Data Center Architect

Cloudflare•San Francisco, CA

About The Position

Cloudflare is hiring a senior individual-contributor Data Center Architect to define and deliver the physical infrastructure supporting high-density compute and GPU deployments across its global network. The role owns three connected domains: liquid cooling, low-voltage connectivity, and the medium- and low-voltage electrical architecture that powers them. Scope ranges from individual racks in commercial colocation facilities to multi-megawatt compute deployments. The architect serves as Cloudflare’s owner-side technical lead, connecting hardware requirements with what colocation providers, manufacturers, and delivery partners can build. The role spans architecture, detailed design, qualification, design governance, commissioning, and operational readiness. The architect works with engineering, capacity planning, network strategy, supply chain, and operations, as well as colocation providers, hardware suppliers, and delivery partners worldwide. The goal is to translate infrastructure requirements into deployments that come online faster, cost less, and work correctly from the outset. Responsibilities include creating reference architectures for power, liquid cooling, and connectivity; translating hardware and capacity needs into engineering requirements; qualifying sites and facility interfaces; leading MV/LV power architecture and liquid-cooling design; and owning structured cabling and physical-layer connectivity. The role integrates these systems across rack, row, and site layouts, defines resilience and operational visibility, governs partner designs and delivery, leads commissioning and acceptance, maintains accurate infrastructure records, supports sourcing, and improves energy and water efficiency and design standards. The position is based in Austin, San Francisco, or New York and requires travel for site assessments, vendor reviews, factory testing, commissioning, and deployment support, including international travel. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a continuing and permanent basis without company sponsorship. Compensation varies by location: the estimated annual salary is $165,000–$205,000 for San Francisco Bay Area hires and $158,000–$195,000 for New York hires. The role is eligible for Cloudflare’s equity plan.

Requirements

At least 8 years of experience in data center mechanical, electrical, or physical-layer infrastructure, critical-facility cooling, or structured cabling, including architecture or technical design leadership.
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Delivered liquid-cooled compute infrastructure from requirements through commissioning or production handover; conventional HVAC experience alone does not qualify.
Ability to create and review electrical single-line diagrams and schematics, with hands-on MV/LV system design experience including protection, selectivity, and grounding.
Strong command of thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, hydraulic calculations, pump and heat-exchanger selection, and cooling performance under variable conditions.
Practical experience with CDUs, facility and technology cooling loops, rack distribution, coolant compatibility, leak detection, and interfaces between liquid-cooled hardware and facility systems.
Strong knowledge of copper Ethernet, single-mode and multimode fiber, patching systems, LC and MPO/MTP connectivity, optical loss budgets, polarity, cable management, and applicable test methods.
Experience in colocation environments, including cross-connect delivery, diverse physical paths, and practical constraints of building inside third-party facilities.
Ability to write and critically review basis-of-design documents, P&IDs, electrical and mechanical specifications, equipment selections, operating sequences, and test plans.
Working knowledge of NEC, NFPA, UL, mechanical and plumbing codes, TIA and ISO/IEC structured-cabling standards, relevant ASHRAE data center guidance, and manufacturer operating requirements; ability to apply them with qualified local engineering partners.
Experience evaluating resilience and maintainability, participating in commissioning, and resolving system-level problems across equipment and organizational boundaries.
Experience directing design consultants, contractors, installation partners, or remote hands, with clear ownership of technical decisions and acceptance outcomes.
Clear written and verbal communication across disciplines and time zones, and ability to run several projects with limited oversight.
Legally authorized to work in the United States on a continuing and permanent basis without company sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

Professional Engineer, Chartered Engineer, or equivalent registration in electrical or mechanical engineering.
BICSI RCDD, DCDC, or a comparable credential.
Experience with high-density GPU platforms, OCP rack, power, and cooling interfaces, or qualification across multiple hardware and cooling suppliers.
Experience with hydraulic and electrical modeling tools such as AFT Fathom, PIPE-FLO, ETAP, or SKM; thermal or CFD modeling; and validation of models against measured performance.
Experience with high-density optical distribution, parallel optics, preterminated assemblies, and cabling transitions across successive network generations.
Experience with modular or prefabricated power or cooling infrastructure, live-site retrofits, DCIM platforms, automated connectivity or telemetry analysis, or lifecycle energy and water performance.
Familiarity with Cloudflare-relevant network environments, including optical transport, ISP interconnection, out-of-band management, and liquid-cooled rack integration.

