Data Center Controls Network Engineer

Details

OpenAI is building the infrastructure foundation for the next generation of AI. The Data Center Engineering team defines strategy, reference architectures, technical requirements, and delivery standards for the large-scale data centers that support OpenAI research, products, and infrastructure partners. As a Data Center Controls Network Engineer, you will design, validate, and scale controls and OT network architectures that support high-density AI data centers. You will work across controls systems, OT infrastructure, telemetry, commissioning, deployment, and operations, partnering with mechanical, electrical, IT/networking, security, and external delivery teams.

Responsibilities

• Define controls, automation, and OT network requirements for AI data center campuses.
• Develop reference architectures, engineering standards, and reusable design templates.
• Review and develop basis-of-design and functional design documents, including OT network diagrams, IP/VLAN schemes, telemetry architectures, data flow diagrams, and commissioning requirements.
• Design OT and infrastructure network architectures, including physical topology, logical topology, IP addressing, subnetting, VLANs, routing, switching, redundancy, segmentation, firewall policy coordination, out-of-band management, monitoring, and remote access patterns.
• Develop day-two network operations requirements, including change management, configuration backups, golden configurations, monitoring thresholds, firmware lifecycle, rollback plans, and post-change validation.
• Partner with electrical, mechanical, IT/networking, security, and operations teams to ensure OT network systems align with GPU deployments, campus-wide telemetry, and failure-domain isolation requirements.
• Define integration patterns and protocol requirements across BACnet/IP, BACnet MSTP, Modbus TCP/RTU, OPC UA, IEC-61850 MMS/GOOSE, MQTT, SNMP, syslog, NTP/PTP, IRIG-B, and vendor-specific interfaces.
• Lead technical evaluation of controls integrators, network equipment suppliers, design consultants, contractors, and commissioning agents.
• Review network equipment submittals, configurations, firmware assumptions, certifications, test reports, and quality documentation.
• Support factory witnessed testing (FWT), site acceptance testing, network readiness checks, failover testing, and integrated systems testing.
• Troubleshoot complex controls network issues including packet loss, latency, duplicate IPs, routing errors, firewall drops, protocol incompatibilities, time synchronization drift, and intermittent device communication failures.

Requirements

• 8+ years of relevant experience in controls engineering, industrial automation, OT networking, mission-critical facilities, or similar critical infrastructure environments.
• Strong expertise in resilient OT network architecture, implementation, troubleshooting, and lifecycle support.
• Experience with OT/IT boundary design, secure enterprise integration, firewall policy design, redundant topologies, out-of-band management, and monitoring.
• Hands-on experience with Layer 3 OT network design, including IP addressing, subnetting, routing, VRFs, ACLs, inter-VLAN traffic control, and network segmentation.
• Hands-on experience with Layer 2 security and switching controls, including MACsec, port security, loop prevention, and switch-level access control.
• Hands-on experience in designing resilient OT network topologies using industrial redundancy protocols and architectures such as PRP, HSR, Cisco REP, RSTP/MSTP, and ring or star topologies.
• Hands-on experience in designing resilient infrastructure network architectures using HSRP/VRRP, spine-leaf topologies, redundant uplinks, and failure-domain isolation.
• Hands-on experience with industrial and infrastructure network equipment such as Cisco switches/routers, Juniper switches/routers, Palo Alto firewalls, Rockwell Automation Stratix switches, Siemens Ruggedcom or comparable industrial networking platforms.
• Experience with network management and observability platforms such as Cisco Catalyst Center (DNA Center), Palo Alto Panorama, Juniper Mist, industrial NMS tools, packet brokers, and OT monitoring platforms.
• Hands-on experience with industrial Ethernet, VPN tunneling, IPsec-based connectivity, and secure remote access.
• Hands-on experience with virtualized OT or controls server environments such as VMware vSAN, Microsoft Azure Stack HCI / Hyper-V, or comparable infrastructure platforms.
• Experience with industrial communication and OT infrastructure protocols, including BACnet/IP, BACnet MSTP, Modbus TCP/RTU, OPC UA, IEC-61850 MMS/GOOSE, MQTT, SNMP, syslog, NTP/PTP, IRIG-B, and vendor-specific interfaces, and strong understanding of their behavior across OT network architectures.
• Experience reviewing and producing technical design documentation, commissioning plans, and acceptance test procedures.
• Experience with factory witnessed testing, site acceptance testing, failover testing, telemetry validation, protocol compatibility testing, and root-cause analysis.
• Ability to use logs, packet captures, and field observations to make sound technical decisions and communicate risk clearly.
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Network Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related discipline.

Preferred Skills

• Master's degree in a related discipline.
• Experience leading multi-campus OT network integration, commissioning, and operations across cross-functional teams, contractors, vendors, and delivery partners.
• Relevant networking certifications such as Cisco CCNA/CCNP, Palo Alto PCNSA/PCNSE, Juniper JNCIA/JNCIS, or similar credentials.
• Cybersecurity certifications such as CISSP, GICSP, ISA/IEC 62443, CompTIA Security+, or similar credentials.
• Experience with network automation, Git-based configuration management, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using tools such as Ansible, Terraform, Python, or similar.
• Experience with scripting, APIs, and automation workflows that improve OT network operations.
• Experience using AI agents or MCP-connected tools to support telemetry analysis and troubleshooting.
• Experience with relational database systems such as PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MySQL, or similar platforms used for OT telemetry, historian integrations, troubleshooting, and reporting.

Work Environment and Travel

• Periodic travel to data center campuses, vendors, labs, construction sites, commissioning activities, and controls/network cutovers.
• Work across office, lab, construction, and live data center environments, including PPE, lockout/tagout, cyber hygiene, and change-control requirements.
• Work may include time-sensitive support during commissioning, startup, vendor testing, cutovers, network changes, telemetry issues, automation failures, and operational events.

About the Team

The Data Center Engineering team defines strategy, reference architectures, technical requirements, and delivery standards for large-scale data centers that support OpenAI research, products, and infrastructure partners.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. The company seeks to safely deploy AI systems and values diverse perspectives and experiences. OpenAI is an equal opportunity employer and administers background checks in accordance with applicable law.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
• Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
• Paid parental leave and paid medical and caregiver leave.
• Paid time off: flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees.
• 13+ paid company holidays and additional paid company office closures.
• Mental health and wellness support; employer-paid basic life and disability coverage.
• Annual learning and development stipend.
• Daily meals in offices and meal delivery credits as eligible.
• Relocation support for eligible employees.
• Additional taxable fringe benefits such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends.