# Lead Engineer

**Company:** [xAI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/xai)
**Location:** Memphis, TN
**Role:** Hardware Engineering
**Experience:** 10+ years
**Skills:** Electrical Engineering, Medium-Voltage Distribution, High-Voltage Systems, Data Centers, Power Systems Analysis, Etap, Skm, Easypower, Powerworld, MATLAB, Pscad, Simulink, Nfpa 70E, Ieee 3000 Series, Bim
**Posted:** 2026-08-18

> Leads the electrical architecture, design standards, vendor reviews, and commissioning strategy for high-capacity AI data center power systems. Requires a bachelor's degree and 10+ years of electrical power design experience, including medium-voltage distribution at 10–35 kV.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Own the electrical architecture from the medium-voltage bus to the GPU rack, including topology, redundancy, and standards, for halls scaling with AI compute load.
- Establish and defend the redundancy basis, including split-feed and cross-feed schemes against bus-fault, transformer-loss, and switchgear-loss contingencies.
- Establish campus electrical design standards covering equipment tagging, drawing conventions, approved vendors, insulation coordination, grounding, and arc-flash boundaries.
- Own interfaces with compute teams on rack density, step-load behavior, power-capping strategy, and actual-versus-nameplate utilization.
- Own interfaces with mechanical and cooling engineering on CDU, sidecar, and pump electrical loads and their contribution to hall demand.
- Lead design reviews with EPCs, OEMs, and owner's engineers; approve vendor drawings and factory acceptance test procedures.
- Direct Design, Commissioning, R&D, BIM/Designer, and Protection & Controls engineers as the Data Center team grows.
- Collaborate with Transmission & Distribution and Battery Storage leads to maintain a unified model of record for hall design, interconnection, and storage dispatch.
- Ensure compliance with NFPA 70, NFPA 70B, NFPA 70E, NESC, and IEEE standards.

## Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, physics, or another engineering discipline.
- 10+ years of electrical power design experience focused on high-power, high-voltage, or mission-critical systems.
- Experience owning medium-voltage distribution architecture in the 10 kV to 35 kV class.
- Professional Engineering license or intention to actively seek a PE license.
- Ability to perform hands-on work in heat, cold, rain, tight quarters, and at heights.
- Willingness to work extended hours and weekends as needed for construction, energization, and operations.
- Ability to remain focused in hazardous environments while wearing appropriate PPE.
- Ability to lift up to 25 lbs. unassisted.
- Ability to provide 24/7 on-call support for emergencies.
- Willingness to work on-site in Memphis, TN; this is not a remote or hybrid role.
- Willingness to travel up to 25% for factory witness testing, vendor and OEM engagement, and support of other sites.
- Valid driver's license.

## Nice-to-haves
- 5+ years in mission-critical, hyperscale, or heavy industrial facilities.
- Experience with high-density AI compute and liquid-cooled deployments.
- Experience delivering repeatable designs across multiple identical halls or phases.
- Experience with power systems analysis software such as ETAP, SKM, EasyPower, PowerWorld, MATLAB, PSCAD, PSEE, or Simulink.
- Fluency in NEC, NFPA 70E, the IEEE 3000 series, and internal reliability frameworks.
- Experience building and leading an engineering team from the first hire.
- Proven ability to lead teams, work independently, and thrive in dynamic, high-stress environments with tight deadlines.

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