India Engineering Leader – Cooling Systems (Data Centres)

Role: India Engineering Leader

Business Unit: Cooling Line of Business (LOB)

Scope: Regional Design, Localization, and Global R&D Support

Key Products: Chillers, Precision Air Conditioning (PAC), and Coolant Distribution Units (CDU)

Executive Summary

The India Engineering Leader is a high-impact role responsible for steering the technical vision of our Data Centre cooling portfolio in India.

The incumbent will transform the India Engineering Centre into a powerhouse for Local for Local and Local for Global initiatives.

Beyond technical oversight of Chillers, PAC, and CDUs, this leader must excel in managing a multi-disciplinary engineering team and navigating a complex global matrix of stakeholders.

Core Responsibilities

Strategic Engineering Governance & Reporting


* Engineering Roadmap: Define and own the 3-5 year technical strategy for the India Engineering Centre, ensuring it supports the hyper-growth of the Data Centre market.


* Stakeholder Reporting: Establish a rigorous reporting cadence with Global LOB heads.

Provide transparent visibility into project health, resource utilization, and R&D spend.


* Risk Management: Proactively identify technical and supply chain risks in the localization process and present mitigation strategies to the executive committee.

Team Management & Organizational Excellence


* Talent Acquisition & Retention: Scale the engineering team by hiring top-tier talent in thermal management, controls, and mechanical design.


* Performance Culture: Implement a high-performance culture focused on "First-Time Right" engineering.

Set clear KPIs for the team around design quality, modularity, and patent filings.


* Competency Mapping: Identify skill gaps in emerging technologies (e.g., liquid cooling, AI-driven thermal controls) and drive training programs to ensure the India team remains at the cutting edge.

Localization & Supply Chain Integration


* Cost Leadership: Lead Value Engineering (VAVE) workshops to strip out "over-engineering" while maintaining Schneider Electric's reliability standards for mission-critical infrastructure.


* Local Ecosystem Development: Partner with the Procurement team to identify and qualify local vendors for heat exchangers, compressors, and electronic controllers.


* Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as the technical bridge between Global Engineering and local Plant Operations to ensure designs are optimized for local manufacturing capabilities (DFM/DFA).

NPD Execution: Chillers, PAC, & CDU


* Product Lifecycle Management (PLM): Oversee the end-to-end execution of New Product Developments (NPD) for high-density cooling solutions.

Technical Authority: Act as the final technical sign-off for regional product adaptations, ensuring compliance with local grid codes, environmental regulations, and energy efficiency standards

Candidate Profile

Competency

Requirement

Experience

18+ years in R&D/Engineering, with at least 5 years i...