Datacenter Networking Technician (AI)

TL;DR

Datacenter Networking Technician (AI): Designing and deploying physical network infrastructure for massive AI data center campuses with an accent on fiber optics, structured cabling, and reliability. Focus on translating network blueprints into physical reality, performing high-precision fiber testing, and developing repeatable deployment playbooks.

Location: Must be based onsite in Abilene, Texas (5 days per week)

Salary: $86.4K – $228K + Equity

Company

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity.

What you will do

• Serve as the technical lead for campus builds, collaborating with internal engineers and external contractors on design and installation.
• Perform onsite inspections, cable routing, termination, and fiber testing (OTDR, power levels, continuity).
• Troubleshoot cabling routes and equipment turn-up to ensure clean, reliable handoff to network operations.
• Contribute to design reviews for structured cabling and physical network layouts, providing field feedback to engineering teams.
• Develop repeatable engineering standards and deployment playbooks to accelerate future campus expansions.
• Own network physical-layer deployment from design through commissioning for upcoming data center expansions.

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in large-scale datacenter network deployment, structured cabling, or physical-layer installation.
• Deep knowledge of fiber/copper plant design, cabling standards, and hyperscale network best practices.
• Ability to sit onsite in Abilene, Texas 5 days per week.
• Strong technical judgment to solve complex installation and testing issues in the field.
• Excellent communication skills to drive projects to completion with construction and operations teams.

Nice to have

• Exposure to automation tools (Ansible, SaltStack) or scripting (Python, Shell).
• Experience with hyperscale Clos fabrics or large-scale network design.
• Familiarity with routing and switching concepts (BGP, OSPF, EVPN/VXLAN) and basic Linux troubleshooting.
• Industry certifications such as BICSI, CCNA, or CCNP.

Culture & Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity offers.
• Opportunity to build the world’s most advanced AI infrastructure ecosystem.
• High-impact role in a fast-moving, state-of-the-art environment.