---
title: 'Datacenter Networking Technician, AI Compute Deployment - Stargate at OpenAI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/datacenter-networking-technician-ai-compute-deployment-stargate-openai-san-mtfc3whbymfx'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Datacenter Networking Technician, AI Compute Deployment - Stargate at OpenAI

- **Company:** [OpenAI](https://feeny.ai/companies/openai)
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Compensation:** $157k–$221k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Posted:** 2025-09-23
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/openai/3ca637f8-c0d6-4253-8568-1f31b02adf76/application

**Skills:** Large-scale datacenter network deployment, Structured cabling, Physical-layer installation, Fiber/copper plant design, Cabling standards, Hyperscale network best practices, Fiber optic testing, Copper plant testing, Ansible, SaltStack, Python, Shell, Hyperscale Clos fabrics, Large-scale network design, BGP, OSPF, EVPN, VXLAN, Linux, Network troubleshooting

> The Datacenter Networking Technician serves as the technical lead for large-scale data center builds, managing physical infrastructure deployment, cabling, and network optimization. The role involves collaborating with internal teams and external vendors to ensure performance and reliability, transitioning to lead d...

## Job description

About the Team: OpenAI, in close collaboration with our capital partners, is embarking on a journey to build the world’s most advanced AI infrastructure ecosystem. Our Stargate program develops and deploys massive, state-of-the-art data center campuses in partnership with industry leaders today—and through future OpenAI infrastructure projects tomorrow. We design for scale, speed, and reliability, and we need experienced technicians who can translate network blueprints into physical reality. About the Role: We are seeking a Senior Data Center Networking Technician who thrives in fast-moving build environments and is eager to roll up their sleeves during active datacenter deployments. Your first assignment will focus on the physical bring-up of network infrastructure at a large partner-operated campus, collaborating with partner teams and their delivery vendors to achieve agreed performance and reliability targets. As that campus reaches steady state, you will transition to lead network deployment for future OpenAI data center projects, defining standards and guiding implementation across multiple locations. Candidates must be able to sit onsite in Abilene, Texas 5 days per week

## Key Responsibilities

- Serve as OpenAI’s technical lead technician during the current campus build, partnering with internal engineers and external contractors on design reviews, installation plans, and acceptance criteria.
- Spend significant time on the data-center floor performing inspections, assisting with cable routing/termination when needed, conducting fiber testing (OTDR, power levels, continuity), and resolving installation challenges in real time.
- Troubleshoot and optimize cabling routes, patching, and equipment turn-up to ensure clean, reliable handoff to network operations.
- Contribute to design discussions and peer reviews for structured cabling and physical network layouts, providing practical field feedback to engineering teams.
- Develop repeatable engineering standards, as-built documentation, and deployment playbooks to accelerate future OpenAI campuses
- Transition to hands-on design and deployment leadership for upcoming OpenAI data center expansions, owning network physical-layer deployment from design through commissioning.

## Qualifications

- Have 7+ years of experience in large-scale datacenter network deployment, structured cabling, or physical-layer installation.
- Possess deep knowledge of fiber/copper plant design, cabling standards, and hyperscale network best practices.
- Excel in field work while applying seasoned technical judgment to solve complex installation and testing issues.
- Adapt quickly to changing build conditions and enjoy learning emerging networking technologies.
- Communicate clearly with construction, engineering, and operations teams to drive projects to completion.
- Are willing to be based at a partner campus during the initial build phase and to travel to future OpenAI data center projects.

## Preferred Skills

- Exposure to automation tools (Ansible, SaltStack) or scripting (Python, Shell) for configuration or documentation.
- Experience with hyperscale Clos fabrics or large-scale network design.
- Familiarity with routing and switching concepts (BGP, OSPF, EVPN/VXLAN) and basic Linux/network troubleshooting.
- Industry certifications such as BICSI, CCNA/CCNP, or equivalent.

