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Electrical Engineer, Power Generation

OpenAI

San Francisco, CAFull-time$257–327K/yrPosted 1 day agoStill listed today

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At a glance

Compensation
$257–327K/yr
Location
San Francisco, CA
Schedule
Full-time
Work Authorization
Not specified

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Requirements

Credentials this posting asks for.

Bachelor's degree

Job overview

OpenAI is seeking an Electrical Engineer to design and integrate on-site power-generation systems for large AI data center campuses. The role spans generation, substations, medium-voltage distribution, protection, grid interfaces, and data center loads. The engineer will establish technical requirements, evaluate technologies and vendors, and carry electrical designs from concept through commissioning and validated operation. Travel is 50%.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

Power Generation EngineeringElectrical System StudiesGrid-Connected GenerationIslanded GenerationSynchronizationLoad SharingBlack-Start ConceptsOEM Data InterpretationFailure Mode AnalysisData Center Load RequirementsConstruction CommissioningOperational ValidationNECNFPAIEEENERCUtility RequirementsGas TurbinesReciprocating EnginesBattery SystemsMicrogridsHybrid Generation PlantsETAPPSCADPSS/ESKMEasyPowerHigh-Density Data Center LoadsAI Compute Demand

Qualifications

8+ Years Electrical Engineering ExperienceBachelor's in Electrical Engineering or Related FieldProfessional Engineer License

Full job description

About the Team OpenAI, in close collaboration with our capital and delivery partners, is building the infrastructure required to support frontier AI systems. The Data Center Engineering team defines repeatable technical standards and carries them through design, construction, commissioning, and operational readiness. The team works across data center facilities, power generation, compute infrastructure, construction, procurement, and operations to deliver reliable capacity at unprecedented scale and speed. About the Role We are seeking an Electrical Engineer to design and integrate on-site power-generation systems for large AI data center campuses. You will work across generation, substations, medium-voltage distribution, protection, auxiliary systems, grid interfaces, and data center loads. This role will establish technical requirements, evaluate technology and vendor solutions, and carry electrical designs from concept through commissioning and validated operation. Travel: 50% Responsibilities

  • Develop electrical architectures, one-lines, design criteria, specifications, and studies for generation plants and campus interconnections.

  • Design and review generator or alternator interfaces, transformers, MV and HV switchgear, protection, synchronization, grounding, station service, DC systems, and black-start capability.

  • Perform or review load flow, short circuit, arc flash, protection coordination, transient, motor-starting, grounding, and reliability studies.

  • Coordinate generation controls, microgrid or islanding behavior, utility interconnection, data center load characteristics, and operating modes.

  • Evaluate OEM and EPC proposals, equipment ratings, test plans, failure modes, maintenance strategies, and lifecycle tradeoffs.

  • Support procurement, factory acceptance testing, construction, energization, commissioning, performance testing, and root-cause investigations.

  • Resolve cross-discipline interfaces with mechanical, controls, CSA, fuel, utility, and data center electrical teams.

  • Create repeatable electrical reference designs and standards for future generation deployments.

Qualifications

  • 8+ years of electrical engineering experience on power generation, utility, industrial, microgrid, or mission-critical projects.

  • Deep knowledge of generators, transformers, switchgear, protection and controls, grounding, auxiliary power, and electrical system studies.

  • Experience with grid-connected and islanded generation, synchronization, load sharing, and black-start or restoration concepts.

  • Ability to interpret OEM data, operating scenarios, failure modes, and data center load requirements.

  • Experience carrying designs through construction, commissioning, and operational validation.

  • Knowledge of applicable NEC, NFPA, IEEE, NERC, and utility requirements.

  • Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or a related field.

Preferred Skills

  • Professional Engineer license.

  • Experience with gas turbines, reciprocating engines, battery systems, microgrids, or hybrid generation plants.

  • Proficiency with ETAP, PSCAD, PSS/E, SKM, EasyPower, or equivalent analysis tools.

  • Experience supporting high-density data center loads and fast-changing AI compute demand.

About OpenAI OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity. We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. For additional information, please see OpenAI’s Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement. Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations. To notify OpenAI that you believe this job posting is non-compliant, please submit a report through this form. No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link. OpenAI Global Applicant Privacy Policy At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.

How this job compares

Set against the 10,434 open Electrical Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 7, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$257–327K/yr
  • California median$130–190K/yr1,110 salary ranges
  • US median$106–165K/yr6,808 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $292K, is 83% above the California median midpoint ($160K) — in the top quarter of Electrical Engineer salary ranges in California.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 1,358 open Electrical Engineer jobs in California and 10,434 across the US. 3% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in California
Experience
This posting asks for at least 8 years of experience; Electrical Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for 5 years at the median (8,678 postings).
Education
This posting asks for a bachelor's degree; 6,705 of the 10,434 open Electrical Engineer jobs (64%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 7, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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