Electrical Engineer, Power Generation

OpenAI, Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI is seeking an Electrical Engineer to design and integrate on-site power-generation systems for large AI data center campuses in San Francisco. You will work on generation, substations, MV/HV distribution, protection, and data center loads, taking designs from concept through commissioning.

You will evaluate technology, establish technical requirements, and ensure operation validation, with a 50% travel expectation.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of electrical engineering experience on power generation, utility, industrial, microgrid, or mission-critical projects.
• Deep knowledge of generators, transformers, switchgear, protection and controls, grounding, auxiliary power, and electrical system studies.
• Experience with grid-connected and islanded generation, synchronization, load sharing, and black-start or restoration concepts.
• Ability to interpret OEM data, operating scenarios, failure modes, and data center load requirements.
• Experience carrying designs through construction, commissioning, and operational validation.
• Knowledge of NEC, NFPA, IEEE, NERC, and utility requirements.
• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Develop electrical architectures, one-lines, design criteria, specifications, and studies for generation plants and campus interconnections.
• Design and review generator or alternator interfaces, transformers, MV and HV switchgear, protection, synchronization, grounding, station service, DC systems, and black-start capability.
• Perform or review load flow, short circuit, arc flash, protection coordination, transient, motor-starting, grounding, and reliability studies.
• Coordinate generation controls, microgrid or islanding behavior, utility interconnection, data center load characteristics, and operating modes.
• Evaluate OEM and EPC proposals, equipment ratings, test plans, failure modes, maintenance strategies, and lifecycle tradeoffs.
• Support procurement, factory acceptance testing, construction, energization, commissioning, performance testing, and root-cause investigations.
• Resolve cross-discipline interfaces with mechanical, controls, CSA, fuel, utility, and data center electrical teams.
• Create repeatable electrical reference designs and standards for future generation deployments.

Skills

Electrical design

Power systems

Microgrid

Protection & controls

Load studies

Education

Bachelors in Electrical Engineering

Tools

ETAP

PSCAD

PSS/E

SKM

EasyPower

Job description

About the Team

OpenAI, in close collaboration with our capital and delivery partners, is building the infrastructure required to support frontier AI systems. The Data Center Engineering team defines repeatable technical standards and carries them through design, construction, commissioning, and operational readiness. The team works across data center facilities, power generation, compute infrastructure, construction, procurement, and operations to deliver reliable capacity at unprecedented scale and speed.

About the Role

We are seeking an Electrical Engineer to design and integrate on-site power-generation systems for large AI data center campuses. You will work across generation, substations, medium-voltage distribution, protection, auxiliary systems, grid interfaces, and data center loads. This role will establish technical requirements, evaluate technology and vendor solutions, and carry electrical designs from concept through commissioning and validated operation.

Travel:

50%

Responsibilities

• Develop electrical architectures, one-lines, design criteria, specifications, and studies for generation plants and campus interconnections.

• Design and review generator or alternator interfaces, transformers, MV and HV switchgear, protection, synchronization, grounding, station service, DC systems, and black-start capability.

• Perform or review load flow, short circuit, arc flash, protection coordination, transient, motor-starting, grounding, and reliability studies.

• Coordinate generation controls, microgrid or islanding behavior, utility interconnection, data center load characteristics, and operating modes.

• Evaluate OEM and EPC proposals, equipment ratings, test plans, failure modes, maintenance strategies, and lifecycle tradeoffs.

• Support procurement, factory acceptance testing, construction, energization, commissioning, performance testing, and root-cause investigations.

• Resolve cross-discipline interfaces with mechanical, controls, CSA, fuel, utility, and data center electrical teams.

• Create repeatable electrical reference designs and standards for future generation deployments.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of electrical engineering experience on power generation, utility, industrial, microgrid, or mission-critical projects.

• Deep knowledge of generators, transformers, switchgear, protection and controls, grounding, auxiliary power, and electrical system studies.

• Experience with grid-connected and islanded generation, synchronization, load sharing, and black-start or restoration concepts.

• Ability to interpret OEM data, operating scenarios, failure modes, and data center load requirements.

• Experience carrying designs through construction, commissioning, and operational validation.

• Knowledge of applicable NEC, NFPA, IEEE, NERC, and utility requirements.

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or a related field.

Preferred Skills

• Professional Engineer license.

• Experience with gas turbines, reciprocating engines, battery systems, microgrids, or hybrid generation plants.

• Proficiency with ETAP, PSCAD, PSS/E, SKM, EasyPower, or equivalent analysis tools.

• Experience supporting high-density data center loads and fast-changing AI compute demand.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.

For additional information, please see OpenAI’s Aff… Statement

Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.

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