioning responsibilities
• Leadership or Supervisory experience, ideally leading a Construction Automation Team on a jobsite
• Experience with or exposure to Hexagon's Smart Completions Software
• Familiarity with semiconductor facility standards and critical power
• Demonstrated background working with multidisciplinary teams
• Demonstrated time management and organization skills to meet deadlines and quality objectives
• Occupancy Evacuation and Emergency Response Systems
• Understanding and knowledge of Clean Rooms
• Toxic, corrosive, pyrophoric, and flammable gas systems
• HPM (Hazardous Production Material) requirements
• Actively seeks out others' opinions and input and is open-minded to their views; challenges others appropriately and is open to being challenged
• Effective at adapting communication style appropriately to audience, providing context and using the right tone and level of information
• Prioritizes customer needs and puts these at the forefront of all interactions; ensures that others within the team maintain this same approach
• Demonstrates making well thought out, timely decisions and prioritization that leads to successful outcomes; includes the right people at the right time
• Accurately assesses a situation to find the best solution or way of working in order to resolve issues; focused on creating a long-term fix rather than a short-term solution
• Contributes to a positive 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

Education Requirements

• Bachelor's degree (or international equivalent) required; 8 10 years of relevant experience, OR 12 14 years of relevant work experience in lieu of degree
• Preferred: Bachelor's degree in Fire Protection Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Construction Management
• Codes, Standards, and Regulations (Required):

- NFPA 72 (Fire Alarm), NFPA 13 (Sprinklers), NFPA 20, NFPA 25 (Inspection & Testing), NFPA 70 (NEC), and NFPA 101 (Life Safety Code) - Semiconductor-specific fire code requirements for Group H-5 occupancies

Required Experience

• 8 10 years of relevant experience (with bachelor's degree), or 12 14 years of relevant work experience
• Preferred: 3 8 years of hands-on U.S. experience in fire construction, building life safety systems, or semiconductor facility management

Benefits

• Medical, Vision, and Dental Insurance Plans
• 401k Retirement Fund

About the Client

This global engineering, procurement, and construction firm has delivered more than 25,000 complex infrastructure and industrial projects across 160 countries on all seven continents over more than 125 years of continuous operation. Serving markets that include energy and industrial, infrastructure, nuclear and environmental remediation, government services, and mining and metals, the organization works for clients ranging from national governments and global energy companies to the world's largest public agencies. With a Glassdoor rating of 4.0 stars from nearly 2,500 employee reviews and 78 percent of employees recommending the company to a friend the organization employs civil and structural engineers, project controls specialists, procurement managers, field engineers, and nuclear and environmental remediation professionals who take on technically demanding, geographically diverse projects at an industrial scale that is nearly impossible to find elsewhere.

About GTT

GTT is a minority-owned staffing firm and a subsidiary of Chenega Corporation, a Native American-owned company in Alaska. We highly value diverse and inclusive workplaces and support Fortune 500 organizations across banking, financial services, technology, life sciences, biotech, utilities, and retail sectors throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Job Number: 26-18149 Industry: Engineering

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