{"schemaVersion":"jobsearcher.job.v1","id":"20a66e7d4471f1155ee3fe21","url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/20a66e7d4471f1155ee3fe21","canonicalUrl":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/20a66e7d4471f1155ee3fe21","title":"Data Center Electrical R&D Engineer","description":"Scaling - San Francisco\n\nAbout the Team\n\nOpenAI, in close collaboration with our capital partners, is building the world’s most advanced AI infrastructure ecosystem. The team defines the technical direction for next-generation data centers and develops the architectures needed to support rapidly evolving AI hardware and workload requirements.\n\nOperating at the intersection of research, engineering, infrastructure, and deployment, the team translates emerging compute requirements into validated electrical designs, reference architectures, prototypes, and scalable infrastructure solutions.\n\nAbout the Role\n\nWe are seeking an experienced Data Center Electrical R&D Engineer to develop and validate next-generation power architectures for high-density AI infrastructure.\n\nThis role is focused on research, advanced design, modeling, prototyping, and technical validation rather than ongoing facility operations. You will investigate emerging electrical technologies, develop system-level architectures, and evaluate new approaches to utility integration, power distribution, backup generation, energy storage, controls, and rack-level power delivery.\n\nYou will work closely with compute hardware, mechanical, controls, construction, commissioning, operations, and external technology partners. Your work will shape reusable reference designs that can move from concept and simulation through pilot testing and large-scale deployment.\n\nKey Responsibilities\n\nDevelop advanced electrical architectures for high-density AI data centers, from utility interconnection through rack-level power delivery.\n\nTranslate evolving compute-platform requirements into electrical capacity, topology, redundancy, power-quality, protection, and control requirements.\n\nCreate conceptual designs, basis-of-design documents, specifications, one-line diagrams, design standards, and reusable reference architectures.\n\nModel electrical-system performance, capacity, efficiency, reliability, fault conditions, transient behavior, and failure scenarios.\n\nEvaluate emerging technologies such as medium-voltage distribution, solid-state power conversion, advanced UPS systems, energy storage, alternative generation, and direct-current architectures.\n\nBuild technical and economic comparisons across competing design approaches, including reliability, efficiency, scalability, cost, constructability, maintainability, and deployment speed.\n\nDevelop prototypes, test plans, acceptance criteria, and validation frameworks for new electrical technologies and system architectures.\n\nLead laboratoryance or integration gaps.\n\nPartner with mechanical and thermal engineers to optimize power and cooling architectures as an integrated system.\n\nCollaborate with AI hardware and compute teams to understand workload behavior requirements.\n\nWork with controls and software teams to define instrumentation, telemetry, protection, monitoring, and automated-control requirements.\n\nPartner with construction, commissioning, and operations teams to ensure new designs can be safely built, tested, operated, and maintained.\n\nEngage equipment manufacturers, utilities, engineering consultants, and research partners to evaluate capabilities and accelerate technology development.\n\nInvestigate system failures and unexpected test results, identify root causes, and translate findings into design improvements.\n\nDocument validated designs, technical decisions, operating envelopes, lessons learned, and deployment guidance.\n\nProvide technical direction and design-review leadership across internal teams and external engineering partners.\n\nQualifications\n\n10+ years of experience in electrical engineering, power-system design, data-center infrastructure, industrial power, or another critical-infrastructure environment.\n\nDeep expertise in electrical power distributioners, switchgear, protection, UPS systems, generators, and rack-level power delivery.\n\nDemonstrated experience developing electrical designs for large, complex, or high-availability facilities.\n\nStrong understanding of power-system modeling, short-circuit analysis, load flow, coordination studies, arc-flash analysis, power quality, grounding, and reliability.\n\nExperience translating uncertain or evolving technical requirements into testable engineering concepts and system architectures.\n\nExperience designing experiments, prototypes, pilots, or validation programs for new equipment or infrastructure technologies.\n\nAbility to reason across electrical, mechanical, controls, compute hardware, construction, commissioning, and operational boundaries.\n\nExperience evaluating engineering tradeoffs using quantitative analysis, simulation, testing, and field data.\n\nStrong technical writing and communication skills, including the ability to explain complex engineering decisions to technical and executive audiences.\n\nExperience directing engineering consultants, equipment manufacturers, and external technology partners.\n\nBachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or a related engineering discipline.\n\nPreferred Skills\n\nMaster’s degree or PhD in electrical engineering, power systems, power electronics, energy systems, or a related field.\n\nProfessional Engineer license or equivalent professional certification.\n\nExperience supporting high-density data centers, AI infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing, advanced industrial facilities, or hyperscale computing environments.\n\nExperience with ETAP, or comparable power-system analysis tools.\n\nExperience with power electronics, energy storage, microgrids, alternative generation, or advanced grid-interconnection technologies.\n\nFamiliarity with digital twins, hardware-in-the-loop testing, real-time simulation, and data-driven infrastructure optimization.\n\nExperience carrying a new technology from research or prototype through qualification, commissioning, and scaled deployment.