About the Team

OpenAI, in close collaboration with our capital and delivery partners, is building the infrastructure required to support frontier AI systems. The Data Center Engineering team defines repeatable technical standards and carries them through design, construction, commissioning, and operational readiness. The team works across data center facilities, power generation, compute infrastructure, construction, procurement, and operations to deliver reliable capacity at unprecedented scale and speed.

About the Role

We are seeking a Power Generation Design Engineer to help design and integrate generation plants and balance-of-plant systems for large AI data center campuses. This role spans electrical and mechanical systems, including generation equipment, campus and grid interfaces, fuel and auxiliary systems, cooling, controls, and data center loads.

The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in either electrical or mechanical engineering, along with the cross-disciplinary judgment to evaluate how the full plant operates as an integrated system. You will establish technical requirements, assess vendor and EPC solutions, resolve design interfaces, and carry systems from concept through commissioning and validated operation.

Travel: 50%

Responsibilities

Develop and review generation-plant basis-of-design documents, design criteria, specifications, diagrams, calculations, and reference architectures.

Define and coordinate interfaces among generation equipment, substations, campus distribution, grid connections, fuel systems, cooling, controls, and data center loads.

Evaluate generation technologies and operating modes, including grid-connected and islanded operation, synchronization, load sharing, black start, and restoration.

Lead or review discipline-specific engineering analyses. Electrical studies may include load flow, short circuit, arc flash, protection coordination, transient, grounding, and motor starting. Mechanical analyses may include thermal performance, hydraulics, pressure drop, ventilation, vibration, acoustics, and heat recovery.

Review OEM and EPC proposals, equipment ratings and performance data, operating envelopes, failure modes, test plans, maintenance strategies, and lifecycle tradeoffs.

Translate data center load profiles and operating requirements into generation-system capacity, redundancy, performance, and control requirements.

Coordinate with electrical, mechanical, controls, CSA, fuel, utility, environmental, fire-protection, and data center engineering teams to resolve design and delivery interfaces.

Support procurement, factory acceptance testing, construction, startup, energization, commissioning, performance testing, and root-cause investigations.

Develop repeatable technical standards and reference designs that improve reliability, maintainability, and deployment speed across future projects.

Qualifications

8+ years of engineering experience in power generation, utilities, industrial systems, microgrids, oil and gas, or mission-critical infrastructure.

Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or a related field.

Deep technical expertise in either electrical power systems or mechanical/process systems, with experience collaborating across the other discipline.

Electrical expertise may include generators, transformers, HV/MV switchgear, protection and controls, grounding, auxiliary power, grid interconnection, and power-system studies.

Mechanical expertise may include rotating equipment, fuel and fluid systems, piping, heat transfer, cooling, ventilation, lubrication, water treatment, exhaust, and mechanical auxiliaries.

Experience evaluating OEM data, equipment performance, operating scenarios, failure modes, and maintenance requirements.

Experience carrying engineering designs through construction, startup, commissioning, and operational validation.

Ability to communicate technical risks and tradeoffs clearly across engineering, vendors, construction, and operations.

Preferred Skills

Professional Engineer license.