Senior HVAC Mechanical Engineer / Estimator (006-1129)

??Looking for Filipino (Philippines-based) candidates

Job Role: Senior HVAC Mechanical Engineer / Estimator

Work Schedule: This is a full-time role Australia Timezone

Salary range: AUD 2000-3000 / Monthly

Who We Are: At Hunt St we help Australian companies directly hire top 5% remote talent in the Philippines. You will be hired directly by the client, typically as an independent contractor. We are not an outsourcing agency. All of our roles are 100% remote so you'll be able to work from home.

Who The Client Is:

Our client is a reputable Queensland-based company specialising in the design, installation, and maintenance of commercial HVAC-R (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration) systems.

Role Overview:

We are seeking an exceptional Senior Mechanical Engineer / Estimator to become a key technical member of our estimating and engineering team.

You will be joining an established team of experienced estimators and engineers. This is not a role where you'll be building processes from scratch or working independently. Instead, you'll collaborate with a high-performing team, contribute as a senior technical resource, and be supported by colleagues in a growing business.

This is a senior-level position that combines mechanical engineering, commercial estimating, design review, and technical coordination. We are looking for someone who is technically strong, detail-oriented, and genuinely passionate about delivering high-quality work. The ideal candidate is seeking a long-term opportunity where they can make a meaningful contribution and continue to grow professionally.

We're particularly interested in someone who enjoysfinding technical and commercial opportunities that others overlook. The right person is energized by reviewing consulting engineers' tender documentation, identifying gaps, ambiguities, and risks, and using those insights to develop competitive and commercially sound estimates.

You will work closely with Australian-based estimating and project teams and become one of the organization's key technical resources.

This is a client-facing and supplier-facing role. You will communicate directly with Australian builders, clients, consultants, suppliers, and subcontractors via email and other written correspondence, representing the business professionally and independently.

WHAT THIS ROLE IS NOT

We are not seeking a CAD operator or a junior engineer. This is a senior seat. We are looking for someone capable of thinking independently, identifying risks, challenging documentation, and supporting projects from tender through to construction — someone who can hold their own in a room full of experienced people and make the team around them better.

THE TEAM YOU ARE JOINING

You will not be working alone. The client already has an established estimating and engineering team, and this role is a deliberate addition to it as the business grows.

You will be surrounded by experienced estimators, engineers and project people, both in Australia and offshore, who you can learn from and contribute to. Your work will be seen, valued and built upon. For the right person this is a place to grow into one of our most senior and trusted technical people over time.

The successful candidate will ideally possess:

• Mechanical Engineering Degree
• 5–7+ years relevant experience
• Strong Australian commercial HVAC experience
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Working electrical services knowledge
• CAMEL experience (high bonus)
• Accurate heat loads and equipment selections
• Strong controls, BMS and control logic depth
• High attention to detail
• Strong commercial awareness
• Excellent engineering judgement
• Ability to work independently
• Strong communication skills
• Confidence dealing directly with Australians
• Genuinely engaged — takes pride in the work
• Excited by finding gaps in tender documents
• Loves value engineering and chasing cost savings
• Loyal, with a long-term career mindset
• Wants to be excellent, not just employed

Requirements

Estimating

• Review mechanical drawings and specifications
• Perform quantity take-offs
• Prepare commercial HVAC estimates
• Review tender documentation
• Identify missing scope
• Identify scope gaps between mechanical and electrical
• Identify commercial risks
• Prepare RFIs
• Prepare tender clarifications
• Issue enquiries to suppliers and subcontractors
• Review subcontract quotations
• Review supplier quotations
• Assist with value engineering
• Assist with pricing strategies
• Review project programmes for estimating impacts

Mechanical Engineering

• Review HVAC system designs
• Develop practical Design & Construct solutions
• Review Australian Standards compliance
• Interpret the NCC
• Review equipment selections
• Review mechanical specifications
• Review controls philosophy
• Review electrical requirements of mechanical plant
• Define the mechanical / electrical scope split
• Identify engineering risks
• Assist with system optimisation
• Support technical decision making

Drafting & BIM

• Produce shop drawings
• Produce coordinated services drawings
• Produce as-built drawings
• Review architectural coordination
• Review structural coordination
• Coordinate with electrical and hydraulic services
• Support clash detection
• Maintain drawing revisions
• Review equipment schedules for completeness and coordination.

Project Support

• Support Project Managers
• Support Site Supervisors
• Support Estimators
• Assist procurement
• Liaise with suppliers
• Liaise with subcontractors
• Raise and track purchase orders in SimPro
• Maintain job costing and cost records in SimPro
• Assist commissioning documentation
• Assist O&M manuals
• Assist project close-out documentation
• Maintain accurate records in company systems

We are looking for a proactive and dedicated individual to join our team and contribute to our success. If you meet the above requirements and are looking for a challenging and rewarding role, that is long-term focused we encourage you to apply.

