[Hiring] Principal Data Center Architect @VetRamp

Role Description

We are seeking a Principal Data Center Facilities Architect to help shape the physical infrastructure required for the next generation of hyperscale AI data centers. This individual will provide authoritative facilities guidance and organize community-led projects involving hyperscalers, cloud and colocation providers, technology manufacturers, energy partners, and data center operators. The work will influence open reference designs, facility-readiness criteria, technical specifications, best practices, and industry initiatives addressing high-density power, liquid cooling, structural loading, water systems, telemetry, and grid integration.

This is not a traditional role focused on designing a single company’s facilities. It is an opportunity for an established industry leader to bring competing technical and commercial perspectives together and translate them into practical, scalable, and broadly adoptable infrastructure guidance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, engineering science, or a closely related technical discipline.
• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience with the physical and operational infrastructure of hyperscale data centers.
• Direct experience designing, deploying, commissioning, or optimizing facilities supporting GPU-accelerated AI/ML, HPC, or comparable high-density computing environments.
• Hands-on knowledge of facilities supporting rack densities of 100kW or greater.
• Expert understanding of advanced liquid-cooling systems, including coolant distribution units, fluid-management infrastructure, piping, chillers, and facility water requirements.
• Strong knowledge of data center power architectures, including high-, medium-, and low-voltage distribution, UPS systems, monitoring, resilience, and grid interaction.
• Experience addressing the structural and operational requirements associated with heavy, high-density rack environments.
• Practical understanding of the tools, processes, constraints, and stakeholders involved in designing and constructing data center facilities.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical initiatives involving multiple companies, disciplines, and stakeholder groups.
• Proven consensus-building and meeting-facilitation skills among senior technical participants with competing priorities.
• Exceptional written, verbal, presentation, and technical-authoring abilities.
• Experience working across multiple geographies and cultures.
• Ability to travel within North America and internationally, averaging approximately twice per quarter.

Requirements

• Organize and participate in community-led projects that influence reference designs and best practices for data center facilities supporting hyperscale AI infrastructure.
• Guide the development and refinement of facility designs capable of supporting GPU clusters, 100kW+ racks, advanced liquid cooling, and other high-density computing environments.
• Provide technical leadership across high-, medium-, and low-voltage power distribution, UPS systems, structural loading, fluid management, coolant distribution units, chillers, piping, and related facility systems.
• Help develop and maintain basis-of-design criteria and facility assessments covering site access, loading, utilities, cooling, power, water, and operational readiness.
• Support initiatives involving advanced power monitoring, telemetry, battery energy storage, peak-load management, grid interaction, and facility resilience.
• Advance projects addressing water sourcing, outdoor chillers, piping distribution, and the facility interfaces required to support liquid-cooling systems.
• Connect facility telemetry and management-interface initiatives with broader IT systems-management platforms.
• Launch and mature strategic projects, subprojects, and technical workstreams in collaboration with project leads and community members.
• Review technical contributions and help move work products through discussion, review, approval, publication, and conference presentation.
• Facilitate complex technical meetings involving senior engineers and leaders from hyperscalers, technology providers, third-party facility operators, and other industry organizations.
• Build consensus among participants with different technical approaches, business models, and commercial interests.
• Represent the organization at conferences, member summits, workshops, and selected third-party industry events.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with an industry standards body, open-source community, technical consortium, professional association, or multi-company engineering initiative.
• Recognized standing as an industry thought leader in data center facilities, critical infrastructure, liquid cooling, hyperscale operations, or AI infrastructure.
• Experience developing technical specifications, reference architectures, basis-of-design criteria, white papers, or other published technical guidance.
• Experience leading industry conferences, workshops, technical forums, or working groups.
• Knowledge of global design, manufacturing, supply-chain, and sales-channel models supporting data center infrastructure products.
• Technical marketing, market-development, or sales-enablement experience.
• Advanced engineering degree or relevant professional certification.

Compensation and Benefits

• The anticipated base salary range is $185,000–$250,000, plus a 20% target performance bonus.
• Additional flexibility may be available for an exceptional candidate.
• Comprehensive benefits and a 401(k) match of up to 5% are also provided.