Data Center Electrical Engineer – Design

Anthropic

2d•$320,000 - $405,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Anthropic is hiring a Data Center Electrical Engineer to own the electrical architecture of data center facilities, from the utility service entrance through to rack power. The role covers substation interfaces, medium- and high-voltage distribution, on-site generation and storage, UPS, switchgear, busway, and rack power. The engineer will establish and maintain the electrical basis of design, reference architectures, and technical specifications, and serve as the technical authority reviewing designs and calculations from build partners and A/E firms. The position also runs or validates power-system studies and develops electrical designs that can support rapidly increasing rack densities and the distinctive loads of large-scale machine-learning training. A major focus is advancing Anthropic’s prefabricated and modular electrical strategy, including modular skids, e-houses, and prefabricated power assemblies, and standardizing these designs across sites. The engineer will coordinate with infrastructure, hardware, compute, supply-chain, utility, manufacturing, and construction partners; qualify equipment vendors; and support design reviews, factory testing, commissioning, and startup. The role manages concurrent projects across multiple geographies and includes approximately 10–25% travel for design reviews, partner and vendor meetings, factory witness testing, and site visits. The position requires substantial experience designing electrical systems for mission-critical facilities, including data centers or other high-availability environments. A bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related field, or equivalent practical experience, is required. PE licensure is valued but not required. The role follows a location-based hybrid policy: staff are currently expected to be in an office at least 25% of the time, though some roles may require more. Anthropic sponsors visas, subject to role and candidate circumstances.

Requirements

10 or more years of electrical engineering experience in mission-critical facilities, with substantial experience in data center or other high-availability electrical distribution design from concept through construction documents and commissioning support.
Deep familiarity with US electrical codes and standards, including NEC (NFPA 70), NFPA 70E, IEEE standards such as IEEE 1584, and UL/ANSI equipment standards such as UL 891 and UL 1558, as well as utility interconnection processes.
Hands-on experience producing and reviewing electrical construction documents, single-line diagrams, and equipment specifications, and confidence interpreting data center floor plans and technical layouts.
Strong knowledge of power distribution and cooling infrastructure in high-availability data center environments.
Fluency in power-systems analysis and ability to run or critically review studies using tools such as SKM, ETAP, or EasyPower.
Understanding of critical power topologies, including 2N, N+1, distributed redundant, and block redundant, and ability to explain their reliability and cost trade-offs.
Working knowledge of high- and medium-voltage substations, on-site generation, and energy-storage integration, and how these affect overall electrical architecture.
Hands-on experience with prefabricated and modular data center electrical infrastructure, including design for offsite manufacture, modular skids or e-houses, and interfaces with onsite assembly.
Experience working directly with electrical equipment manufacturers, A/E consultants, and contractors, and evaluating products and designs on technical merit.
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Clear communication with technical peers and non-specialist stakeholders, and comfort defending design positions under scrutiny.
Minimum education is a bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience; the field of study must be relevant to the role as demonstrated through coursework, training, or professional experience.
Required years of experience correlate with the internal job level requirements; the role description also identifies 10 or more years as a good-fit qualification.

Nice To Haves

Professional Engineer (PE) licensure is valued but not required.
Experience owning the electrical basis of design or reference architecture for a hyperscale or large colocation program and driving adoption across multiple sites or external build partners.
A track record of developing modular prefabricated products in data center electrical or mechanical scope and driving designs toward offsite manufacturing.
Background in medium- or high-voltage distribution, on-site generation, or battery energy storage system integration and its effects on building-side electrical design.
Exposure to liquid-cooled infrastructure and its implications for electrical-room layout and load distribution.
Prior work at a hyperscaler, colocation provider, or MEP consultancy serving large data center clients.
Direct project experience delivering data centers in multiple US markets, such as Virginia, Texas, Arizona, Ohio, or Oregon.

Responsibilities

Lead electrical design of critical data center infrastructure across the US portfolio, including utility interfaces and substations, medium- and high-voltage distribution, generators, UPS, switchgear, transformers, busway, and grounding.
Develop and maintain the electrical basis of design, reference architectures, and technical specifications for critical power distribution, balancing reliability and maintainability requirements with budget targets.
Perform and validate short-circuit, protection-coordination, arc-flash, load-flow, and power-quality studies, using results to guide topology, redundancy, equipment selection, and protection settings.
Design and plan data center hall power distribution layouts for newly allocated spaces in coordination with telecom, mechanical, and cooling design.
Develop modular skids, e-houses, and prefabricated power assemblies, and partner with engineering and manufacturing teams on a productization roadmap to accelerate deployment and reduce onsite labor.
Define interfaces between prefabricated components and site-built work, including electrical interfaces and switchover points for temporary-to-permanent power sequencing.
Standardize modular electrical designs across sites while preserving flexibility for site constraints and evolving hardware generations.
Specify and qualify major electrical equipment with regional vendors and manufacturers, and work with supply chain to diversify vendors and reduce lead-time and single-source risk.
Coordinate with utilities and interconnection/transmission operators to define utility-service and interconnection requirements, and with authorities having jurisdiction to ensure compliance with applicable codes and standards.
Translate accelerator power, density, and power-quality requirements into electrical design criteria with hardware and compute teams, keeping reference architectures aligned with upcoming hardware generations.
Present findings and design positions to internal stakeholders, build partners, and operations teams through reports and presentations, and defend those positions under challenge.
Review and approve electrical design packages, calculations, submittals, and shop drawings from build partners and MEP consultants; track clarifications, deviations, and exceptions against the basis of design.
Perform technical due diligence and design reviews of developer and partner projects, evaluating electrical single-lines, equipment selections, studies, and specifications against capacity, reliability, and maintainability requirements.
Define project electrical scope and serve as design authority on RFIs and field changes affecting design intent during procurement and construction.
Support factory acceptance testing, commissioning, and startup by reviewing test procedures and results, attending key site milestones, and incorporating as-built changes into the reference design.
Manage concurrent projects across multiple geographies.
Continuously improve internal electrical design standards, tooling, and delivery practices, and act as a technical leader across internal and external teams supporting data centers.