Principal Engineer, Data Center Systems Architecture

Google•Sunnyvale, CA

3h•$256,000 - $356,000

About The Position

As a Principal Engineer for Systems Architecture within Google’s Data Center organization, you will define and drive next-generation architectures at the intersection of physical data center infrastructure and IT systems. You will help scale Google’s infrastructure by aligning data center physical infrastructure with hardware architectures optimized for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence workloads. You will partner with Hardware, Software, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Delivery, and Operations teams, as well as internal engineering teams and external industry partners, to lead architectural and development initiatives. The role provides technical direction, operational guidance, and industry influence to execute architectures and support the future growth of Google’s infrastructure. Google Cloud delivers enterprise-grade cloud solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, while Google’s Technical Infrastructure team develops and maintains data centers and platforms that support Google products. The listed US compensation is $256,000–$356,000, plus a 30% bonus target, equity, and benefits. Individual pay depends on job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
15 years of experience in data center physical infrastructure architecture, systems engineering, and facility design.
Experience aligning data center physical infrastructure with hardware architectures optimized for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence workloads.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
Experience defining and executing long-term technical strategies or architectural visions for global data center infrastructure or enterprise-class server development teams.
Exceptional technical leadership and indirect influence skills, including experience driving architectural direction across matrixed engineering organizations without direct positional authority.
Domain expertise in cross-disciplinary systems integration, bridging physical facility constraints such as thermal, power, and structural requirements with server hardware and software topologies.
Ability to lead and influence senior, highly technical stakeholders and cross-functional executives to align on technical roadmaps.

Responsibilities

Provide direction and leadership for data center and equipment designs, cross-system optimizations, and global operational strategies.
Lead cross-disciplinary architecture, definition, and development across engineering fields such as electrical, mechanical, thermal, structural, controls, and industrial engineering to optimize system design points.
Drive modular data center design initiatives, including scalable, prefabricated, and containerized architectures that reduce deployment timelines and enhance reproducibility.
Deliver technical direction, integration expertise, and data analysis for overall system architecture, throughput, and performance; present option tradeoffs to guide executive decision-making.
Collaborate across teams and partners to design for manufacturability and supply chain efficiency, accelerating delivery while optimizing total cost of ownership.
Analyze operational flows and manufacturability to maximize speed-to-market and capacity serving.
Drive standardization to support global scale and supply chain resilience, optimizing success criteria including reliability, cost, weight, transportation, installation, and serviceability.