\n\nKnowledge of electrical codes, utility requirements, safety standards, and regulatory requirements across multiple geographies.\n\nPublished research, patents, technical standards contributions, or demonstrated invention in electrical or critical-infrastructure systems.\n\nAbout OpenAI\n\nOpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core the full spectrum of humanity.\n\nWe are an equal opportunity employeration, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.\n\nBackground checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable lawation technology systems and related data security obligations.\n\nTo notify OpenAI that you believe this job posting is non-compliant. No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance.\n\nWe are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.\n\nAt OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.\n\nCompensation\n\n$257K – $327K + Offers Equity\n\nThe base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factorsance-related bonus(es) for eligible employees, and the following benefits.\n\nMedical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts\n\nPre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses (parking and transit)\n\n401(k) retirement plan with employer match\n\nPaid parental leave (up to 24 weeks for birth parents and 20 weeks for non-birthing parents), plus paid medical and caregiver leave (up to 8 weeks)\n\nPaid time off: flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees\n\n13+ paid company holidays, and multiple paid coordinated company office closures throughout the year for focus and recharge, plus paid sick or safe time (1 hour per 30 hours worked, or more, as required by applicable state or local law)\n\nMental health and wellness support\n\nEmployer-paid basic life and disability coverage\n\nAnnual learning and development stipend to fuel your professional growth\n\nDaily meals in our offices, and meal delivery credits as eligible\n\nRelocation support for eligible employees\n\nAdditional taxable fringe benefits, such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends, may also be provided.\n\nMore details about our benefits are available to candidates during the hiring process.\n\nThis role is at-will and OpenAI reserves the right to modify base pay and other compensation components at any time based on individual performance, team or company results, or market conditions.","company":"OpenAI","rawCompany":"openai","city":"Millbrae","state":"CA","isRemote":false,"isActive":false,"createdAt":"2026-10-29T07:18:30.016Z","occupations":[{"code":"17-2071.00","title":"Electrical Engineers","slug":"electrical-engineers"},{"code":"17-2072.00","title":"Electronics Engineers, Except Computer","slug":"electronics-engineers-except-computer"},{"code":"15-1299.08","title":"Computer Systems Engineers/Architects","slug":"computer-systems-engineers-architects"}],"industries":[{"code":"541330","title":"Engineering Services","slug":"engineering-services"},{"code":"335313","title":"Switchgear and Switchboard Apparatus Manufacturing","slug":"switchgear-and-switchboard-apparatus-manufacturing"},{"code":"541715","title":"Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)","slug":"research-and-development-in-the-physical-engineering-and-life-sciences-except-nanotechnology-and-biotechnology"}],"jobPosting":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"JobPosting","title":"Data Center Electrical R&D Engineer","description":"Scaling - San Francisco\n\nAbout the Team\n\nOpenAI, in close collaboration with our capital partners, is building the world’s most advanced AI infrastructure ecosystem. The team defines the technical direction for next-generation data centers and develops the architectures needed to support rapidly evolving AI hardware and workload requirements.\n\nOperating at the intersection of research, engineering, infrastructure, and deployment, the team translates emerging compute requirements into validated electrical designs, reference architectures, prototypes, and scalable infrastructure solutions.\n\nAbout the Role\n\nWe are seeking an experienced Data Center Electrical R&D Engineer to develop and validate next-generation power architectures for high-density AI infrastructure.\n\nThis role is focused on research, advanced design, modeling, prototyping, and technical validation rather than ongoing facility operations. You will investigate emerging electrical technologies, develop system-level architectures, and evaluate new approaches to utility integration, power distribution, backup generation, energy storage, controls, and rack-level power delivery.\n\nYou will work closely with compute hardware, mechanical, controls, construction, commissioning, operations, and external technology partners. Your work will shape reusable reference designs that can move from concept and simulation through pilot testing and large-scale deployment.\n\nKey Responsibilities\n\nDevelop advanced electrical architectures for high-density AI data centers, from utility interconnection through rack-level power delivery.\n\nTranslate evolving compute-platform requirements into electrical capacity, topology, redundancy, power-quality, protection, and control requirements.\n\nCreate conceptual designs, basis-of-design documents, specifications, one-line diagrams, design standards, and reusable reference architectures.\n\nModel electrical-system performance, capacity, efficiency, reliability, fault conditions, transient behavior, and failure scenarios.\n\nEvaluate emerging technologies such as medium-voltage distribution, solid-state power conversion, advanced UPS systems, energy storage, alternative generation, and direct-current architectures.\n\nBuild technical and economic comparisons across competing design approaches, including reliability, efficiency, scalability, cost, constructability, maintainability, and deployment speed.\n\nDevelop prototypes, test plans, acceptance criteria, and validation frameworks for new electrical technologies and system architectures.\n\nLead laboratoryance or integration gaps.\n\nPartner with mechanical and thermal engineers to optimize power and cooling architectures as an integrated system.