8+ years of mechanical engineering experience in power generation or mission-critical projects.
Strong knowledge of rotating equipment, piping, and thermal performance.
Experience with combined heat and power systems or microgrids.
Familiarity with gas turbines and large industrial equipment.
Ability to evaluate vendor data and maintenance constraints.
Experience in construction, startup, and performance validation of designs.
Knowledge of ASME, API, NFPA, ASHRAE standards.
Responsibilities
Develop mechanical basis-of-design documents and process flow diagrams for power generation facilities.
Design and review systems for fuel, ventilation, cooling, and heat recovery.
Evaluate thermal performance, hydraulic behavior, and maintenance requirements.
Translate data center load profiles into equipment sizing and control requirements.
Review OEM and EPC proposals and lifecycle tradeoffs.
Support procurement, testing, and commissioning processes.
Coordinate with various teams on project interfaces.
Create repeatable mechanical designs for future deployments.
Benefits
Opportunity to work on cutting-edge AI data center projects.
Significant travel opportunities (50%).
Engagement in diverse engineering challenges across multiple systems.
Collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.
Potential for professional growth and development in a high-demand field.
Full Job Description
About the Role
We are seeking a Mechanical Engineer to design and integrate power-generation and balance-of-plant systems for large AI data center campuses. You will work across prime movers, fuel systems, exhaust, ventilation, cooling, water treatment, heat recovery, acoustics, fire interfaces, and plant auxiliaries. The role combines first-principles engineering with practical vendor and field execution to deliver systems that are safe, efficient, maintainable, and ready for demanding operating profiles.
Travel: 50%
Key Responsibilities
Develop mechanical basis-of-design documents, process flow diagrams, P&IDs, specifications, calculations, and equipment requirements for power generation facilities.
Design and review prime-mover auxiliaries, fuel gas or liquid fuel systems, exhaust, ventilation, cooling, lubrication, compressed air, water treatment, and heat-recovery systems.
Translate generation duty cycles and data center load profiles into equipment sizing, operating envelopes, and control requirements.
Review OEM and EPC proposals, equipment selections, test plans, failure modes, service strategies, and lifecycle tradeoffs.
Support procurement, factory acceptance testing, construction, startup, commissioning, performance testing, and root-cause investigations.
Coordinate interfaces with electrical, controls, CSA, fuel supply, environmental, fire protection, and data center mechanical teams.
Create repeatable mechanical reference designs and standards for future generation deployments.
Qualifications
8+ years of mechanical engineering experience on power generation, oil and gas, industrial utilities, central plants, or mission-critical projects.
Strong knowledge of rotating equipment, piping, heat transfer, fluid systems, thermal performance, ventilation, and mechanical auxiliaries.
Experience with combined heat and power, heat recovery, modular generation, or microgrids.
Experience with gas turbines, reciprocating engines, generators, or comparable large industrial equipment.
Ability to evaluate vendor data, equipment curves, operating scenarios, failure modes, and maintenance constraints.
Experience carrying designs through construction, startup, commissioning, and performance validation.
Knowledge of applicable ASME, API, NFPA, ASHRAE, and environmental requirements.
Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or a related field.
Preferred Skills
Professional Engineer license.
Experience with process simulation, hydraulic modeling, CFD, or equipment-performance modeling.
Experience supporting high-density data center loads and rapid infrastructure deployment.
About OpenAI
OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research laboratory consisting of the for-profit corporation OpenAI LP and its parent company, the non-profit OpenAI Inc. The company was founded in 2015 by a group of technology leaders, including Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, and John Schulman. OpenAI's mission is to develop and promote friendly AI for the betterment of humanity. The company has developed a number of cutting-edge AI technologies, including GPT-3, a language processing system that can generate human-like text. OpenAI has received funding from a number of high-profile investors, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and venture capitalist Peter Thiel.
