# Data Center Electrical R&D Engineer **Company**: OpenAI **Location**: San Francisco **Work arrangement**: hybrid **Experience**: senior **Job type**: full-time **Salary**: $257K - $327K **Category**: Engineering **Industry**: Technology **Wikidata**: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q124605186 **Apply**: https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/openai/c3d39767-3824-4d41-83dd-7b132834b122?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply **Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_02307394-a02 ## Description OpenAI, in close collaboration with capital partners, is building advanced AI infrastructure. The team defines technical direction for next-gen data centers and develops architectures to support evolving AI hardware and workload requirements. We are seeking an experienced Data Center Electrical R&D Engineer to develop and validate next-gen power architectures for high-density AI infrastructure. This role focuses on research, advanced design, modeling, prototyping, and technical validation. Key Responsibilities: - Develop advanced electrical architectures for high-density AI data centers. - Translate evolving compute-platform requirements into electrical capacity, topology, redundancy, power-quality, protection, and control requirements. - Create conceptual designs, basis-of-design documents, specifications, one-line diagrams, design standards, and reusable reference architectures. - Model electrical-system performance, capacity, efficiency, reliability, fault conditions, transient behavior, and failure scenarios. - Evaluate emerging technologies such as medium-voltage distribution, solid-state power conversion, advanced UPS systems, energy storage, alternative generation, and direct-current architectures. - Build technical and economic comparisons across competing design approaches. - Develop prototypes, test plans, acceptance criteria, and validation frameworks for new electrical technologies and system architectures. - Lead laboratory, factory, pilot-site, and field testing to validate design assumptions and identify performance or integration gaps. - Partner with mechanical and thermal engineers to optimize power and cooling architectures. - Collaborate with AI hardware and compute teams to understand workload behavior, rack density, utilization, power variability, and future platform requirements. - Work with controls and software teams to define instrumentation, telemetry, protection, monitoring, and automated-control requirements. - Partner with construction, commissioning, and operations teams to ensure new designs can be safely built, tested, operated, and maintained. - Engage equipment manufacturers, utilities, engineering consultants, and research partners to evaluate capabilities and accelerate technology development. - Investigate system failures and unexpected test results, identify root causes, and translate findings into design improvements. - Document validated designs, technical decisions, operating envelopes, lessons learned, and deployment guidance. - Provide technical direction and design-review leadership across internal teams and external engineering partners. Qualifications: - 10+ years of experience in electrical engineering, power-system design, data-center infrastructure, industrial power, or another critical-infrastructure environment. - Deep expertise in electrical power distribution, including medium- and low-voltage systems, substations, transformers, switchgear, protection, UPS systems, generators, and rack-level power delivery. - Demonstrated experience developing electrical designs for large, complex, or high-availability facilities. - Strong understanding of power-system modeling, short-circuit analysis, load flow, coordination studies, arc-flash analysis, power quality, grounding, and reliability. - Experience translating uncertain or evolving technical requirements into testable engineering concepts and system architectures. - Experience designing experiments, prototypes, pilots, or validation programs for new equipment or infrastructure technologies. - Ability to reason across electrical, mechanical, controls, compute hardware, construction, commissioning, and operational boundaries. - Experience evaluating engineering tradeoffs using quantitative analysis, simulation, testing, and field data. - Strong technical writing and communication skills. - Experience directing engineering consultants, equipment manufacturers, and external technology partners. - Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or a related engineering discipline. Preferred Skills: - Master’s degree or PhD in electrical engineering, power systems, power electronics, energy systems, or a related field. - Professional Engineer license or equivalent professional certification. - Experience supporting high-density data centers, AI infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing, advanced industrial facilities, or hyperscale computing environments. - Experience with ETAP, SKM, EasyPower, PSCAD, MATLAB/Simulink, or comparable power-system analysis tools. - Experience with power electronics, energy storage, microgrids, alternative generation, or advanced grid-interconnection technologies. - Familiarity with digital twins, hardware-in-the-loop testing, real-time simulation, and data-driven infrastructure optimization. - Experience carrying a new technology from research or prototype through qualification, commissioning, and scaled deployment. - Knowledge of electrical codes, utility requirements, safety standards, and regulatory requirements across multiple geographies. - Published research, patents, technical standards contributions, or demonstrated invention in electrical or critical-infrastructure systems. ## Skills ### Required - electrical engineering - power-system design - data-center infrastructure - industrial power - electrical power distribution - medium-voltage systems - low-voltage systems - substations - transformers - switchgear - protection - UPS systems - generators - rack-level power delivery - power-system modeling - short-circuit analysis - load flow - coordination studies - arc-flash analysis - power quality - grounding - reliability ### Nice to have - Master’s degree or PhD in electrical engineering - Professional Engineer license - ETAP - SKM - EasyPower - PSCAD - MATLAB/Simulink - power electronics - energy storage - microgrids - alternative generation - advanced grid-interconnection technologies - digital twins - hardware-in-the-loop testing - real-time simulation - data-driven infrastructure optimization --- Source: [Apply at jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/openai/c3d39767-3824-4d41-83dd-7b132834b122?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply)