Data Center Design Manager (AI)

Location: US - Remote

Salary: $225K–$285K annually, plus equity, performance-related bonuses for eligible employees, and benefits.

Company

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company developing and safely deploying general-purpose artificial intelligence.

What you will do

• Manage design scope, deliverables, milestones, and dependencies from concept development through detailed design and construction support.
• Coordinate civil, structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical, controls, and physical network interfaces across data center buildings and campuses.
• Translate owner and hardware requirements into coordinated design criteria and resolve gaps and competing requirements with discipline leads.
• Lead multidisciplinary design reviews and track comments, decisions, technical risks, and actions through resolution before design release.
• Evaluate design changes and clarify their effects on reliability, safety, cost, schedule, and maintainability.
• Coordinate architects, engineering consultants, developers, equipment suppliers, construction teams, and commissioning teams through design delivery, field issues, handoff, and standards development.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, architecture, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary design for data centers, mission-critical facilities, or comparable complex infrastructure.
• Technical understanding of data center infrastructure and the interfaces among power, cooling, controls, structures, and physical networks.
• Experience taking coordinated design packages from early planning through detailed design and construction support.
• Experience coordinating external design consultants, engineering specialists, and construction partners.
• Ability to read technical drawings and specifications, identify interface gaps, and work with discipline experts to resolve them.
• Strong written and verbal communication, disciplined issue tracking, and sound judgment when balancing technical requirements with delivery constraints.

Nice to have

• Experience with hyperscale data centers, high-density AI or HPC infrastructure, or other rapidly evolving mission-critical environments.
• Familiarity with liquid cooling, high-density power distribution, and integrating changing compute hardware requirements into facility designs.
• Experience managing design reviews, quality checks, and technical change control across concurrent projects.
• Experience with modular or prefabricated infrastructure and design approaches that improve constructability and deployment speed.
• Familiarity with BIM, model coordination, clash detection, and engineering document-control tools.
• Experience supporting commissioning readiness, as-built documentation, and handoff to operations.
• Experience adapting reference designs and engineering standards to site-specific constraints across a portfolio.
• Professional engineering or architecture licensure, or relevant design and project management credentials.

Culture & Benefits

• Remote role for US-based employees with relocation support available for eligible employees.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and families, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match, flexible or accrued paid time off, paid parental, medical, caregiver, sick, and safe leave.
• Paid company holidays and coordinated company office closures, plus mental health and wellness support.
• Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage, annual learning and development stipend, office meals, and eligible meal delivery credits.

Hiring process

• More detailed benefits information is provided during the hiring process.
• Background checks are administered in accordance with applicable law for US-based candidates.