Responsibilities

Own the physical-infrastructure architecture and develop reference designs for power, liquid cooling, and connectivity for AI and high-density compute at rack, row, and site levels.
Maintain standards, templates, and design libraries used by deployment, operations, and partner teams.
Translate hardware and capacity needs—including heat and electrical loads, port counts, network topologies, and growth plans—into engineering requirements and site and rack qualification criteria.
Qualify sites and facility interfaces by assessing power and cooling availability, utilities, backup capacity, water and hydraulic conditions, heat rejection, expansion capacity, maintenance constraints, and contractual boundaries; document risks and make go/no-go recommendations.
Lead MV/LV electrical architecture, including single-line diagrams, power distribution, switchgear and UPS topology, busway and PDU design, grounding, and bonding.
Design AC and DC power infrastructure, including power conversion, backup generation, energy storage, and distribution, with attention to fault levels, selectivity, and maintainability.
Validate electrical designs through load-flow, short-circuit, arc-flash, and selectivity studies, checking results against measured performance where possible.
Define digital power requirements for monitoring, metering, protection coordination, and control; coordinate alarm thresholds, trend retention, remote monitoring, and BMS/SCADA integration.
Apply emerging electrical standards, including NEC, NFPA, UL, and OCP power and rack specifications, to forward-looking designs.
Own the liquid-cooling architecture and roadmap; develop repeatable direct-to-chip designs and evaluate liquid-to-liquid, liquid-to-air, rear-door, and other cooling approaches.
Design and validate hydraulic systems, including flow and pressure-drop calculations, pipe sizing, pump selection, balancing, and controls; validate partial-load, expansion, maintenance, and failure scenarios.
Specify and qualify CDUs, heat exchangers, pumps, manifolds, hoses, quick-disconnects, valves, instrumentation, and rack integration.
Coordinate rack access, piping routes, service clearances, and installation sequencing with electrical, cabling, hardware, and structural disciplines.
Set requirements for coolant quality, material compatibility, cleanliness, filtration, corrosion control, condensation prevention, leak detection, isolation, fluid handling, component replacement, and safe serviceability.
Own physical-layer connectivity architecture for rack, row, cage, and site, including copper and fiber distribution, patch-panel placement, cross-connect demarcations, diverse routes, and expansion capacity.
Specify and validate fiber and copper media, connectors, trunks, cassettes, patching, optical loss budgets, connector counts, polarity, breakouts, bend radius, and hardware compatibility.
Produce buildable connectivity designs, including pathway layouts, fiber schedules, port-to-port patching plans, cable-length schedules, bills of materials, and installation specifications.
Qualify colocation and carrier infrastructure, including meet-me-room access, provider pathways, cross-connect options, demarcation points, and route diversity; define handoffs with providers, carriers, ISPs, and Cloudflare network strategy.
Coordinate white-space layouts for rack access, airflow, liquid-cooling pipes and manifolds, power segregation, pathway capacity, and expansion; coordinate supports, bonding, grounding, and firestopping with responsible disciplines and providers.
Evaluate resilience, shared failure dependencies, cooling and power interruptions, and thermal ride-through; agree protective responses for pump or CDU failure, facility cooling loss, leaks, sensor faults, control failures, and power events.
Define controls and operational visibility for temperatures, pressures, flows, power metering, leak alarms, equipment status, and capacity telemetry.
Act as Cloudflare’s owner-side design authority for basis-of-design documents, single-line diagrams, P&IDs, cabling and equipment schedules, interface requirements, scopes, responsibility matrices, review gates, and acceptance criteria.
Review partner designs and contractor submittals, resolve RFIs and technical disputes, and drive design deviations to documented closure.
Guide contractors and remote hands through deployments, expansions, migrations, and remediation; coordinate installation sequencing, methods of procedure, change controls, and rollback plans that protect running services.
Define factory and site acceptance tests across electrical, cooling, and connectivity, including cleanliness and leak-test evidence, flow balancing, loaded performance, failure-mode testing, and copper and fiber certification.
Track commissioning deficiencies and verify corrective work before sign-off.
Define labeling and connectivity-record standards; ensure as-builts, power and cooling records, patching schedules, cross-connect inventories, and test records reconcile with infrastructure inventory and DCIM.
Oversee operational handover, including deficiency closure, operator training, maintenance procedures, spares, and turnover documentation before production.
Support sourcing through RFPs, technical bid evaluation, technical negotiations, supplier qualification, and lifecycle cost analysis; partner with supply chain on prefabrication, preterminated cabling, rack integration, lead times, and quality-preserving alternatives to reduce field labor.
Evaluate phased deployment, consumption, and retrofit options to reduce energy and water use.
Investigate incidents and recurring installation defects with network and operations teams, and use commissioning and operating results to improve designs, standards, and quality checks.
Travel for site assessments, vendor reviews, factory testing, commissioning, and deployment support, including international travel.

Benefits

Medical/Rx insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
Flexible Spending Accounts
Commuter Spending Accounts
Fertility and family-forming benefits
On-demand mental health support and Employee Assistance Program
Global Travel Medical Insurance
Short- and long-term disability insurance
Life and accident insurance
401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
Employee Stock Participation Plan
Flexible paid time off covering vacation and sick leave
Leave programs, including parental, pregnancy health, medical, and bereavement leave
Eligibility to participate in Cloudflare’s equity plan