AI Compute Campus Facilities Lead

OpenAI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI is seeking a Critical Facilities Manager to oversee the commissioning, operational readiness, and long-term operation of next-generation AI data center campuses. You will lead day-to-day operations of electrical, mechanical, controls, and supporting infrastructure, ensuring reliability and availability at scale.

This role requires partnering with commissioning, site operators, vendors, and engineering to transition facilities from construction to steady-state operations and to

Qualifications

• 8+ years operating mission-critical facilities or large-scale technical operations.
• Deep knowledge of electrical distribution, generators, UPS, cooling, and building controls.
• Experience in commissioning, operational readiness, or turnover programs.
• Led facilities operations teams, contractors, and vendors.
• Ability to respond to incidents and make rapid, high-stakes decisions.
• Developed maintenance strategies, SOPs, and reliability programs.
• Comfort working in fast-paced, high-growth environments with ambiguity.
• Strong communication with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations of mission-critical facility infrastructure across AI compute campuses.
• Own operational readiness activities for new campus deployments and expansion.
• Partner with commissioning to transition facilities from construction to steady-state operations.
• Develop and improve operating procedures, maintenance programs, and response plans.
• Lead incident response efforts and coordinate recovery during critical events.
• Drive root cause analysis and corrective action for reliability improvements.
• Manage vendors, contractors, and service providers for facility operations.
• Coordinate infrastructure changes with hardware deployment, networking, and engineering teams.
• Monitor facility performance, risk, and capacity across critical systems.
• Support staffing, training, and development of facilities operations personnel.
• Ensure compliance with safety, environmental, and operational standards.
• Establish scalable operational processes across growing infrastructure footprint.

Skills

Facilities operations

Electrical distribution

Generators

UPS systems

Cooling systems

Building controls

Incident response

Root cause analysis

Vendor management

Cross-functional collaboration

Operational leadership

Job description

OpenAI is seeking a Critical Facilities Manager to oversee the commissioning, operational readiness, and long-term operation of next-generation AI data center campuses. You will lead day-to-day operations of electrical, mechanical, controls, and supporting infrastructure, ensuring reliability and availability at scale.

This role requires partnering with commissioning, site operators, vendors, and engineering to transition facilities from construction to steady-state operations and to