Mechanical Engineer

About the Team

The Compute team works on the design of our AI supercomputers, doing everything from workload modeling to influencing accelerator design. We’re leaning into our partnerships to make system and data center co-design an integral part of this process, and are looking for engineers to design AI supercomputers solutions for data center applications

This team will be responsible for working with partners to optimize their hardware for our workloads, identifying promising new deep learning accelerators, and bringing those hardware platforms to production.

If you’re excited to work at the intersection of cutting edge deep learning, hardware system, and data center design this role is for you!

About the Role

We’re looking for mechanical system design engineers who have a deep expertise in the mechanical area, and hold strong system level design knowledge 

This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees.

In this role, you will:

• Lead mechanical design for AI supercomputer product in the data center application. 

• Collaborate with boards, rack and system engineers, design partners to drive mechanical system design. 

• Develop holistic mechanical, thermal, and/or system designs for hardware system, optimizing for cost, and efficiency while innovating for performance

• Design and validate mechanical systems, including chassis, enclosures, cooling systems, and high-power connections, ensuring alignment with performance and reliability standards.

• Oversee 3D modeling, tolerance analysis, and prototyping, ensuring manufacturability and adherence to strict quality requirements.

• Conduct mechanical testing, including vibration, shock, and thermal cycling, to ensure long-term reliability under extreme operating conditions.

• Identify and evaluate new technologies and methodologies to improve mechanical and thermal performance in product design, and contribute to the development of new products and technology by providing expertise in mechanical design

• Develop appropriate specifications and test procedures as necessary to ensure desired reliability and performance of electronic equipment, collaborate, supervise, mentor, and motivate suppliers to design and develop excellent products, and mentor engineers in all aspects of concept development, analysis, design, and specification

• Oversee the production and launch of new products and technologies and ensure compliance with relevant quality standards and regulation

You might thrive in this role if you:

• Have at least 10 years of industry experience, including experience design hardware system for data center applications 

• Direct hands-on experience in mechanical design, with a focus on high-power or high-speed computing hardware.

• Experience with liquid cooling or advanced air cooling solutions for hardware in data center applications

• Experience in electronics packaging, server systems, data centers, or a related industry

• Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Product Design, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.

• You are experienced in Design for Manufacturability (DFM), and Design for Assembly (DFA), statistical tolerance analysis techniques, CTF dimensioning, and geometric tolerancing; Excellent 3D CAD experience, i.e

• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, materials science, and tolerance analysis

• Have a strong bias toward action, and won’t take no for an answer. 

• Have experience and good knowledge of system design experience in the mechanical and product design areas, from chip, board, cabling, rack level to data center level

• Have a strong intrinsic desire to learn and fill in missing skills; and an equally strong talent for sharing that information clearly and concisely with others. 

• Are comfortable with ambiguity and rapidly changing conditions. 

• Experience in data center environments or high-performance computing is a plus.

  Benefits and Perks

  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family

  • Mental health and wellness support

  • 401(k) plan with 4% matching

  • Unlimited time off and 18+ company holidays per year

  • Paid parental leave (20 weeks) and family-planning support

  • Annual learning & development stipend ($1,500 per year)

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 do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status. 

OpenAI Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement

For US Based Candidates: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.

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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.