MEP Design Engineer - Supermarket & Retail Infrastructure Specialist in Blackwood

Location: Blackwood, NJ

Job Type: Full-time

Reports To: VP of Engineering

Position Type: Individual Contributor / Technical Design Leader

About Cold Technology

At Cold Technology, we view a supermarket not merely as a commercial building, but as a complex, thermally dynamic mechanical and electrical ecosystem. We partner with independent grocers and premier regional supermarket chains throughout the Mid-Atlantic to design, build, and optimize high-performance retail environments. We are not a traditional, rigid consulting engineering firm—we are an agile, design-build energy management and retail infrastructure company. We act as the Owner’s Engineer, prioritising value engineering, maximum operational efficiency, and buildable, real-world field layouts for our clients.

Position Overview

We are seeking a versatile, multi-disciplinary MEP Design Engineer who thrives on variety and excels as a "jack of all trades." In this role, you will bridge the gap between creative supermarket store planning and critical facility application engineering. As the Owner’s Engineer, you will own the end-to-end design process. You will begin by collaborating directly with clients to map out their retail vision via a Merchandising Plan (grocery shelving, display cases, store departments, and floor layouts). From there, you will develop comprehensive MEP Requirement Drawings, equipment schedules, and high-level unit-sizing parameters. Your finalized design packages will then be handed off to our consulting Engineer of Record (EOR), who handles code-compliance stamping and granular sub-system calculations (such as duct sizing). This role is ideal for a hands-on designer who loves marking up plans, configuring advanced HVAC-R and electrical layouts, and directing internal drafting teams to bring high-impact retail spaces to life.

Key Responsibilities

• Merchandising & Floor Planning: Partner with retail operators to develop comprehensive Merchandising Plans, optimising grocery shelving layouts, department footprints, customer flow, and refrigerated display fixture placement.
• MEP Requirement Drawings: Translate finalised merchandising schemes into detailed MEP utility pathing plans, equipment schedules, and equipment placement drawings.
• Supermarket HVAC & Dehumidification Sizing: Size and specify new rooftop units (RTUs) for customer replacements. Design specialised retail HVAC setups utilising package RTUs with concentric ducts, implementing advanced reheat strategies to win the continuous supermarket battle against relative humidity. Coordinate seasonal spring/winter startup parameters.
• Refrigeration Application Engineering: Specify, schedule, and design layouts for commercial refrigeration applications, including walk-in boxes (coolers/freezers) and specialised refrigerated display cases. Ensure critical field details—such as gravity-fed case drains—are flawlessly called out on drawings.
• Electrical, Lighting, & Controls Layout: Develop fundamental equipment electrical load schedules, plan ambient/accent retail lighting schemes, and integrate Building Automation Systems / Energy Management Systems (EMS/BMS) to seamlessly tie together HVAC and refrigeration cycles.
• Value Engineering: Critically evaluate layouts to keep equipment, installation, and utility costs as low as possible for our independent grocer clients.
• Design Leadership & Project Delegation: Run the core design process, produce precise initial layout markups, and delegate production drafting tasks to internal AutoCAD/Revit drafters, managing the documentation quality of multiple active store sites simultaneously.

Qualifications & Core Competencies

• Experience: 3–8+ years of experience in retail facility layout, supermarket design, commercial food service planning, or MEP application engineering. (Experience working on the design-build or contractor side is highly valued).
• The "Jack of All Trades" Mindset: Demonstrated ability to draft, plan, and lay out multi-disciplinary building systems (Mechanical, Electrical, and Refrigeration) on a unified plan set.
• Software Proficiency: Advanced capability in AutoCAD (required) and familiarity with Revit to create structured architectural floor plans and system pathing.
• Field-Aware Mindset: An innate understanding that design drawings must align with real-world field installation constraints, service maintenance access, and equipment clearance realities.
• Communication Skills: Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to confidently convey technical equipment parameters and layout options to non-technical store owners and corporate executives.
• Education Flexibility: Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Architecture, or Construction Engineering is preferred; however, equivalent field experience in supermarket refrigeration layout, HVAC design, or retail facility planning will be heavily considered in lieu of a formal degree.

Industry Leading Benefits Package

We take immense pride in offering an industry-leading, premier compensation package designed to recruit and retain the absolute top technical talent in the region:

• Competitive Salary: $65,000 - $105,000+ per year (Commensurate with experience and layout speed).
• 100% Company-Paid Premiums for Family Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance plans (No payroll deductions for your family's healthcare).
• 401(k) Pension Plan featuring a dollar-for-dollar company matching matrix up to 5%. Your company match automatically doubles to 10% after 3 years of continuous tenure.
• Generous Paid Time Off: Access to paid vacation tiers (increasing with overall company tenure), paid holidays, and paid flex, personal/sick days.
• 100% Company-Paid Life Insurance and Long-Term coverage.
• Reliable Weekly Pay: Direct deposit processed reliably on a weekly schedule.
• Professional Growth: Company-sponsored technical instruction, professional licensing, and continuous education allowances.

Cold Technology is an Equal Opportunity Employer.