Rack Power Engineer

We Love AI Jobs; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 287,000 - 485,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Relocation assistance

Job summary

OpenAI in San Francisco is seeking a Rack Power Engineer to own high‑power rack power architecture for AI supercomputers in a hybrid work environment. You will lead supplier development, qualification plans, and fleet monitoring while debugging with hardware, firmware, operations, and data center teams.

The role requires 10+ years in power electronics or power delivery and a Master’s in Electrical Engineering, with hands‑on experience in PMBus, I2C, CAN, or Ethernet interfaces.

Qualifications

• Have at least 10 years of experience in power electronics or power delivery systems.
• Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• Experience with PMBus, I2C, CAN or Ethernet interfaces and data-center aware power control.

Responsibilities

• Own rack power architecture and supplier development for high‑power AI systems.
• Define and execute component, shelf, and rack qualification plans.
• Lead fleet monitoring, debugging, root‑cause investigations, and corrective actions.
• Collaborate with firmware and software teams to define PMC functionality and telemetry.
• Characterize rack power under AI workloads and set design margins.
• Establish fleet rack power health metrics with operations teams.

Skills

Power electronics

AC/DC rectifiers

Power shelves

PSUs

DC distribution

Power management controllers

Python

Education

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

PMBus

I2C

CAN

Ethernet

Job description

# Rack Power EngineerOpenAISan Francisco (Hybrid)Full-time$287,000 – $485,000 / yearUpload your resume once and Scout applies for youApply with ScoutShare this job:LinkedInXSave imageThis engineer owns power systems for OpenAI’s AI supercomputers, from rack architecture and supplier development through qualification and deployment. The role also monitors fleet performance and leads debugging with hardware, firmware, operations, and data center teams.* Permanent* Hybrid* 10+ years* Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Electronics### Skills and expertisePower electronicsAC/DC rectifiersPower shelves and PSUsDC distributionPower management controllersPMBusI2CPython### Key responsibilities* Own rack power architecture, requirements, and supplier development for high-power AI supercomputing systems.* Define and execute component, shelf, and rack qualification plans.* Lead fleet monitoring, debugging, root-cause investigations, and corrective actions.## How this job comparesCompared with 1,635 open senior engineering jobs on October 10, 2026.Pay: This job pays $287K to $485K a year. The 719 open senior engineering jobs that publish US pay start at $164K on average, so this job starts about 75% higher.Similar open jobs: We Love AI Jobs lists 1,635 open senior engineering jobs at 344 companies.Remote work: This job is hybrid. 271 of the 1,635 senior engineering jobs (17%) are remote.AI in this role: Medium. The role uses AI tools and works with AI systems as a regular part of the job. The role develops and qualifies power systems for AI supercomputers and characterizes rack power under representative AI workloads. It works on AI infrastructure rather than building or evaluating models.## Full descriptionAbout the TeamOpenAI’s Hardware organization develops AI-native silicon and system-level solutions for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. Building on efforts like Jalapeño, the team is developing future generations of AI-native silicon and tightly integrated systems to power the next generation of frontier models. By co-designing chips, systems, tools, and methodologies, the team helps deliver faster, more efficient, and production-ready hardware for OpenAI’s supercomputing platform.About the RoleWe’re looking for a Rack Power Engineer with deep expertise in high-power conversion and distribution to design, qualify, and support power systems for AI supercomputers. You will own rack power solutions—including power shelves, AC/DC rectifiers, power supply units (PSUs), power management controllers (PMCs), and high-current distribution—from requirements and supplier development through deployment. You will also monitor fleet rack power health, lead debugging and root-cause investigations, and drive improvements into hardware, firmware, and qualification coverage.This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees.In this role, you will:• Own rack power architecture and requirements for high-power AI supercomputing systems, including power budgets, AC input interfaces, DC distribution, redundancy, efficiency, serviceability, and integration with data center infrastructure.• Drive the design and supplier development of power shelves, rectifiers, PSUs, PMCs, busbars, connectors, and protection circuits. Review electrical designs and control behavior, and evaluate performance, cost, reliability, and availability trade-offs.• Define and execute component, shelf, and rack qualification plans covering load transients, current sharing, hot-swap, startup and shutdown, redundancy failover, fault protection and recovery, thermal limits, and AC disturbances and ride-through.• Partner with firmware and software teams to define and validate PMC functionality, telemetry, alarms, power sequencing, power capping, and fault handling. Verify communication interfaces, firmware updates, interoperability, and regression coverage.• Characterize rack power under representative AI workloads. Translate steady-state demand and fast power excursions into design margins, protection settings, energy-storage needs, and deployment requirements with system and data center teams.• Establish fleet rack power health metrics with operations teams. Analyze telemetry, event logs, and failure trends to detect degraded power capacity, redundancy loss, current imbalance, and recurring power faults.• Lead lab and fleet debugging across power hardware, firmware, and system interfaces. Reproduce failures, identify root causes with suppliers, validate corrective actions, and feed lessons into designs, qualification tests, and fleet remediation.• Work with electrical, mechanical, thermal, firmware, manufacturing, reliability, and data center teams to take rack power systems through prototype builds, qualification, production, and deployment. Drive supplier test reviews, manufacturing test coverage, and closure of power-related issues.• Evaluate emerging rack power technologies, including higher-voltage DC distribution and battery or supercapacitor energy storage. Partner with suppliers to qualify viable solutions and with safety and compliance teams to address applicable product requirements.You might thrive in this role if you:• Have at least 10 years of industry experience in power electronics or power delivery systems, including hands-on design and qualification of high-power rack or data center power systems.• Have a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Electronics, a related field, or equivalent practical experience.• Have strong knowledge of AC/DC rectifiers, power shelves, PSUs, and DC distribution, including three-phase inputs, power conversion topologies, control-loop stability, current sharing, redundancy, protection coordination, and high-current busbars and connectors.• Have experience defining and qualifying PMCs or related power controllers, including telemetry, fault management, hardware–firmware integration, and interfaces such as PMBus, I2C, CAN, or Ethernet. Understand how rack power controls interact with system power management.• Have strong laboratory and debugging skills using oscilloscopes, power analyzers, programmable AC sources, electronic loads, and data acquisition systems. Can build automated tests, analyze fleet telemetry with tools such as Python, and drive root-cause investigations through verified corrective actions.