Data Center Design Engineer

Cloudflare, Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Cloudflare, Inc. in Austin, TX is seeking a Data Center Design Engineer to lead electrical design for new sites, expansions, and upgrades, delivering cost-effective, high-quality infrastructure while coordinating with multiple teams.

You will drive data center M&E design practices, manage parallel projects, and partner with stakeholders to ensure timely completion with top-tier reliability and safety standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent with 5+ years in data center mechanical/electrical design.
• Experience with HVAC and data center M&E infrastructure.
• Understanding of electrical theory and single- and three-phase power.
• Familiarity with Uptime Institute Tier Classifications.
• Excellent communication and cross-time-zone collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Translate capacity requirements into data center designs and rack plans.
• Lead end-to-end electrical design for new sites and expansions.
• Design low voltage cabling and data center infrastructure.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to verify scope and procedures.
• Travel up to 25% for audits and site validation.
• Review FAT/SAT and commissioning processes.
• Define power and metering requirements.

Skills

Data center design

Electrical design

HVAC systems

Power distribution

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Professional Engineer (P.E.) certification or equivalent

Job description

Austin, TX, United States

Position Title: Data Center Design Engineer

About Us

At Cloudflare, we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the worlds 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 Magazines Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the Worlds Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company.

At Cloudflare, were not looking for people who wait for a polished roadmap; were 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 youre 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, youll fit right in.

Location: Austin, TX

About the Role

We are seeking a Data Center Design Engineer todesign Cloudflares 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 Cloudflares global Infrastructure (INF) team. The INF team grows and manages Cloudflares global data center/PoP footprint, enabling Cloudflares 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 15 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,