Remote Commissioning Project Lead, Data Center Delivery

OpenAI; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 141,000 - 285,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI seeks a Commissioning Project Lead to own the commissioning strategy and execution for a large self-build data center project in the Savannah, GA or Abilene, TX area. You will lead commissioning from planning through turnover, coordinating with OpenAI and partner teams in a hybrid-delivery model.

The role requires 10+ years in commissioning or related fields, strong cross-functional leadership, and ability to drive readiness across electrical, mechanical, and controls systems.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in commissioning, construction, engineering, or project delivery for mission-critical facilities or similar complex infrastructure.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary commissioning programs through construction readiness, startup, testing, and turnover.
• Strong knowledge of electrical and mechanical commissioning workflows.
• Experience integrating commissioning activities into construction schedules and turnover milestones.
• Owner-side commissioning experience and hybrid delivery model experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own the project commissioning strategy and execution plan, including scope, governance, acceptance criteria, responsibilities, sequencing, and escalation paths.
• Lead the hybrid OpenAI and commissioning-partner delivery model, establishing clear RACI ownership, staffing requirements, performance expectations, and issue-management processes.
• Integrate commissioning into the master project schedule, including construction readiness, energization, equipment startup, functional testing, integrated systems testing, and turnover milestones.
• Lead commissioning coordination across construction management, contractors, design teams, equipment vendors, operations stakeholders, and field/test engineering teams.
• Drive multidisciplinary commissioning readiness across electrical, mechanical, controls, and supporting infrastructure, identifying dependencies and resolving blockers before they affect testing.
• Own visibility into commissioning risks, including schedule constraints, readiness gaps, design and submittal issues, safety constraints, resource bottlenecks, deficiencies, and documentation quality.
• Coordinate QA/QC inspections and test execution with discipline commissioning leads, contractors, equipment vendors, and commissioning partners.
• Review commissioning plans, test procedures, readiness checklists, deficiency logs, test reports, turnover packages, and other commissioning deliverables against established acceptance criteria.
• Provide clear project and executive reporting on commissioning readiness, staffing, test progress, open risks, issue aging, and turnover status.
• Drive final system acceptance, turnover readiness, closeout, and lessons learned to support a reliable transition from construction into operations.

Skills

Commissioning experience

Project leadership

Cross-disciplinary coordination

Communication skills

Hybrid delivery model

Education

Professional credentials such as PE license or certifications

Job description

OpenAI seeks a Commissioning Project Lead to own the commissioning strategy and execution for a large self-build data center project in the Savannah, GA or Abilene, TX area. You will lead commissioning from planning through turnover, coordinating with OpenAI and partner teams in a hybrid-delivery model.

The role requires 10+ years in commissioning or related fields, strong cross-functional leadership, and ability to drive readiness across electrical, mechanical, and controls systems.