Controls Support Specialist - MQTT

Job description

Serverfarm is a leading developer and operator of data centers with over 750+ locations and key customer relationships in 45 countries. We're revolutionizing how data centers operate across North America, Western Europe, and Israel, serving the world's leading technology and hyperscale companies. With Manulife Investment Management's acquisition in 2023 and our award-winning InCommand platform we're positioned for explosive growth as AI adoption and cloud migration drive unprecedented demand for data center capacity. A career at Serverfarm means being at the forefront of digital infrastructure innovation, where your work directly impacts how the world's data is managed and secured. As we target 4x growth over the next four years, you'll have unprecedented opportunities to take on new challenges, develop cutting-edge skills, and grow your career across our expanding global operations. Join our team of innovators and help shape the future of sustainable data centers while building a career without boundaries. The Controls Support Specialist - MQTT provides support for the successful deployment, validation, and handover of data center control and monitoring systems that provide MQTT data services across new build and retrofit projects. The position supports and coordinates with Operation Engineering’s implementation of the MQTT-based messaging architectures into the daily operation of data center infrastructure. ### Key Accountabilities - Support the deployment of data center control systems, ensuring on-time delivery with minimal defects through effective management of vendors during construction and L1–L5 commissioning phases. - Support final validation of controls, monitoring, and data transport systems, ensuring all functional, performance, cybersecurity, and documentation criteria are complete, accurate, and ready for handover to Operations and customers at PFHO. - Support the implementation of **MQTT-based data ingestion and messaging solutions** to enable scalable, low-latency telemetry exchange between field devices, control systems, analytics platforms, and enterprise monitoring tools. - Support MQTT topic structures, naming conventions, Quality of Service (QoS) levels, retained message strategies, and payload standards to ensure data consistency, reliability, and operational usability. - Coordinate integration of MQTT brokers with BMS, EPMS, PLCs, SCADA systems, and third-party platforms, ensuring compatibility, redundancy, and secure data exchange across multiple vendors and protocols. - Work with Operations Engineering to support point-to-point verification, MQTT message validation, software logic testing, and graphics validation to ensure operability, data integrity, and quality prior to on-site deployment. - Support QA/QC oversight of controls hardware installation, network infrastructure, MQTT-enabled gateways, vendor proposals, and programming deliverables throughout construction and commissioning. - Support commissioning activities to validate controls logic, alarm thresholds, monitoring configurations, MQTT data flows, broker failover, and end-to-end operability of integrated data center infrastructure systems. - Support Operations, IT, and Cybersecurity teams to diagnose and resolve Loss of Visibility (LOV), Loss of Resilience (LOR), Large Scale Events (LSE), Critical Scale Events (CSE), and other controls- or data-path-related operational incidents within defined Service Level Agreements (SLAs). - Support monitoring, alerting, and performance metrics for MQTT infrastructure, ensuring availability, throughput, message latency, and resilience meet operational and business requirements. - Support continuous improvement initiatives to enhance the efficiency, resilience, and observability of data center controls, MQTT-based telemetry pipelines, and associated operational procedures. - Work with Operations Engineering in the consistent application of standards, documentation quality, and best practices for controls systems, data models, and messaging architectures across projects, vendors, and regions. ### Minimum Qualifications - Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a closely related discipline; equivalent industry or military experience may be considered in lieu of a degree. - Minimum of 4 years of experience in controls engineering, including programming development, system start-up, and/or commissioning of critical infrastructure systems. - Hands-on experience implementing or integrating MQTT-based telemetry or messaging architectures within industrial, building automation, or mission-critical environments. - Proficiency with industry-standard programming environments, including PLCs, SCADA systems, and scripted programming languages. - Ability to read, interpret, and validate engineering documentation, including electrical one- lines, control diagrams, control network schematics, control panel bills of material (BOMs), and panel schematics.