Mechanical Engineer, Power Generation

Compute - San Francisco

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 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.
• Evaluate thermal performance, hydraulic behavior, pressure drop, vibration, acoustics, emissions interfaces, redundancy, and maintenance requirements.
• 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 procurementance 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 equipmentance, 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 constructionance 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 simulationance modeling.
• Experience supporting high-density data center loads and rapid infrastructure deployment.

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 the full spectrum of humanity.

We are an equal opportunity employeration, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.

Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable lawation technology systems and related data security obligations.

To notify OpenAI that you believe this job posting is non-compliant. No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.

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.

Compensation

$257K – $327K + Offers Equity

The base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factorsance-related bonus(es) for eligible employees, and the following benefits.

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts
• Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses (parking and transit)
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match
• Paid parental leave (up to 24 weeks for birth parents and 20 weeks for non-birthing parents), plus paid medical and caregiver leave (up to 8 weeks)
• Paid time off: flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees
• 13+ paid company holidays, and multiple paid coordinated company office closures throughout the year for focus and recharge, plus paid sick or safe time (1 hour per 30 hours worked, or more, as required by applicable state or local law)
• Mental health and wellness support
• Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage
• Annual learning and development stipend to fuel your professional growth
• Daily meals in our offices, and meal delivery credits as eligible
• Relocation support for eligible employees
• Additional taxable fringe benefits, such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends, may also be provided.

More details about our benefits are available to candidates during the hiring process.

This role is at-will and OpenAI reserves the right to modify base pay and other compensation components at any time based on individual performance, team or company results, or market conditions.