Data Center Design Engineer

Cloudflare, Inc.; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Cloudflare is seeking a Data Center Design Engineer in Austin, TX to lead electrical design and end-to-end execution for new sites, expansions, and upgrades. You will coordinate with internal teams and external partners to refine data center design best practices, ensuring cost, quality, and deployment speed improvements.

The role emphasizes ownership, multitasking across projects, and delivering scalable infrastructure in a high-growth environment. Travel up to 25% may be required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor or equivalent experience in engineering.

Responsibilities

• Lead electrical design and end-to-end execution for new sites, expansions, and infrastructure upgrades.
• Communicate with external partners and internal teams to refine data center design practices.
• Develop MW-scale power and cooling designs and verify with structural and electrical codes.

Skills

Electrical design

HVAC

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Strong communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Professional Engineer (PE) certification (plus)

Tools

AutoCAD

JIRA

Confluence

FLOTHERM

Tileflow

ETAP

SKM PowerTools

EasyPower

Job description

About Us

At Cloudflare, we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world’s largest networks that powers millions of websites and other Internet properties for customers ranging from individual bloggers to SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. Cloudflare protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare all have web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company.

At Cloudflare, we’re not looking for people who wait for a polished roadmap; we’re looking for the builders who see the cracks in the Internet that everyone else has simply learned to live with. We value candidates who have the instinct to spot a “normalized” problem and the AI-native curiosity to create a solution using the latest tools. Our culture is built on iteration, leveraging AI to ship faster today to make it better tomorrow, while ensuring that every improvement, no matter how small, is shared across the team to lift everyone up. If you’re the type of person who values curiosity over bureaucracy, and that AI is a partner in solving tough problems to keep the Internet moving forward, you’ll fit right in.

Location: Austin, TX

About the Role

We are seeking a Data Center Design Engineer todesign Cloudflare’s pending and future infrastructure deployments for generational improvement in cost, quality, and speed of deployment. In this role, you will lead electrical design and end-to-end execution for new sites, expansions, and infrastructure upgrades supporting compute, storage, and high-density liquid-cooled GPU deployments. We are looking for someone who excels at progressing many projects in parallel, managing dynamic day-to-day priorities with many stakeholders, and serving as Cloudflare’s owner’s representative to refine data center design best practices in a high-growth environment. Getting stuff done is a must!

The Data Center Strategy team is part of Cloudflare’s global Infrastructure (INF) team. The INF team grows and manages Cloudflare’s global data center/PoP footprint, enabling Cloudflare’s tremendous growth with compute, network, and data center infrastructure, utilizing an extensive range of global partner vendors.

What you’ll do:

Translate data center capacity requirements into actionable white space design and/or rack plans within individual data center contract constraints for power, coolingManage implementation phase of cage projects with data center providersDesign low voltage structured cabling, fiber, cross-connect & conveyance infrastructure as well as any supporting infrastructure on the data center ceiling/floorWork with supply chain team on rack integration plans and location deployment qualification

• Work cross-functionally with Cloudflare data center engineering team and other internal teams (capacity planning, network strategy, security) to verify scope and solution and create repeatable standard installation procedures
• Take ownership of and lead projects to design and implement data center expansions or new data centers on tight deadlines with minimal oversight
• Technical support in negotiations with external data center partners
• Assist in RFP preparation, review and cost/engineering analysis
• Review one-line diagrams and cooling equations for new and existing data centers (Data Center M&E)
• Power component (PDU) review/approval for Hardware sourcing team
• Implement, document and maintain power consumption tracking tools and fulfil ad-hoc reporting requests
• Research new and innovative power efficiency technologies and programs
• Travel up to 25% to perform infrastructure audits, validate data center construction work and buildouts, and participate in commercial processes.
• Develop and execute modular and prefabricated data center construction strategies to accelerate time-to-market and optimize cost efficiency
• Perform electrical short-circuit, coordination, arc flash, and load flow engineering studies to ensure system reliability and compliance
• Other duties as assigned
• Partner with Hardware Sourcing and SRE/Infrastructure teams to validate PDU specifications, rack integration plans and power distribution topologies across global PoP footprints
• Lead electrical design and end-to-end execution for new sites, expansions, and infrastructure upgrades from site qualification and basis of design through energization, commissioning and operational handover
• Serve as Cloudflare’s electrical owner’s representative, defining design criteria, scopes, deliverables, responsibility matrices, review gates, and acceptance requirements for data center operators, consulting engineers, contractors, commissioning agents, utilities, and vendors
• Design and review utility-to-rack infrastructure, including utility service, transformers, switchgear, generators, UPS systems, transfer systems, modular and prefabricated electrical assemblies, busway, feeders, whips, rack PDUs, grounding and metering
• Define electrical interfaces and auxiliary-load requirements for direct-to-chip liquid cooling, coolant distribution units (CDUs), pumps, controls, leak detection, facility water systems and heat-rejection equipment
• Develop and review basis-of-design documents, single-line diagrams, specifications, equipment schedules, calculations, sequences of operation and interface control documents
• Oversee technical acceptance of FAT, SAT, Level 1–5 staged commissioning, integrated systems testing, failure-mode testing, deficiency closure and turnover documentation
• Define EPMS, metering, telemetry and capacity-tracking requirements for operational power and capacity management

