Quality, Environmental

Opportunity MERLIN Edged is seeking a Quality, Environmental & Operational Compliance Engineer to strengthen independent assurance across data center operations. Reporting to the Regional QHSE Manager, the role evaluates whether approved requirements and management-system controls are effectively implemented, evidenced and sustained at site level. The role executes and supports the regional assurance framework established by the Regional QHSE Manager. It performs assigned audits and reviews, administers evidence and action registers, analyses compliance data and verifies corrective-action implementation. The Regional QHSE Manager retains ownership of the Quality Management System, compliance strategy, standards, audit programme, external-audit governance, customer-complaint framework and regional management reporting. Role purpose
• Support the Regional QHSE Manager in delivering the approved risk-based assurance programme covering applicable quality, environmental, energy, occupational safety, information-security and operational-control requirements.
• Provide objective evidence on whether site processes, procedures and controls are designed appropriately and operating effectively.
• Identify nonconformities, control weaknesses, recurring deviations and emerging compliance risks before they become operational, regulatory, customer or certification failures.
• Administer findings and corrective-action follow-up, review root-cause quality and perform assigned effectiveness checks without taking ownership away from the accountable operational function.
• Convert audit and performance data into practical improvements that can be standardised across the data center portfolio.
• Operations and functional process owners: operate the processes, maintain required controls and evidence, investigate deviations, implement corrective actions and accept operational responsibilities within delegated authority.
• Quality, Environmental & Operational Compliance Engineer: executes assigned audits and reviews, collects and tests evidence, records findings, administers trackers, analyses data, follows up actions and performs assigned effectiveness verification.

