The Associate Director – HVAC is responsible for leading the HVAC engineering function, driving technical excellence, ensuring timely and high-quality project delivery, and managing a multi-level team comprising project leads, design engineers, and BIM professionals. This role combines strong technical expertise, project oversight, client management, and people leadership to ensure successful execution of HVAC works across multiple large-scale MEP projects.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Leadership
Lead, review, and validate HVAC system designs, calculations, and drawings for compliance with relevant codes (ASHRAE, ISHRAE, NBC, NFPA, local codes).
Approve conceptual designs, system selection, heat load calculations, ESP calculations, and equipment sizing.
Guide high-level technical decisions for complex projects (malls, hospitals, IT parks, commercial buildings, industrial facilities).
Ensure design coordination with electrical, plumbing, and fire protection teams.
Establish and standardize HVAC design processes, templates, and QA/QC standards.
B. Project Management
Oversee multiple projects simultaneously, ensuring on-schedule delivery and design quality.
Conduct periodic design reviews, value engineering sessions, and risk assessments.
Resolve project-level technical issues escalated by Project Leads or clients.
Collaborate with project managers on workload planning, resource allocation, and delivery timelines.
Monitor compliance with project budgets and optimize design efficiency.
C. Client & Stakeholder Management
Serve as the senior technical point of contact for key clients, architects, and PMC teams.
Attend client meetings, technical presentations, and coordination workshops.
Support business development through technical proposals, scope definitions, and design strategies.
Strengthen client relationships and contribute to client retention and repeat business.
D. Team Leadership & People Development
Lead a team consisting of project leads, design engineers, and BIM modelers.
Conduct performance reviews, set KRAs/KPIs, and mentor team members for career development.
Implement training programs on HVAC codes, design tools, and new technologies.
Foster accountability, ownership, and collaborative working culture.
Identify skill gaps and facilitate capability-building initiatives.
E. Quality Assurance & Innovation
Ensure all design outputs pass internal QC reviews and meet professional and safety standards.
Drive innovation in energy-efficient and sustainable HVAC solutions (ECBC, IGBC, GRIHA).
Promote adoption of new tools (HAP, Trace, CFD, BIM workflows).
Lead lessons-learned sessions and continuous improvement initiatives.