## About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity. We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. For additional information, please see [OpenAI’s Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement](https://cdn.openai.com/policies/eeo-policy-statement.pdf). Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations. To notify OpenAI that you believe this job posting is non-compliant, please submit a report through [this form](https://form.asana.com/?d=57018692298241&k=5MqR40fZd7jlxVUh5J-UeA). No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this [link](https://form.asana.com/?k=bQ7w9h3iexRlicUdWRiwvg&d=57018692298241). [OpenAI Global Applicant Privacy Policy](https://cdn.openai.com/policies/global-employee-and-contractor-privacy-policy.pdf) At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.

## About OpenAI

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company with a mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity.
- **Entity Type**: Private – structured as a nonprofit parent (OpenAI Foundation) governing a for-profit public benefit corporation (OpenAI Group). The company has confidentially submitted a draft S-1 registration statement to the SEC, signaling a potential future IPO.
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, John Schulman, Wojciech Zaremba, and others

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Artificial intelligence research and deployment
- **Target customers**: B2B (enterprises via API and platform), B2C (ChatGPT users), and developers (API, open-source models)
- **Mission**: To ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) – AI systems that are generally smarter than humans – benefits all of humanity.

## Products & Services
- **[ChatGPT](https://openai.com/chatgpt)**: Conversational AI assistant available via web and mobile, used by consumers and integrated into enterprise workflows.
- **[GPT-4 API](https://openai.com/product)**: Large language model accessed via API for developers to build AI-powered applications (text generation, summarization, code assistance, etc.).
- **[DALL-E](https://openai.com/dall-e-3)**: Image generation model that creates images from natural language descriptions.
- **[Whisper](https://openai.com/research/whisper)**: Open-source speech recognition system.
- **[OpenAI Agents](https://openai.com/)**: Emerging product category focused on autonomous AI agents that can perform tasks on behalf of users (announced June 2026).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed in the provided sources. Widely reported in the press at ~$300 billion as of early 2026 (post-funding round), but this figure is not confirmed by OpenAI’s official materials.
- **Key Metric**: Total funding exceeds $13 billion from Microsoft and other investors. The company has also confidentially filed a draft S-1 with the SEC (see [openai.com](https://openai.com/) – “Confidential submission of draft S-1”).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Microsoft (strategic partner and largest investor), with additional participation from Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and others.
- **Growth Signals**: Active hiring with 721 open roles posted; expansion into agent-based products; confidential IPO filing; continued deployment of frontier models.

## Competitive Advantages
- **First-mover & brand recognition**: ChatGPT became the fastest-growing consumer app in history, establishing OpenAI as the household name in generative AI.
- **Research leadership**: Consistently publishes cutting-edge research (GPT-4, DALL-E 3, Whisper, etc.) and attracts top AI talent.
- **Compute & infrastructure**: Exclusive partnership with Microsoft provides massive cloud computing resources (Azure) for training and inference.
- **Unique governance structure**: The nonprofit parent ensures mission alignment (AGI benefiting humanity) while the for-profit arm can raise capital and scale products.

## Strategic Focus
- **Safe AGI development**: Continued emphasis on safety research, alignment, and responsible deployment (e.g., safety systems, model provenance).
- **Enterprise expansion**: Growing ChatGPT Enterprise and API offerings for businesses.
- **Agentic AI**: Building autonomous agents that can “transform work” (announced June 2026).
- **IPO preparation**: Confidential S-1 filing indicates intent to go public, which will require increased financial transparency and governance maturity.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture & values**: OpenAI’s stated values include “Humanity first,” “Act with humility,” “Feel the AGI,” and “Ship joy.” Operating principles emphasize agency, creativity, rapid iteration, and intense focus.
- **Benefits**: Competitive health insurance, mental healthcare support, 24-week paid birth-parent leave (plus 20 weeks for other parents), generous PTO, annual learning & development stipend, daily meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), and a domestic conference budget.
- **Work environment**: Hybrid/office-based (San Francisco headquarters). The company offers a residency program for researchers and engineers transitioning into AI.
- **Impact**: Employees work directly on frontier AI models that shape the industry and society. The mission-driven nature attracts talent passionate about AGI’s societal implications.

## Sources
1. [OpenAI About Page](https://openai.com/about/)
2. [OpenAI Careers Page](https://openai.com/careers/)
3. [OpenAI Job Search](https://openai.com/careers/search)
4. [OpenAI Homepage](https://openai.com/)

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