ColeBreit Welcomes Jacyln Button

Jaclyn Button is only four weeks into her new role at ColeBreit Engineering, but she’s already deeply embedded in projects that will shape communities in Seattle and beyond. As a senior mechanical engineer working in the Seattle area, she is helping anchor ColeBreit’s expansion into a key West Coast market through complex healthcare and residential work.

A senior mechanical engineer leading key projects

Jaclyn joined ColeBreit as a senior mechanical engineer and will serve as discipline lead on a range of building projects. “I’ve come in as a senior mechanical engineer, so the plan is for me to be discipline lead for mechanical engineering for a variety of projects, primarily working on a large-scale bond project for a Seattle-based healthcare system,” she explains. That healthcare project commission is the cornerstone of ColeBreit’s growth strategy in Seattle and, as Jaclyn notes, “It is very large and very complex.”

In addition, Jaclyn is taking on two luxury residential projects and providing support wherever teams need extra mechanical expertise. She currently collaborates with junior engineers in ColeBreit’s Oregon and California offices, building cross-office relationships while contributing to deadlines and design decisions.

A career grounded in longevity and diverse project experience

Before joining ColeBreit, Jaclyn built a career marked by long-term commitments and broad sector experience. “I was at one firm for three and a half years, and then I was at my most recent firm for nine and a half years.” Those years included mechanical engineering work across retail, hospitality, schools, and behavioral health facilities, giving her a strong foundation in complex building systems. Her combination of long tenure and openness to new building types makes her a strong fit for ColeBreit’s extensive portfolio.

Engineering philosophy: finding the right solution for people

Asked to describe her engineering style or philosophy, Jaclyn focuses on solutions and stewardship. “I like to find the right solution and support the client through the process, meeting the deadlines, making sure everything’s on track,” she says. Equally important to her is thinking beyond the immediate project team to the future users of the space. She emphasizes “really considering the final owner and occupant of the space—what matters to them and how that’s going to best serve them.”

That people-centered mindset extends to the way she sees ColeBreit’s internal culture. Even as a new hire, she’s noticed that “people support each other… this is a team and we’re all in it.” She points out that leaders “one or two levels up” are willing to “get in the trenches and do the work that needs to be done because it needs to be done,” especially while the mechanical team is short-staffed and actively hiring. She also sees teammates volunteering on projects to meet deadlines, concluding that “everyone seems really invested in helping everyone else succeed.”

A small, woman-owned firm with a strong identity

Jaclyn doesn’t hesitate when asked how she describes ColeBreit to friends. She’s already been recruiting. “I would describe ColeBreit as a small firm, which I think is a huge positive,” she says. She highlights the firm’s ownership and leadership as meaningful, not just symbolic: “I think the fact that it’s a woman-owned business is not just like representation, but also I think the philosophy, Laura’s philosophy in leading the company is informed by that and it does kind of change how she leads it.”

For Jaclyn, ColeBreit’s values show up in concrete ways. She sees it as “a company that really values their employees and puts their money where their mouth is in terms of benefits and things and policies that prioritize the people.” That alignment between culture and practice is part of what makes her excited to grow her career at ColeBreit.

Life outside work: music, community, and performance spaces

Outside engineering, Jaclyn is active in music and community performance, which subtly informs the kinds of projects she enjoys. “I do community theater, musicals, music at my church,” she shares. That creative background makes performing arts facilities a natural fit. “I do like doing spaces like performing arts spaces or those sorts of things—that is a fun intersection of something I enjoy doing in my free time.”

Looking ahead: healthcare, schools, and community impact

When Jaclyn talks about the future, her focus is on projects that serve communities. “I just love doing projects that serve the community,” she says.  With years of experience delivering complex engineering projects, Jaclyn sees the opportunity to work on a large-scale healthcare facility as “really exciting because… it’s the epitome of a facility that really serves and helps people.” She also has a long-standing passion for educational environments: “I love doing schools. Up until now, that’s probably my favorite type of project I’ve worked on just because there’s just so much benefit and not really much downside to investing in schools and communities.”

As ColeBreit advances its Seattle presence, Jaclyn will be at the center of mechanical design solutions that balance technical rigor, client needs, and long-term community value. With her blend of experience, empathy, and enthusiasm for projects that help people learn, heal, and perform, she brings a strong, human-centered engineering voice to the firm’s next chapter.