Requirements

• Bachelors or equivalent experience plus 5+ years of experience in data center mechanical and electrical design and operations/deployment/installation, P.E. certification or equivalent a plus
• Experience in HVAC, Chilled Water Systems, Condenser Water Systems, Pump controls, Glycool/Glycols, AHU units (DX, split, RTU, CRAC, etc.), CRAH, Raised Floor Systems, HOT/COLD aisle containment and Building Management Systems
• Understanding of basic electrical theory (voltage, current, power), basic circuit design & analysis and single- and three-phase power systems
• Familiarity with Data Center M&E infrastructure design concepts, electrical/UPS topologies, cooling methodologies (central plant, room cooling, high density thermal strategies)
• Familiarity with industry standards for resilient Data Center design and Uptime Institute Tier Classifications
• Excellent verbal, written communication and presentation skills
• Experience working with multiple time zones and multiple cross-functional teams
• Experience working on time sensitive projects with delivery responsibility under pressure
• Understanding of network hardware architecture, data center switching/routing infrastructure and optical line/transceiver power and thermal profiles
• Experience acting as an owner’s technical representative, governing external delivery partners, reviewing third-party designs, resolving technical disputes and driving noncompliance and project risks through documented closure
• Expertise in medium- and low-voltage distribution, transformers, generators, UPS systems, switchgear, transfer systems, busway, grounding, protection and rack-level power architectures for high-density deployments
• Understanding of direct-to-chip liquid cooling and the electrical dependencies of CDUs, pumps, controls, facility water systems and heat-rejection equipment
• Experience with construction administration, equipment testing, energization planning, staged commissioning, integrated systems testing, deficiency management and failure-mode testing
• Experience with utility coordination design-deviation governance power-quality or incident investigations and lifecycle management of mission-critical electrical infrastructure

Bonus Points

• Degree in electrical/mechanical engineering or IT a plus
• Experience in large-scale mission critical facility infrastructure design, construction, commissioning and/or operations a plus
• Experience with industry standards and building codes including NFPA 70/NEC, IEEE, NEMA, ANSI, UMC, ASHRAE, UBC, LEED and Uptime Institute standards
• Knowledge of programming languages a plus
• JIRA, Confluence admin-level experience a plus
• AutoCAD experience a plus
• Experience with FLOTHERM or Tileflow a plus
• Hands-on experience with hardware validation power/cooling capacity modeling or thermal simulation tools (such as FLOTHERM or Tileflow)
• Familiarity with systems programming, scripting (Python, Go or Bash) or automation workflows for power/infrastructure tracking
• Experience with NVIDIA DGX, GB200/GB300 NVL, OCP Open Rack or comparable liquid-cooled GPU platforms and AI factory reference architectures
• Experience with ETAP, SKM PowerTools, EasyPower or equivalent software for dynamic modeling generator transient analysis harmonic analysis and UPS compatibility assessment

Experience with EPMS/BMS integration, branch-circuit monitoring, rack-level telemetry, metering, capacity forecasting or automated infrastructure reporting

What Makes Cloudflare Special?

We’re not just a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company. We’re a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company with a soul. Fundamental to our mission to help build a better Internet is protecting the free and open Internet.

Project Galileo: Since 2014, we’ve equipped more than 2,400 journalism and civil society organizations in 111 countries with powerful tools to defend themselves against attacks that would otherwise censor their work, technology already used by Cloudflare’s enterprise customers–at no cost.

Athenian Project: In 2017, we created the Athenian Project to ensure that state and local governments have the highest level of protection and reliability for free, so that their constituents have access to election information and voter registration. Since the project, we’ve provided services to more than 425 local government election websites in 33 states.

1.1.1.1: We released 1.1.1.1 to help fix the foundation of the Internet by building a faster, more secure and privacy-centric public DNS resolver. This is available publicly for everyone to use - it is the first consumer-focused service Cloudflare has ever released. Here’s the deal - we don’t store client IP addresses never, ever. We will continue to abide by our privacy commitment and ensure that no user data is sold to advertisers or used to target consumers.

Please note that applicants who progress to the offer stage of the interview process may be asked to attend an in-person interview within one of the Cloudflare Offices or Cloudflare Hubs. More details about this will be available at that stage of the interview process.

This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Please note that any offer of employment may be conditioned on your authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export laws without sponsorship for an export license.

Cloudflare is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and place great value in both diversity and inclusiveness. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to their, or any other person’s, perceived or actual race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status or any other basis protected by law. We are an AA/Veterans/Disabled Employer.

Cloudflare provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job. Examples of reasonable accommodations include but are not limited to changing the application process providing documents in an alternate format using a sign language interpreter or using specialized equipment. If you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job please contact us via e-mail at [e-mail] or via mail at 101 Townsend St San Francisco CA 94107.