\n\nCollaborate with AI hardware and compute teams to understand workload behavior requirements.\n\nWork with controls and software teams to define instrumentation, telemetry, protection, monitoring, and automated-control requirements.\n\nPartner with construction, commissioning, and operations teams to ensure new designs can be safely built, tested, operated, and maintained.\n\nEngage equipment manufacturers, utilities, engineering consultants, and research partners to evaluate capabilities and accelerate technology development.\n\nInvestigate system failures and unexpected test results, identify root causes, and translate findings into design improvements.\n\nDocument validated designs, technical decisions, operating envelopes, lessons learned, and deployment guidance.\n\nProvide technical direction and design-review leadership across internal teams and external engineering partners.\n\nQualifications\n\n10+ years of experience in electrical engineering, power-system design, data-center infrastructure, industrial power, or another critical-infrastructure environment.\n\nDeep expertise in electrical power distributioners, switchgear, protection, UPS systems, generators, and rack-level power delivery.\n\nDemonstrated experience developing electrical designs for large, complex, or high-availability facilities.\n\nStrong understanding of power-system modeling, short-circuit analysis, load flow, coordination studies, arc-flash analysis, power quality, grounding, and reliability.\n\nExperience translating uncertain or evolving technical requirements into testable engineering concepts and system architectures.\n\nExperience designing experiments, prototypes, pilots, or validation programs for new equipment or infrastructure technologies.\n\nAbility to reason across electrical, mechanical, controls, compute hardware, construction, commissioning, and operational boundaries.\n\nExperience evaluating engineering tradeoffs using quantitative analysis, simulation, testing, and field data.\n\nStrong technical writing and communication skills, including the ability to explain complex engineering decisions to technical and executive audiences.\n\nExperience directing engineering consultants, equipment manufacturers, and external technology partners.\n\nBachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or a related engineering discipline.\n\nPreferred Skills\n\nMaster’s degree or PhD in electrical engineering, power systems, power electronics, energy systems, or a related field.\n\nProfessional Engineer license or equivalent professional certification.\n\nExperience supporting high-density data centers, AI infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing, advanced industrial facilities, or hyperscale computing environments.\n\nExperience with ETAP, or comparable power-system analysis tools.\n\nExperience with power electronics, energy storage, microgrids, alternative generation, or advanced grid-interconnection technologies.\n\nFamiliarity with digital twins, hardware-in-the-loop testing, real-time simulation, and data-driven infrastructure optimization.\n\nExperience carrying a new technology from research or prototype through qualification, commissioning, and scaled deployment.\n\nKnowledge of electrical codes, utility requirements, safety standards, and regulatory requirements across multiple geographies.\n\nPublished research, patents, technical standards contributions, or demonstrated invention in electrical or critical-infrastructure systems.\n\nAbout OpenAI\n\nOpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core the full spectrum of humanity.\n\nWe are an equal opportunity employeration, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.\n\nBackground checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable lawation technology systems and related data security obligations.\n\nTo notify OpenAI that you believe this job posting is non-compliant. No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance.\n\nWe are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.\n\nAt OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.\n\nCompensation\n\n$257K – $327K + Offers Equity\n\nThe base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factorsance-related bonus(es) for eligible employees, and the following benefits.\n\nMedical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts\n\nPre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses (parking and transit)\n\n401(k) retirement plan with employer match\n\nPaid parental leave (up to 24 weeks for birth parents and 20 weeks for non-birthing parents), plus paid medical and caregiver leave (up to 8 weeks)\n\nPaid time off: flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees\n\n13+ paid company holidays, and multiple paid coordinated company office closures throughout the year for focus and recharge, plus paid sick or safe time (1 hour per 30 hours worked, or more, as required by applicable state or local law)\n\nMental health and wellness support\n\nEmployer-paid basic life and disability coverage\n\nAnnual learning and development stipend to fuel your professional growth\n\nDaily meals in our offices, and meal delivery credits as eligible\n\nRelocation support for eligible employees\n\nAdditional taxable fringe benefits, such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends, may also be provided.\n\nMore details about our benefits are available to candidates during the hiring process.\n\nThis role is at-will and OpenAI reserves the right to modify base pay and other compensation components at any time based on individual performance, team or company results, or market conditions.","datePosted":"2026-10-29T07:18:30.016Z","dateModified":"2026-10-29T07:18:30.016Z","hiringOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"OpenAI","sameAs":"https://jobsearcher.com"},"jobLocation":{"@type":"Place","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","addressLocality":"Millbrae","addressRegion":"CA","addressCountry":"US"}},"identifier":{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"JobSearcher","value":"20a66e7d4471f1155ee3fe21"},"url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/20a66e7d4471f1155ee3fe21"}}