Data Center Infrastructure Mechanical Engineer
About the Team OpenAI is building the infrastructure foundation for the next generation of AI. The Data Center Engineering team defines the strategy, reference architectures, technical requirements, and delivery standards for the large-scale data centers that support OpenAI research, products, and infrastructure partne
What this role actually needs.
About the Team OpenAI is building the infrastructure foundation for the next generation of AI. The Data Center Engineering team defines the strategy, reference architectures, technical requirements, and delivery standards for the large-scale data centers that support OpenAI research, products, and infrastructure partne Responsibilities: - Define mechanical and cooling infrastructure requirements and reference architectures for AI data center campuses, including heat rejection, chilled water, condenser water, liquid cooling distribution, air handling, containment, filtration, water treatment, controls, and metering. - Review and develop basis-of-design documents, design narratives, &IDs, mechanical schedules, equipment specifications, thermal capacity models, hydraulic models, CFD analysis, controls sequences, and commissioning requirements. - Evaluate mechanical architectures for high-density compute, including direct-to-chip liquid cooling, CDU topology, facility water interfaces, manifolds, quick disconnects, hoses, heat exchangers, pumping strategies, leak detection, serviceability, and failure isolation. - Partner with electrical, controls, hardware, networking, construction, and operations teams to ensure cooling systems support liquid-cooled GPU rack deployments and reliable facility operation. - Develop technical specifications and acceptance criteria for chillers, cooling towers, dry coolers, evaporative coolers, pumps, heat exchangers, CDUs, manifolds, valves, filters, water treatment systems, CRAHs, air handlers, VFDs, controls panels, sensors, and monitoring devices. - Lead technical evaluation of equipment vendors, manufacturers, design consultants, commissioning agents, contractors, and testing laboratories; review submittals, &IDs, control diagrams, performance curves, test reports, certifications, and quality documentation. Requirements: - Define mechanical and cooling infrastructure requirements and reference architectures for AI data center campuses, including heat rejection, chilled water, condenser water, liquid cooling distribution, air handling, containment, filtration, water treatment, controls, and metering. - Review and develop basis-of-design documents, design narratives, &IDs, mechanical schedules, equipment specifications, thermal capacity models, hydraulic models, CFD analysis, controls sequences, and commissioning requirements. - Evaluate mechanical architectures for high-density compute, including direct-to-chip liquid cooling, CDU topology, facility water interfaces, manifolds, quick disconnects, hoses, heat exchangers, pumping strategies, leak detection, serviceability, and failure isolation. - Partner with electrical, controls, hardware, networking, construction, and operations teams to ensure cooling systems support liquid-cooled GPU rack deployments and reliable facility operation. - Develop technical specifications and acceptance criteria for chillers, cooling towers, dry coolers, evaporative coolers, pumps, heat exchangers, CDUs, manifolds, valves, filters, water treatment systems, CRAHs, air handlers, VFDs, controls panels, sensors, and monitoring devices. - Lead technical evaluation of equipment vendors, manufacturers, design consultants, commissioning agents, contractors, and testing laboratories; review submittals, &IDs, control diagrams, performance curves, test reports, certifications, and quality documentation. Company context: OpenAI builds frontier AI systems, research infrastructure, and applied products for developers, enterprises, and global users.
Day-to-day expectations
OpenAI lists these responsibilities for the Data Center Infrastructure Mechanical Engineer role.
- Define mechanical and cooling infrastructure requirements and reference architectures for AI data center campuses, including heat rejection, chilled water, condenser water, liquid cooling distribution, air handling, containment, filtration, water treatment, controls, and metering.
- Review and develop basis-of-design documents, design narratives, &IDs, mechanical schedules, equipment specifications, thermal capacity models, hydraulic models, CFD analysis, controls sequences, and commissioning requirements.
- Evaluate mechanical architectures for high-density compute, including direct-to-chip liquid cooling, CDU topology, facility water interfaces, manifolds, quick disconnects, hoses, heat exchangers, pumping strategies, leak detection, serviceability, and failure isolation.
- Partner with electrical, controls, hardware, networking, construction, and operations teams to ensure cooling systems support liquid-cooled GPU rack deployments and reliable facility operation.
- Develop technical specifications and acceptance criteria for chillers, cooling towers, dry coolers, evaporative coolers, pumps, heat exchangers, CDUs, manifolds, valves, filters, water treatment systems, CRAHs, air handlers, VFDs, controls panels, sensors, and monitoring devices.
- Lead technical evaluation of equipment vendors, manufacturers, design consultants, commissioning agents, contractors, and testing laboratories; review submittals, &IDs, control diagrams, performance curves, test reports, certifications, and quality documentation.
What a strong candidate brings
These requirements are extracted from the source listing and normalized for UpJobz readers.
- Define mechanical and cooling infrastructure requirements and reference architectures for AI data center campuses, including heat rejection, chilled water, condenser water, liquid cooling distribution, air handling, containment, filtration, water treatment, controls, and metering.
- Review and develop basis-of-design documents, design narratives, &IDs, mechanical schedules, equipment specifications, thermal capacity models, hydraulic models, CFD analysis, controls sequences, and commissioning requirements.
- Evaluate mechanical architectures for high-density compute, including direct-to-chip liquid cooling, CDU topology, facility water interfaces, manifolds, quick disconnects, hoses, heat exchangers, pumping strategies, leak detection, serviceability, and failure isolation.
- Partner with electrical, controls, hardware, networking, construction, and operations teams to ensure cooling systems support liquid-cooled GPU rack deployments and reliable facility operation.
- Develop technical specifications and acceptance criteria for chillers, cooling towers, dry coolers, evaporative coolers, pumps, heat exchangers, CDUs, manifolds, valves, filters, water treatment systems, CRAHs, air handlers, VFDs, controls panels, sensors, and monitoring devices.
- Lead technical evaluation of equipment vendors, manufacturers, design consultants, commissioning agents, contractors, and testing laboratories; review submittals, &IDs, control diagrams, performance curves, test reports, certifications, and quality documentation.
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Source: jobs.ashbyhq.com · Source ID: 8e856e36-075e-40b4-b617-0229b5c1a308 · Confidence: 97/100 · Last checked: May 7, 2026
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