Data Center Design Engineer

Cloudflare•Austin, TX

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Cloudflare is seeking a Data Center Design Engineer to design infrastructure deployments that improve cost, quality, and deployment speed. The role leads electrical design and end-to-end execution for new data center sites, expansions, and infrastructure upgrades that support compute, storage, and high-density liquid-cooled GPU deployments. The engineer manages multiple concurrent projects and dynamic priorities, works with many stakeholders, and represents Cloudflare as the owner's representative to improve data center design practices. The position is based in Austin, Texas, and requires travel up to 25%. The Data Center Strategy team is part of Cloudflare's global Infrastructure team, which develops and manages the company's global data center and Point of Presence footprint.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience and at least 5 years of experience in data center mechanical and electrical design and operations, deployment, or installation.
Experience with HVAC, chilled-water and condenser-water systems, pump controls, glycols, air-handling units, CRAH/CRAC systems, raised-floor systems, hot- and cold-aisle containment, and building management systems.
Understanding of basic electrical theory, circuit design and analysis, and single- and three-phase power systems.
Familiarity with data center M&E infrastructure, electrical and UPS topologies, and cooling methods including central plants, room cooling, and high-density thermal strategies.
Familiarity with resilient data center design standards and Uptime Institute Tier classifications.
Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills.
Experience working across multiple time zones and with cross-functional teams.
Experience delivering time-sensitive projects under pressure.
Understanding of network hardware architecture, data center switching and routing infrastructure, and optical line/transceiver power and thermal profiles.
Experience acting as an owner's technical representative, governing external delivery partners, reviewing third-party designs, resolving technical disputes, and documenting closure of noncompliance and project risks.
Expertise in medium- and low-voltage distribution, transformers, generators, UPS systems, switchgear, transfer systems, busway, grounding, protection, and rack-level power architectures for high-density deployments.
Understanding of direct-to-chip liquid cooling and the electrical dependencies of CDUs, pumps, controls, facility water systems, and heat-rejection equipment.
Experience with construction administration, equipment testing, energization planning, staged commissioning, integrated systems testing, deficiency management, and failure-mode testing.
Experience with utility coordination, design-deviation governance, power-quality or incident investigations, and lifecycle management of mission-critical electrical infrastructure.

Nice To Haves

P.E. certification or equivalent.
Degree in electrical or mechanical engineering, or IT.
Experience in large-scale mission-critical facility infrastructure design, construction, commissioning, or operations.
Experience with standards and building codes including NFPA 70/NEC, IEEE, NEMA, ANSI, UMC, ASHRAE, UBC, LEED, and Uptime Institute standards.
Knowledge of programming languages.
JIRA or Confluence administrator-level experience.
AutoCAD experience.
Experience with FLOTHERM or Tileflow.
Hands-on experience with hardware validation, power/cooling capacity modeling, or thermal simulation tools.
Familiarity with systems programming, Python, Go, Bash, or automation workflows for power and infrastructure tracking.
Experience with NVIDIA DGX, GB200/GB300 NVL, OCP Open Rack, comparable liquid-cooled GPU platforms, or AI factory reference architectures.
Experience with ETAP, SKM PowerTools, EasyPower, or equivalent software for dynamic modeling, generator transient analysis, harmonic analysis, and UPS compatibility assessment.
Experience with EPMS/BMS integration, branch-circuit monitoring, rack-level telemetry, metering, capacity forecasting, or automated infrastructure reporting.

Responsibilities

Translate data center capacity requirements into white-space designs and rack plans that meet each facility's power, cooling, and contract constraints.
Manage implementation of cage projects with data center providers.
Design low-voltage structured cabling, fiber, cross-connect, conveyance, and supporting ceiling or floor infrastructure.
Work with supply chain on rack integration plans and deployment-location qualification.
Collaborate with data center engineering, capacity planning, network strategy, security, and other internal teams to verify project scope and solutions and develop repeatable installation procedures.
Lead design and implementation of new data centers and expansions, including electrical design and project execution from site qualification and basis of design through energization, commissioning, and operational handover.
Represent Cloudflare in technical discussions and negotiations with external data center partners; define design criteria, scopes, deliverables, responsibility matrices, review gates, and acceptance requirements.
Assist with RFP preparation, review, and cost and engineering analysis.
Review data center M&E one-line diagrams, cooling equations, and PDU specifications for hardware sourcing.
Design and review utility-to-rack infrastructure, including utility service, transformers, switchgear, generators, UPS and transfer systems, modular electrical assemblies, busway, feeders, whips, rack PDUs, grounding, and metering.
Define electrical interfaces and auxiliary-load requirements for direct-to-chip liquid cooling systems, including CDUs, pumps, controls, leak detection, facility water systems, and heat-rejection equipment.
Develop and review basis-of-design documents, single-line diagrams, specifications, equipment schedules, calculations, sequences of operation, and interface control documents.
Oversee technical acceptance of factory and site acceptance testing, staged commissioning, integrated systems testing, failure-mode testing, deficiency closure, and turnover documentation.
Define EPMS, metering, telemetry, and capacity-tracking requirements for operational power and capacity management.
Implement, document, and maintain power-consumption tracking tools and fulfill ad hoc reporting requests.
Research power-efficiency technologies and programs.
Develop and execute modular and prefabricated data center construction strategies to accelerate deployment and optimize costs.
Perform electrical short-circuit, coordination, arc-flash, and load-flow engineering studies to support reliability and compliance.
Coordinate with hardware sourcing and SRE/infrastructure teams to validate PDU specifications, rack integration plans, and power-distribution topologies across global PoP footprints.
Travel to conduct infrastructure audits, validate data center construction and buildouts, and participate in commercial processes.
Perform other duties as assigned.