Director, Substation & Grid Engineering (AI Data Centers)

Location: United States; site visits may be required for commissioning, troubleshooting, and design clarifications.

Salary: $180,000–$270,000 USD per year, with potential bonus, equity, and/or commission eligibility.

Company

Nscale provides GPU cloud infrastructure engineered for AI startups and enterprise customers, including data center facilities optimized for AI deployments.

What you will do

• Lead substation and grid engineering design across the data center portfolio.
• Define standards for substations, transformers, switchgear, protection, controls, metering, and redundancy strategies.
• Own load and generator interconnection applications, studies, technical exhibits, queue tracking, and utility or ISO/RTO engagement.
• Guide on-site generation integration, including paralleling, synchronization, islanding, black-start concepts, protection coordination, and load sharing.
• Support Utility Development and Power Procurement with grid capacity assessments, interconnection risks, timelines, and technical constraints.
• Lead technical design reviews, commissioning support, risk mitigation, and delivery of engineering projects through energization.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• 8–12+ years of experience in substation design, protection and controls, or grid engineering.
• Strong ability to interpret and produce electrical one-lines, protection schemes, and system studies.
• Experience preparing and managing load and/or generator interconnection applications with utilities, ISOs/RTOs, or transmission owners.
• Demonstrated success leading or mentoring engineering teams and serving as a technical resource to commercial and development organizations.
• Ability to support project sites as needed for commissioning, troubleshooting, and design clarification.

Nice to have

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Power Systems.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license.
• Experience with high-density AI/GPU or HPC data center substation design.
• Experience with generator OEMs, EPCs, commissioning providers, and large-scale standby or prime power plants.
• Experience navigating interconnection queues and study processes across multiple ISO/RTO markets.

Culture & Benefits

• Culture centered on innovation, ownership, accountability, openness, and transparency.
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits.
• Flexible paid time off and parental leave.
• Retirement plan participation.
• Potential bonus, equity, and/or commission programs.
• Commitment to an inclusive, diverse, and equitable workplace with accommodations available when needed.