Key responsibilities
1. Integrated assurance planning
• Prepare risk inputs and a draft audit and compliance-monitoring schedule for approval by the Regional QHSE Manager, then coordinate and execute assigned activities against the approved plan.
• Administer the applicable-requirements and assurance register under the framework and ownership defined by the Regional QHSE Manager, recording source, scope, owner, evidence, review frequency and verification method.
• Coordinate assigned assurance activities across sites and functions and flag duplication, coverage gaps or independence concerns to the Regional QHSE Manager.
• Define audit objectives, scope, criteria, sampling method, interview plan and evidence requirements before each review.
• Recommend changes to the approved plan when incidents, complaints, regulatory changes, repeated findings or performance data indicate increased risk.
• Report plan progress, overdue reviews, coverage gaps and material assurance limitations to the Regional QHSE Manager. 2. Internal audits and operational compliance reviews
• Plan and perform internal audits, process reviews, site inspections and evidence-based compliance assessments against approved criteria.
• Evaluate both documented design and practical implementation through records, interviews, observations, sampling and system data.
• Review operational processes such as change control, maintenance governance, incident management, training, document control, supplier controls, environmental controls and management-system records.
• Distinguish nonconformities, observations, improvement opportunities and good practices using consistent definitions and severity criteria.
• Ensure findings state the requirement, objective evidence, observed gap, risk or impact, accountable owner and expected closure evidence.
• Escalate immediately any condition presenting material safety, environmental, service-continuity, legal or certification risk. 3. External audits and certification support
• Support and coordinate assigned readiness activities for external certification, customer and regulatory audits under the direction of the Regional QHSE Manager.
• Maintain audit calendars, evidence requests, interview schedules, site logistics, document rooms and action trackers.
• Conduct readiness assessments and identify evidence gaps before the external audit, without concealing unresolved nonconformities.
• Act as the designated coordination point for auditors when assigned by the Regional QHSE Manager, while ensuring technical responses are provided by the accountable subject-matter owner.
• Record external findings accurately and coordinate ownership, due dates, evidence and escalation through to verified closure.
• Analyse recurring external findings and ensure lessons are reflected in standards, procedures, training and future assurance plans. 4. Management systems and compliance frameworks
• Support the Regional QHSE Manager and accountable specialists in implementing, maintaining and improving applicable management-system frameworks, including ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 50001, ISO 27001 and ISO 45001 within their approved scope.
• Coordinate with accountable specialists for PCI DSS, ENS, energy-efficiency and other customer, certification or regulatory requirements; do not present a framework as applicable until scope and applicability have been confirmed.
• Draft control objectives, evidence requirements and review mechanisms for approval within the management-system framework defined by the Regional QHSE Manager and accountable specialists.
• Review policies, procedures, templates and records for consistency, usability, ownership, revision control and alignment with actual practice.
• Monitor changes in approved requirements through the responsible Legal, Security, Sustainability or QHSE functions and support controlled implementation.
• Maintain a clear distinction between legal obligations, certification requirements, contractual commitments and voluntary good practices. 5. Findings, corrective actions and effectiveness verification
• Administer the central register of audit findings, nonconformities, corrective actions, observations and improvement opportunities under the governance defined by the Regional QHSE Manager.
• Ensure accountable owners perform proportionate root-cause analysis for significant or recurring issues using an appropriate method such as 5 Whys, fault-tree analysis or causal-factor analysis.
• Challenge actions that only correct the immediate symptom, rely solely on retraining or fail to address control design, ownership, capability or recurrence prevention.
• Review proposed actions for clarity, ownership, due date, dependencies and objective closure evidence.
• Verify implementation and effectiveness before recommending closure; do not close findings solely because an action is reported as complete.
• Escalate overdue, ineffective, repeated or risk-accepted findings in accordance with governance and delegated authority. 6. Operational risk and FMEA support
• Facilitate or independently review FMEA/FMECA and other structured risk assessments where appropriate to operational or compliance risk.
• Ensure failure modes, causes, consequences, controls, detectability, ownership and resulting actions are supported by evidence and operational knowledge.
• Link significant assessment outputs to operational risk registers, assurance plans, procedures, training and improvement programmes.
• Challenge scoring inconsistency, unsupported assumptions and controls that are described but not demonstrably implemented.
• Track risk-reduction actions and reassess residual risk following material changes or completed mitigations. 7. Customer complaints and service-quality issues
• Administer and support the quality workflow for customer complaints and service rejections, while the Regional QHSE Manager governs the process and the relevant Operations, Service Management or Legal owner retains accountability for investigation and response.
• Ensure complaints are logged, classified, assigned, investigated and responded to within the applicable process and authorised communication channels.
• Challenge the quality of root-cause analysis and corrective actions while technical and contractual accountability remains with the relevant Operations, Service Management or Legal owner.
• Analyse complaint trends, repeated causes, response quality and corrective-action effectiveness.
• Protect confidentiality and ensure externally issued statements are factually supported and appropriately approved. 8. Metrics, analytics and management reporting
• Prepare, maintain and analyse approved quality and compliance metrics using the definitions, sources, owners and review frequency established by the Regional QHSE Manager.
• Analyse audit coverage, findings, ageing, recurrence, action effectiveness, complaint trends, control performance and site-level patterns.
• Distinguish verified data from estimates, missing information and interpretation; do not create unsupported compliance scores.
• Propose evidence-based countermeasures to the Regional QHSE Manager and accountable process owner and track approved actions and results.
• Prepare periodic reporting for the Regional QHSE Manager and relevant operational governance forums. 9. Supplier and contractor assurance
• Support risk-based audits and compliance reviews of suppliers and contractors whose activities affect critical operations, quality, environmental or certification outcomes.
• Assess implementation of applicable contractual controls, qualifications, records, corrective actions and site requirements.
• Ensure supplier findings are traceable to agreed requirements and are managed through the appropriate contractual process.
• Escalate material supplier-control weaknesses without assuming Procurement or contract-management authority. 10. Training, awareness and continuous improvement
• Prepare and deliver assigned awareness sessions and guidance on audit readiness, evidence quality, nonconformity management, root-cause analysis and management-system controls using approved materials.
• Capture and share lessons learned, recurring weaknesses and effective practices across sites and functions.
• Propose standardisation, simplification and automation where these improve control effectiveness and reduce administrative burden.
• Monitor implementation of approved improvements and verify that revised controls are adopted in practice. Education / Experience Essential education and experience
• Degree or equivalent professional experience in engineering, quality, environmental management, operations, risk or a related technical discipline.
• Minimum 2 years of relevant experience in internal auditing, management systems, quality, environmental compliance or critical operations.
• Practical experience planning audits, collecting evidence, writing findings and managing corrective actions.
• Working knowledge of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001; ability to interpret requirements and assess implementation in an operational environment.
• Understanding of risk assessment, root-cause analysis, corrective-action management and effectiveness verification.
• Clear written and verbal communication, professional scepticism, discretion and the ability to challenge constructively.
• Fluent Spanish is required for effective interaction with Local-based operations and stakeholders. Desirable
• Engineering degree and experience in data centers, critical facilities, energy, industrial operations or regulated infrastructure.
• Formal internal or lead-auditor training for one or more relevant ISO management-system standards.
• Working knowledge of ISO 50001, ISO 27001, ISO 45001, PCI DSS, ENS or applicable energy-efficiency requirements, subject to assigned scope.
• Experience with FMEA/FMECA, 5 Whys, fault-tree analysis.
• Experience supporting certification, customer or supplier audits across multiple sites.
• Knowledge of document-control, operational change, incident management and supplier-quality processes.
• English at professional working level (B1 or B2). Specific Skills / Abilities
• Advanced Microsoft Office 365 (Power BI, Word, Excel, MS App)
• Knowledge Data Analysis Tools (Phyton, Minitab) Working Conditions
• Based in Bilbao-Arasur site (Ribabellosa-Miranda del Ebro) with regular collaboration across operational sites and regional functions.
• Travel to data center sites, customers, suppliers and audit locations may be required.
• Participation in audit and certification activities may occasionally require work outside standard office hours.
• All activities are subject to site safety, security, confidentiality, document-control and information-handling requirements. About MERLIN Edged MERLIN Properties and Edged Energy joined forces in 2020 to promote, build, equip and operate state-of-the-art, carbon-neutral data centers in the Iberian Peninsula. Their facilities are located in Barcelona, Madrid, Extremadura, Lisbon and the Basque Country. MERLIN Edged is creating a global network of carbon-neutral, waterless infrastructure for data center and microgrid projects. MERLIN Edged is an infrastructure solution that combines rapid deployment with sustainable operation. Its modular components, including waterless cooling and advanced electrical systems, help reduce costs, minimize environmental impact, and enable a new generation of on-demand infrastructure as a service. Full-time / part-time: Full-time

Location:
Ribabellosa – Miranda del Ebro (Spain).