Datacenter Hardware Operations Technician, AI Compute Infrastructure - Stargate

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as OpenAI’s senior on-site hardware operations lead for server, GPU, storage, and rack-level infrastructure
• Drive technical triage and resolution of complex hardware failures impacting production systems
• Partner with Fleet Health Engineering to investigate recurring hardware issues, identify failure patterns, and improve fleet reliability
• Lead root cause analysis (RCA) efforts for critical hardware incidents and develop corrective and preventive action plans
• Collaborate with Oracle operations teams and OEM vendors to coordinate repairs, replacements, upgrades, and hardware lifecycle activities
• Establish and continuously improve hardware maintenance procedures, operational runbooks, and troubleshooting standards
• Analyze hardware failure trends and operational metrics to identify reliability risks and improvement opportunities
• Support new hardware introductions, validation activities, and production readiness reviews
• Coordinate spare parts strategy and inventory planning with supply chain and operations teams
• Partner with Hardware Engineering, Manufacturing, and Infrastructure teams to provide field feedback that improves future platform designs
• Develop scalable operational standards and best practices that can be deployed across future Stargate campuses
• Mentor technicians and partner teams on advanced troubleshooting methodologies and hardware operational excellence

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience supporting large-scale datacenter hardware infrastructure, with experience in a senior technician, sustaining engineering, or hardware operations leadership role
• Deep expertise with server platforms, GPU systems, storage infrastructure, rack integration, and datacenter hardware architecture
• Strong experience diagnosing complex hardware failures and leading repair efforts in production environments
• Experience conducting root cause analysis and driving long-term corrective actions
• Strong understanding of hardware reliability engineering principles and fleet-health management
• Proven ability to partner effectively across engineering, operations, manufacturing, and vendor organizations
• Comfortable operating independently in high-priority production environments with significant operational responsibility
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to influence technical and operational decisions
• Experience developing operational processes, maintenance standards, and technical documentation
• Ability to travel occasionally to support new campus deployments and operational readiness activities

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting large-scale GPU clusters or AI/ML infrastructure environments
• Familiarity with fleet health systems, telemetry platforms, and hardware monitoring tools
• Experience with failure analysis methodologies such as FRACAS, RCCA, 5-Why, Fishbone, or FMEA
• Knowledge of Linux system administration and hardware validation workflows
• Experience supporting hyperscale datacenter operations or HPC environments
• Familiarity with server manufacturing, rack integration, or NPI-to-sustaining transitions
• Industry certifications such as CompTIA Server+, OEM hardware certifications, or equivalent experience
• Experience applying Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) practices in mission-critical datacenter environments