Data Center Electrical Engineer – Design

Overview

Lead the electrical architecture of Anthropic's data center facilities, from the utility service entrance through to the rack, and drive prefabricated and modular electrical delivery across sites.

What you'll do

• Lead the electrical design of critical data center infrastructure across the US portfolio, including the utility interface and substation, site medium- and high-voltage distribution, generators, UPS, switchgear, transformers, busway, and grounding.
• Develop and maintain the electrical basis of design, reference architectures, and technical specifications for critical power distribution, covering switchgear, UPS systems, PDUs, busway, and rack power delivery, while staying within budgetary targets.
• Perform and validate engineering studies, including short-circuit, protection coordination, arc flash, load flow, and power quality analysis, and use the findings to steer topology, redundancy, equipment-selection, and protection-setting decisions.
• Design and plan data center hall power distribution layouts for newly allocated spaces in coordination with the telecom, mechanical and cooling design.
• Drive Anthropic's prefabricated and modular electrical strategy, developing modular skids, e-houses, and prefabricated power assemblies, and partnering with external engineering and manufacturing teams on a productization roadmap.
• Define the interfaces between prefabricated components and site-built work, and the electrical interfaces and switchover points for temporary-to-permanent power sequencing.
• Drive standardization of modular electrical designs across sites while preserving flexibility for site-specific constraints and evolving hardware generations.
• Specify and qualify major electrical equipment with regional vendors and manufacturers, and partner with supply chain to build a diversified vendor base.
• Work with utilities and interconnection/transmission operators (e.g., ISOs/RTOs) to define site utility service and interconnection requirements, and with local authorities having jurisdiction to ensure compliance with the National Electrical Code (NFPA 70/NEC), NFPA, IEEE, UL/ANSI, and local requirements.
• Translate accelerator power, density, and power-quality requirements from hardware and compute teams into electrical design criteria, and keep the reference architecture aligned with upcoming hardware generations.
• Present findings and design positions to internal stakeholders, build partners, and operations teams, and defend them under challenge.
• Review and approve electrical design packages, calculations, submittals, and shop drawings from build partners and MEP consultants, tracking clarifications, deviations, and exceptions against the basis of design.
• Perform technical due diligence and design reviews on data center developer and partner projects against Anthropic's reliability, maintainability, and capacity requirements.
• Define project electrical scope and serve as design authority on RFIs and field changes affecting design intent during procurement and construction.
• Support factory acceptance testing, commissioning, and startup, reviewing test procedures and results against design intent and closing as-built changes back into the reference design.
• Manage concurrent projects across multiple geographies.
• Continuously improve internal electrical design standards, tooling, and delivery practices, and act as a technical leader within the engineering group and across internal and external teams.

What you'll need

• 10+ years of electrical engineering experience in mission-critical facilities, with substantial time on data center or other high-availability electrical distribution design, from concept through construction documents and into commissioning support.
• Deep familiarity with US electrical codes and standards, including the National Electrical Code (NFPA 70/NEC), NFPA 70E, IEEE standards (e.g., 1584 for arc flash), and UL/ANSI equipment standards (e.g., UL 891, UL 1558), and with utility interconnection processes.
• Hands-on experience producing and reviewing electrical construction documents, single-line diagrams, and equipment specifications, and the ability to interpret data center floor plans and technical layouts with confidence.
• Strong knowledge of power distribution and cooling infrastructure in high-availability data center environments.
• Fluency in power systems analysis and the ability to run or critically review studies in tools such as SKM, ETAP, or EasyPower.
• Understanding of critical power topologies (2N, N+1, distributed redundant, block redundant) and the trade-offs between them for different reliability and cost targets.
• Working knowledge of HV/MV substations, on-site generation, and energy storage integration, and how each shapes the overall electrical architecture.
• Hands-on experience with prefabricated and modular data center electrical infrastructure, including design for offsite manufacture, modular skids/e-houses, and interfaces between prefabricated components and onsite assembly.
• Experience working directly with electrical equipment manufacturers, A/E consultants, and contractors, and the ability to evaluate products and designs on technical merit.
• A bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Ability to communicate clearly with technical peers and non-specialist stakeholders and to defend a design position under scrutiny.

Nice to have

• Professional Engineer (PE) licensure.
• Experience owning the electrical basis of design or reference architecture for a hyperscale or large colocation program, and driving its adoption across multiple sites or by external build partners.
• A track record building modular prefabricated products in the electrical or mechanical scope of a data center, and driving designs toward offsite manufacturing.
• Background in medium-/high-voltage distribution, on-site generation, or battery energy storage system (BESS) integration, and how those shape building-side electrical design.
• Exposure to liquid-cooled infrastructure and its implications for electrical room layout and load distribution.
• Prior work at a hyperscaler, colocation provider, or MEP consultancy serving large data center clients.
• Direct project experience delivering data centers in multiple US markets (e.g., Virginia, Texas, Arizona, Ohio, Oregon).

Details

• Travel of roughly 10–25% for design reviews, partner and vendor meetings, factory witness testing, and site visits.
• Location-based hybrid policy: staff are expected in an office at least 25% of the time, and some roles may require more.
• Annual salary range: $320,000 – $405,000 USD.
• Visa sponsorship is available for some roles and candidates.