Physical Network & Structured Cabling Engineer

About The Team

OpenAI is on a bold mission to build the world’s most advanced AI infrastructure. We are seeking a Data Center Network and Structured Cabling Engineer with 10+ years of experience in designing and implementing optimized network and structured cabling solutions at large data centers buildings and data center campuses.

The Data Center Engineering team is central to this mission defining infrastructure strategy, driving technical innovation, working with research to set performance benchmarks, and developing reference designs that enable rapid, scalable global deployment.

As part of this team, you will help design and deliver next-generation data center infrastructure optimized for AI workloads. You’ll collaborate across research, site selection, design, construction, commissioning, hardware engineering, deployment, operations, and global partners to bring OpenAI’s infrastructure vision to life.

Role Summary

As a Physical Network & Structured Cabling Engineer, you will own the design, implementation, and quality assurance of structured cabling and physical network infrastructure across OpenAI’s global data center footprint. This role bridges design, construction, and operations, ensuring that every layer of our physical networking from fiber trunks to copper patching meets the highest standards of performance, reliability, and scalability.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and specify structured cabling systems required for all network layers at hyperscale data centers, including fiber, copper, cable tray and duct bank pathways.
• Develop standards, reference designs, and installation guidelines for structured cabling and physical network deployments.
• Partner with internal network engineering and site operations teams to align physical design with logical network architecture.
• Manage fiber vendors and contractors, perform quality control, and commissioning of fiber bundles and structured cabling systems.
• Perform clash detection analysis and conduct site inspections to validate as-built conditions, ensuring compliance with design and operational requirements.
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues during build, commissioning, and handover phases to ensure network readiness.
• Maintain documentation, drawings, and asset records for physical network components across global sites.
• Provide feedback to design and operations teams to drive continuous improvement of physical network standards.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Telecommunications, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of experience in structured cabling design, deployment, and maintenance for large scale data centers.
• Expertise in industry standards such as ANSI/TIA, BICSI and other relevant structured cabling guidelines.
• Proven ability to coordinate with cross-functional teams and external vendors on large-scale projects.
• Strong skills in reviewing and interpreting technical drawings, cable schedules, and documentation management.
• Willingness to travel frequently to global data center sites.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Engineering, or relevant certifications such as BICSI, RCDD, or equivalent.
• Experience with hyperscale cloud, AI, or high-performance computing environments.
• Proficiency in 2D and 3D engineering tools (e.g., CAD, Revit) for infrastructure design and clash detection analysis.
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills for physical layer systems and issues.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

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.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable law, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act. 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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