Mechanical Lead

About the Team

OpenAI's data center construction teams work with engineering, supply chain, safety, quality, commissioning and operations partners to deliver the infrastructure that supports our computing needs. Mechanical delivery brings together cooling equipment, plant, piping and controls interfaces so that systems are installed, tested and ready for commissioning.

About the Role

As a Mechanical Lead, you will lead mechanical field delivery for data center construction, including cooling infrastructure, mechanical yards, piping and data hall fit-out. You will oversee general contractors, specialist installers and service providers, combining practical mechanical expertise with hands-on field leadership. Your focus will be safe installation, contractor performance, coordinated interfaces and complete evidence for commissioning and operational handover.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage mechanical contractors, equipment and piping installers, and general-contractor interfaces against approved scope, schedule and quality requirements.

• Oversee installation readiness and delivery of cooling plant, pumps, heat rejection equipment, air handling, piping and applicable liquid-cooling infrastructure.

• Coordinate equipment placement, pipe routing, supports, access and maintainability with structural, electrical, controls and hardware teams.

• Review contractor work plans, constructability, submittals, RFIs and change proposals; resolve field issues with the responsible engineering teams.

• Oversee pressure testing, flushing, cleaning and inspection records; verify completion, defect closure and commissioning readiness.

• Support commissioning specialists with mechanical startup and system tests, corrective work and complete as-built, operating and maintenance documentation.

• Set contractor priorities, review staffing and progress, identify constraints early and coordinate recovery actions with construction leadership.

• Maintain clear progress, risk and change reporting, with accountable handoffs between construction partners and OpenAI teams.

Qualifications

• Substantial mechanical construction, installation, field engineering or startup experience in data center cooling or comparable critical facilities.

• Demonstrated leadership of mechanical contractors or crews, including coordination across organizations without relying on direct reporting authority.

• Practical knowledge of cooling, ventilation, hydronic and pumping systems, heat rejection, piping cleanliness and vendor startup requirements.

• Ability to review drawings, specifications, submittals, work methods and controls narratives for constructability and installation readiness.

• Experience coordinating inspection, pressure testing, flushing, cleaning, balancing prerequisites and controls checkout.

• Ability to interpret test results and deficiency records with commissioning specialists and coordinate corrective work, retesting and turnover evidence.

• Clear communication and sound judgment when coordinating power, controls, startup and testing dependencies or escalating safety and delivery risks.

• Relevant trade, apprenticeship, technical or degree-based preparation, or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Skills

• Owner-side or specialist-contractor experience with high-density data center cooling, liquid cooling or phased cooling-system startup.

• Experience with integrated systems testing, factory or site acceptance activities, and digital commissioning or field-reporting tools.

• Relevant mechanical trade, controls, balancing or commissioning qualifications, or professional engineering credentials.

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.

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