Data Center Hardware Quality & Reliability Engineer

About The Role

Own the end-to-end data-center hardware quality and reliability loop for OpenAIs 3P infrastructure and 1P current and next-gen platforms. Turn field failures into quantified risk fast containment verified root cause improved MQE/NPI and manufacturing-test coverage accurate spares forecasts and upstream changes that prevent recurrence.

The first hire must combine practical hardware/system understanding reliability engineering data fluency and cross-functional technical leadership at data-center scale.

Key Responsibilities

Build and govern the field-quality data model across telemetry tickets RMA/repair FA firmware configuration supplier and manufacturing genealogy.

Define AFR ASR DPPM MTBF/MTTR repeat-repair NTF repair-cycle-time and forecast-versus-actual metrics with explicit denominators and uncertainty.

Provide fleet-level macro views and unit/FRU/cohort-level micro views; detect shifts and bound affected populations.

Lead systemic field-failure triage containment failure analysis 8D/CAPA risk assessment corrective-action verification and recurrence monitoring.

Develop cohort life-data reliability-growth and spare-demand projections by product FRU supplier configuration geography and age.

Partner with MQE and NPI to convert field mechanisms into manufacturing-test coverage screening/stress profiles diagnostics control plans DFR/DFS requirements FMEA/FTA mission profiles FRU strategy and qualification gates.

Close the loop by verifying whether upstream changes reduce field recurrence.

Define supplier/CM FA standards field-data contracts scorecards escalation paths and closure evidence.

Provide serviceability TCO and spares inputs without owning inventory execution or procurement.

Create concise executive decision packages: population at risk exposure confidence options cost/risk and recommendation.

Run the cross-functional reliability council and as the team grows mentor the 1P and 3P Field Quality Engineers.

Qualifications

BS in electrical mechanical computer materials reliability engineering physics or equivalent experience; MS preferred.

8 years in hardware quality/reliability server/rack systems or mission-critical infrastructure; 3 years owning field-failure RMA or CAPA outcomes.

Solid working understanding of hardware and system architecture across board tray rack firmware telemetry manufacturing test and fleet behavior; deep expertise in every subsystem is not required.

Reliability statistics: censored life data Weibull/Poisson/binomial methods confidence bounds MTBF/MTTR and reliability growth.

Hands-on FMEA/FTA accelerated or reliability-demonstration testing 8D/CAPA FA and corrective-action verification.

Working proficiency with SQL and Python/R or equivalent analytics tools.

Ability to influence design validation operations suppliers/CMs and senior leaders without direct authority.

Preferred Skills

GPU/AI server platforms liquid cooling high-power delivery high-speed networking rack integration or data-center operations.

Design for serviceability: FRU boundaries diagnostics repair workflows tooling/access and spares policy.

Qualification-to-field correlation and mission-profile development.

ODM/CM/supplier experience: FA quality audit QBR and corrective-action governance.

Linux/BMC/IPMI/Redfish logs and fleet telemetry.

Leadership of a cross-generation reliability program or launch-readiness gate.

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 OpenAIs Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement.

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 addition job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.

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Required Experience:

IC