Data Center Mechanical Engineer

Alex Loftus; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Anthropic is seeking a Senior Data Center Mechanical Engineer in the United States to lead the design direction for cooling, distribution, and modular construction across a growing U.S. portfolio.

This role focuses on driving technical oversight from concept through construction documentation produced by external engineers and partners. You will ensure reliability, efficiency, and scalability of facilities, and serve as the primary interface between internal teams and external development

Qualifications

• Experience leading mechanical design in data centers or critical facilities.
• Deep familiarity with U.S. mechanical, plumbing, and fire codes.
• Ability to direct design from Basis of Design through construction.
• Proven track record coordinating with external engineering partners.

Responsibilities

• Drive mechanical design concepts for data center cooling plants and distribution.
• Review drawings and specifications from external firms for compliance.
• Evaluate submittals and respond to RFIs with clear direction.
• Lead standardization of modular mechanical designs across sites.
• Interface between internal teams and external partners.

Skills

Mechanical design

Data center experience

Cooling systems

Regulatory compliance (US codes)

Prefabrication & modular construction

Documentation review

Job description

Anthropic’s mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. We want AI to be safe and beneficial for our users and for society as a whole. Our team is a quickly growing group of committed researchers, engineers, policy experts, and business leaders working together to build beneficial AI systems.

About the role

Training and serving frontier AI models requires compute infrastructure at a scale and density that pushes past what conventional data center designs were built to handle. Anthropic’s Data Center team is responsible for delivering that physical infrastructure — partnering with build partners, equipment manufacturers, and vendors to stand up facilities that can reliably cool some of the largest accelerator clusters in the industry.

As a Senior Data Center Mechanical Engineer based in the United States, you’ll lead the design direction and technical oversight of building mechanical systems — cooling, chilled-water distribution, liquid cooling, plumbing, and fire protection — across our rapidly expanding U.S. portfolio. This is a senior individual contributor role focused on driving and reviewing mechanical design from concept through detailed design and construction documentation produced by external engineering firms and development partners, ensuring every facility meets Anthropic’s standards for reliability, efficiency, and scalability. You’ll own the mechanical design direction from Basis of Design through construction and commissioning, serving as the primary technical interface between Anthropic’s internal teams and our external engineering and development partners.

A central part of this role is speed-to-capacity through prefabrication and modular construction — modular cooling skids, prefabricated piping assemblies, and design for offsite manufacture that compress schedules and reduce onsite labor. You’ll bring deep familiarity with U.S. mechanical, plumbing, and fire codes and the local regulatory environment, and ensure the cooling architecture keeps pace with rapidly increasing rack densities and the shift toward direct-to-chip liquid cooling. Strong candidates will bring deep mission-critical mechanical design experience and the judgment to make sound trade-offs when the standard playbook doesn’t apply.

Responsibilities

Drive mechanical design concepts for data center cooling plants, chilled-water distribution, liquid cooling (direct-to-chip and CDUs), plumbing, and fire protection systems.

Review and direct design drawings, specifications, and construction documentation produced by external engineering firms, ensuring alignment with Anthropic’s Basis of Design and owner requirements.

Evaluate design submittals, shop drawings, and equipment selections; respond to RFIs with clear technical direction.

Identify design conflicts and drive resolution across mechanical, electrical, and controls disciplines.

Maintain and evolve Anthropic’s internal mechanical design standards and reference configurations.

Drive Anthropic’s prefabricated and modular mechanical strategy — modular cooling skids, prefabricated piping and pump assemblies, and design for offsite manufacture and onsite assembly — to accelerate deployment and reduce onsite labor.

Drive standardization of modular mechanical designs across sites while preserving flexibility for site-specific constraints and evolving hardware generations.

Serve as the primary mechanical engineering point of contact for external developers, design engineers, and construction partners across the U.S. portfolio.

Develop scopes of work, equipment specifications, and bid packages for mechanical infrastructure.

Perform technical due diligence on third-party and colocation facilities, evaluating mechanical