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Air conditioning engineer jobs.

The role

What the job involves.

Perigon Search recruits air conditioning engineers for HVAC contractors, FM providers and manufacturers. The job is installing, servicing and repairing commercial cooling and heat pump systems: split and ducted units, VRF and heat recovery, on Daikin, Mitsubishi Electric, Toshiba, Fujitsu, LG and Samsung kit. Most AC engineer roles take in planned maintenance, leak testing, fault finding and reactive callouts across a patch of offices, shops and hotels.

A forty-unit VRF system isn't a wall split. On commercial systems the faults hide in the comms wiring, the branch boxes and the controls as much as the refrigerant circuit. The air con engineer who can trace a comms fault across a heat recovery system, rather than swapping boards until it works, is the one clients chase. That's what separates commercial AC work from domestic installs, and why the pay climbs with VRF experience.

Service or installation. Service roles are mobile. You cover a patch from a van, on planned visits and reactive callouts, with an on-call rota. Installation roles put you on site for weeks at a time, on fit-outs and new builds, where CSCS and access tickets count. Manufacturer roles usually add commissioning and training on their own kit.

Salary and progression

What it pays.
Where it leads.

Salary

What air conditioning engineers earn.

With overtime and call-outs, earnings run well past these base salaries. Most service roles come with a van and fuel card, paid travel and a paid on-call rota. When an offer comes in, we negotiate it for you, base and package. Typical UK base salaries, updated October 2026.

Air conditioning engineer
£40,000 to £50,000 base
Senior or VRF engineer
£45,000 to £55,000 base
Supervisor or lead engineer
£55,000 to £65,000 base
Where it leads
Commissioning engineer
Bringing VRF and heat recovery systems online and signing them off.
Service or contract manager
Running the engineers, the contracts and the client relationship.
Project engineer or manager
Running installs and replacements, from survey to handover.
Estimating and technical sales
Pricing and specifying systems, where knowing how they fail counts.
Heat pumps
Low carbon heating is growing fast, and AC engineers already know the refrigeration circuit.
Critical cooling
Chiller and data centre cooling roles, where AC experience carries straight across.
Shortlisting

What gets you shortlisted.

F-Gas is a given. What moves a CV up the pile is VRF and the makes behind it.

Systems
VRFSplit systemsDucted unitsHeat recoveryHeat pumps
Makes
DaikinMitsubishi ElectricToshibaFujitsuLG
Skills
Fault findingCommissioningLeak testingBrazingPlanned maintenance
Tickets
F-Gas Cat 1C&G 2079NVQ RACCSCSIPAF
FAQ

Air conditioning engineer questions.

What does an air conditioning engineer do?
An air conditioning engineer installs, services and repairs cooling and heat pump systems, from wall splits to VRF systems serving a whole building. Day to day that's planned maintenance, leak testing, fault finding and reactive callouts. Most commercial roles are mobile, covering a region from a van.
What qualifications do I need to be an air conditioning engineer?
An F-Gas certificate is a legal requirement for work on refrigerant circuits, usually Category 1 through the C&G 2079. Most employers also want an NVQ Level 2 or 3 in refrigeration and air conditioning. Installation roles often ask for CSCS and IPAF or PASMA, and mobile roles need a full driving licence.
Do AC service engineers earn more than installation engineers?
Not on base salary. Current adverts pay both at much the same rate. Service roles add a call-out rota, typically £100 to £150 a week on standby plus call-out pay, while installation roles make it up with site overtime.
Can I move from domestic to commercial air conditioning?
Yes, and plenty do. Employers look for F-Gas, clean brazing and a record of fault finding, and VRF training makes the step much easier. Expect more controls, bigger systems and an on-call rota.
Do you recruit air conditioning engineers outside the UK?
Yes. We recruit across the UK and EMEA, including Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Scandinavia. Manufacturers in particular hire across borders, so there's work for engineers open to it.