Data Center Power Generation and Microgrids Engineer

Anthropic

9h•$320,000 - $405,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Anthropic’s Data Center Infrastructure team delivers facilities able to energize early, withstand grid disturbances, and present a well-behaved load at the point of interconnection (POI), addressing the scale, density, and rapid load changes required to train and serve frontier AI models. The Data Center Power Generation and Microgrids Engineer owns the behind-the-meter generation and storage architecture across Anthropic’s data center portfolio. The role covers on-site generation—including reciprocating engine gensets, gas turbines, and fuel cells—battery energy storage systems, and the microgrid systems that coordinate islanding, resynchronization, black-start, load-shedding, and generation dispatch. It also includes utility interconnection, power quality, standards compliance, and temporary or bridging generation strategies that allow a site to serve load before permanent utility service is available. This is a deeply cross-functional role, working with infrastructure colleagues on connections to site electrical distribution, controls, and SCADA, and with hardware and compute teams to understand the loads being served. The engineer is also the technical counterpart to on-site generation providers, BESS integrators, utilities, and ISOs/RTOs. The role involves approximately 20–35% travel for design reviews, factory witness testing, and site startup.

Requirements

At least 10 years of engineering experience in power generation, microgrids, battery energy storage, or utility interconnection, including substantial on-site or distributed generation work for mission-critical, data center, or large industrial loads.
Deep hands-on delivery experience in at least one of generation, storage, microgrids, or interconnection.
Hands-on experience with one or more generation technologies—reciprocating engine gensets, gas turbines, or fuel cells—including sizing, paralleling, fuel systems, and emissions controls.
Understanding of thermal generation asset classes and their response to fast load changes and islanded operation.
Understanding of battery energy storage sizing for defined duties, grid-forming versus grid-following inverter selection, UL 9540 listing, UL 9540A test data, and NFPA 855 installation requirements.
Understanding of microgrid architecture, including islanding detection and transition, resynchronization, black-start, load shedding, and generation dispatch.
Fluency in interconnection standards and processes, including IEEE 1547, IEEE 2800, utility interconnection requirements, and ISO/RTO study and queue processes.
Ability to run or critically review power-system studies using tools such as ETAP, SKM, PSS®E, PSCAD, or EasyPower.
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Engineering, or a closely related field, or equivalent practical experience. A PE license is valued but not required.
Experience working directly with generation OEMs, BESS integrators, generation-as-a-service providers, or utilities, and evaluating equipment and proposals on technical merit.
Clear communication with technical peers, utilities, regulators, and non-specialist stakeholders; a results-oriented, practical approach and willingness to work outside one’s core remit.

Nice To Haves

Designed or delivered battery energy storage systems at MW scale.
Specified or commissioned a microgrid controller for a site capable of islanding and resynchronizing.
Taken at least one large-load or generation interconnection from application through agreement.
HV/MV substation design experience, including main one-line development, equipment specification, grounding, and layout.
Protection-engineering experience covering generation and interconnection protection, relay selection and settings, anti-islanding schemes, and coordination between on-site sources and utility protection.
Experience integrating renewable generation, such as solar PV or wind, with storage into hybrid behind-the-meter plants.
Technical experience with air permitting for stationary generation, such as Title V, NSR/PSD, or state equivalents, and emissions-control equipment selection.
Electromagnetic-transient modeling experience in PSCAD or EMTP for inverter-based resource and microgrid-transition studies.
Direct experience with data center, hyperscaler, or other large-campus microgrids, or with a generation provider, BESS integrator, or developer serving those customers.
Track record of authoring generation or interconnection reference designs or standards adopted across multiple sites or by external partners.

Responsibilities

Own behind-the-meter generation architecture across the portfolio, including prime-mover selection and sizing, paralleling topology, redundancy, fuel systems, emissions controls, and generation design specifications.
Set day-one plant sizing and future expansion strategies, including how to add generation units, storage, or a grid tie to an operating system.
Characterize data center loads—including step changes, ramps, oscillation, fault behavior, and non-IT load—for external generation partners.
Model generation response to large-scale ML training load profiles and establish acceptance criteria and testing requirements.
Develop temporary- and bridging-generation strategies for early site energization and transitions to permanent utility power.
Ensure generation designs meet applicable NFPA, fuel, storage, and emissions requirements, and coordinate technical inputs to air permits.
Size and specify battery energy storage systems for ride-through, step-load buffering, and power-quality support, including batteries, inverters, listings, installation requirements, and thermal and fire-protection interfaces.
Define microgrid topology and operating modes, including grid-parallel, islanded, and black-start operation, as well as transitions, load shedding, resynchronization, and separation from or reconnection to the utility.
Specify microgrid-controller functional requirements and drive implementation, testing, and integration with site SCADA and the electrical power monitoring system (EPMS).
Define protection and control requirements for generation and storage, ensuring consistent interconnection protection, anti-islanding, and source-transfer schemes.
Lead technical utility-interconnection work, including applications, studies, agreements, ISO/RTO processes, standards compliance, and interconnection protection.
Own power quality at the point of interconnection and design generation, storage, and filtering mitigations to meet interconnection limits.
Run or critically review power-system studies supporting interconnection and microgrid designs, including load flow, short-circuit, transient stability, motor-starting, step-load, and electromagnetic-transient studies.
Lead technical due diligence on generation providers, BESS integrators, and microgrid-controller vendors, assessing equipment, controls, guarantees, and proposed architectures.
Define technical performance terms in energy-services agreements, including availability, power quality, ramp, and ride-through metrics, meters, test protocols, and acceptance criteria.
Review and disposition design packages, submittals, shop drawings, and deviation requests from providers and EPCs, and uphold reliability and maintainability requirements.
Support commissioning by witnessing factory and site acceptance tests, defining and observing integrated systems tests, and resolving field issues against design intent.
Manage concurrent generation and microgrid scopes across multiple sites and improve generation and interconnection design standards.