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Physical Network & Structured Cabling Engineer

OpenAI· Scaling
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Hybrid (San Francisco), Hybrid (Seattle), Hybrid (US - Remote)$257k - $327k + equityFull-timePosted 2w ago

About the role

Role to design, implement, and ensure quality of structured cabling and physical network infrastructure across OpenAI’s global data center footprint, bridging design, construction, and operations to meet high performance, reliability, and scalability for AI workloads.

Responsibilities

  • Design and specify physical network infrastructure across data center buildings and campuses, including fiber and copper cabling, network rooms, rack layouts, cable trays, and duct bank pathways. Coordinate with other engineering disciplines to ensure network infrastructure space, power, cooling, and operational requirements are incorporated into the overall design
  • Develop standards, reference designs, and installation guidelines for structured cabling and physical network deployments.
  • Translate logical network architectures and hardware connectivity requirements into scalable physical designs, including fiber topology, port connectivity, patching, redundancy, and capacity planning, in partnership with network engineering and operations teams.
  • Provide technical direction to design consultants, cabling vendors, and installation contractors, resolving scope gaps and ensuring designs are constructible and meet network requirements.
  • Define installation quality and acceptance criteria, and oversee inspection, testing, commissioning, and turnover of structured cabling systems.
  • Lead physical network design reviews, coordinate clash detection and resolution with other disciplines, and conduct site inspections to verify installation quality and conformance with design and operational requirements.
  • Troubleshoot and resolve issues during build, commissioning, and handover phases to ensure network readiness.
  • Develop and maintain physical network documentation, including design requirements, drawings, port maps, cable schedules, bills of materials, labeling standards, and as-built records.
  • Provide feedback to design and operations teams to drive continuous improvement of physical network standards.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Telecommunications, or related field, or equivalent experience.
  • 10+ years of experience designing and delivering physical network infrastructure and structured cabling systems for large-scale data centers, including responsibility for design decisions, construction coordination, and operational readiness.
  • Strong understanding of data center network topologies and high-speed optical connectivity, including transceivers, fiber types, breakout configurations, connector and polarity schemes, and optical loss budgets.
  • 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.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Willingness to travel frequently to global data center sites.

Skills

Required:Structured cabling designPhysical network designDocumentation and standardsProject coordinationCommunication

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
  • 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
Last updated Oct 8, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About OpenAI

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Company profileWebsite

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