Artificial Intelligence

• The client actively uses ChatGPT and AI as part of its engineering and estimating workflows.
• The successful candidate will be expected to embrace AI as a productivity tool rather than avoid it.
• Experience using AI for: reviewing specifications, reviewing drawings, drafting RFIs, summarising documentation, engineering research, estimating assistance

We believe AI will become an essential engineering tool over the next decade. We are looking for someone who embraces new technology and continually looks for ways to improve accuracy, efficiency and decision-making through AI.

REQUIRED TECHNICAL SKILLS

Excellent understanding of:

AREA

SYSTEMS AND TOPICS

• Air conditioning
• Air conditioning systems · Packaged and split systems · VRF / VRV · Chilled water · DX systems · Air handling units · Fan coil units · Plant rooms
• Ventilation
• Ventilation systems · Outside air · Relief air · Stairwell pressurisation
• Exhaust systems
• Smoke exhaust · Toilet exhaust · Kitchen exhaust · Car park ventilation

Distribution

• Ductwork · Pipework · Insulation · Acoustic treatment · Fire dampers and penetrations

Refrigeration - Refrigeration concepts · Refrigerant pipework · Refrigerant selection and compliance

Controls and BMS Controls philosophy · Control components · BMS integration · Interface with the electrical trade

Commissioning TAB · Commissioning · Witness testing · Defects and completion

Documentation - Equipment selection · Mechanical specifications · Equipment schedules · HVAC coordination

ELECTRICAL KNOWLEDGE

This role requires a strong working knowledge of the electrical requirements of mechanical plant. We are not seeking a qualified electrical engineer, but we are seeking someone who understands where the mechanical scope stops, where the electrical scope starts, and who is responsible for the gap between them.

On Australian commercial projects, the mechanical / electrical interface is one of the most common sources of missed scope and commercial dispute. The successful candidate must be able to see those gaps at tender stage, not at commissioning.

REQUIRED UNDERSTANDING

WHAT WE EXPECT YOU TO UNDERSTAND

Power requirements - Electrical loads of mechanical plant · Single and three phase · Full load amps · Starting currents · Power factor

Supply and distribution - Mechanical switchboards · Distribution boards · Sub-mains · Isolators · Circuit protection · Cable sizing principles

Scope split - What the mechanical contractor supplies and installs · What the electrical contractor supplies and installs · Who terminates · Who commissions

Controls interface - Control wiring · Field devices · Interlocks · Fire trip and shutdown signals · BMS interface points

Motor control - Starters · Variable speed drives · Motor control centres · Control panels

Essential services - Smoke exhaust and stairwell pressurisation electrical requirements · Fire mode operation · Emergency power interfaces

Compliance - Relevant Australian Standards for the electrical interface · NCC requirements affecting mechanical plant

WHY THIS MATTERS

You will be expected to read a mechanical specification and an electrical specification together, and tell us what has been left out of both.

ENGINEERING DEPTH WE VALUE

The technical skills earlier in this document are the baseline. This section is about depth. The stronger a candidate is across the areas below, the more highly they will be regarded — there is no upper limit here. We would rather hire someone who is genuinely excellent at this than someone who merely meets the minimum.

CALCULATIONS AND SELECTIONS

We place a high value on candidates who can perform accurate engineering calculations and equipment selections themselves, not simply read someone else's.

THE MORE CAPABLE, THE MORE HIGHLY REGARDED

Heat load calculations - Accurate, defensible heat load calculations. The more accurate and the more confidently you can do them, the better.

Outside air requirements - Correct outside air and ventilation rate calculations to the relevant Australian Standards and the NCC.

Air conditioning selections - Confident AC selections across a wide range of project sizes and system types.

Fan selections - Correct fan selections — exhaust, supply, relief, smoke and car park — against duty and static.

All equipment selections

AHUs, FCUs, condensers, pumps, and all associated mechanical plant, selected accurately and commercially.

PROJECT RANGE

Our projects typically range from around $10,000 to $5,000,000. We want someone comfortable performing accurate heat loads, outside air calculations and equipment selections across that entire range — from small works through to major commercial jobs.

CONTROLS, BMS AND ELECTRICAL DEPTH

Depth in controls and the mechanical / electrical interface is one of the strongest differentiators for this role. The more genuine controls and electrical knowledge a candidate brings, the more highly they will be regarded.

DEPTH WE REWARD

Control logic - Understanding and writing practical control logic — how a system should actually sequence and respond.

Controls understanding - Genuine understanding of controls philosophy, not just naming components.

BMS connections - Different BMS connection types, protocols and integration points.

Controllers - Familiarity with different controllers and control hardware across manufacturers.

Controls / mechanical / electrical crossover - The more a candidate can join up