Principal Thermal Engineer - Data Center

$97,400 - $199,500/Yr

Oracle - Annapolis, MD

Part-time - Principal

Annapolis, MD

Publishing Industries

About the position

As a Principal Thermal Engineer at Oracle, you will play a crucial role in aligning OCI thermal hardware design with the physical infrastructure of data centers. This position requires a blend of technical breadth and depth, enabling you to work cross-functionally with various disciplines, including Mechanical, Electrical, Thermal, and Software engineering. Your primary focus will be on developing thermal solutions that are optimized for the entire stack, ensuring the effective management of high-performance data center devices. You will collaborate with both internal and external partners to deliver next-generation hardware and data center solutions that meet the evolving needs of cloud computing. In this role, you will be responsible for building and conducting thermal simulations, reviewing models from partners to identify risks, and improving efficiency within data centers. You will design and conduct experiments to validate and produce accurate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models, comparing test results against platform telemetry and facility Building Management System (BMS) data. Engaging with leading CFD software companies will be essential to drive product roadmaps that align with OCI's requirements for high-density air and liquid cooling solutions. Your responsibilities will also include leading thermal design reviews, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to develop Advanced Cooling Solution (ACS) prototypes, and working with hardware development organizations to drive concepts into the product roadmap. You will create robust thermal architecture solutions that consider current and anticipated industry needs, distilling architectural trade-offs in terms of feasibility, performance, cost, reliability, availability, and schedule. Additionally, you will partner with platform and data center architects to define OCI's roadmap and look for opportunities to generate intellectual property that strengthens OCI's position in cloud computing.

Responsibilities

• Build, conduct thermal simulations, and review thermal simulation models from partners to identify data center risks and improve efficiency.
• Design and conduct experiments for validating and producing accurate CFD models by comparing test results against platform telemetry and facility BMS data.
• Engage with leading CFD software companies to drive their product roadmap to meet OCI's requirements for high density air and liquid cooling solutions.
• Collaborate with internal and external partners across the globe to develop platform hardware and data center infrastructure solutions enabling OCI services.
• Lead thermal design reviews and presentations of concepts to peers, partner teams, and executives.
• Work jointly with multidisciplinary teams consisting of both in-house and external partners in the development of Advanced Cooling Solution (ACS) concept prototypes.
• Engage hardware development organizations to drive concepts to the product roadmap and OCI data center fleet.
• Collaborate with multifunctional engineering groups to deliver hardware and data center sites aligned with thermal specifications.
• Collaborate with firmware and controls engineering teams to create robust thermal control and monitoring systems.
• Conduct design/debug investigations and support failure analysis and resolution activities for platforms and data center infrastructure.
• Design and create thermal characterization test plans. Collaborate with technicians and industry partners to complete tests. Analyze results to validate compliance with platform and data center infrastructure specifications.
• Support the high-level thermal design direction and data center strategy for complex systems ranging from advanced computing (HPC, GPU, FPGA Accelerators, etc.) to general purpose compute, storage, network and/or other specialized programs.
• Create robust, scalable, secure, and extensible thermal architecture solutions that account for current and anticipated industry/competitive needs.
• Distill and articulate architectural tradeoffs in the thermal space in terms of key metrics such as feasibility, performance, cost, reliability, availability and schedule.
• Partner with the platform and data center architects to drive OCI roadmap definitions.
• Acquire and share expert knowledge of multiple technical areas within and across teams working on similar products.
• Look for opportunities to generate intellectual property to help strengthen OCI's position as a leader in cloud computing.
• Drive and influence technology providers and design partners to develop optimal components and solutions to meet the future requirements of the OCI fleet.
• Partner within the industry and standards bodies to create standards and form factors key to next generation solutions.
• Collaborate with the hardware development and data center design and construction teams to ensure seamless transition from architecture to implementation.

Requirements

• 7+ years cloud scale provider OR related technical engineering experience AND Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Thermal Fluid Science, Systems or Aerospace Engineering.
• OR 4+ years related cloud scale provider OR technical engineering experience AND Master's degree in Mechanical, Thermal Fluid Science, Systems or Aerospace Engineering.
• OR 3+ years related cloud scale provider OR technical engineering experience AND Doctorate degree in Mechanical, Thermal Fluid Science, Systems or Aerospace Engineering.
• 3+ years experience and proficiency in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis.
• Expertise using Cadence Data Center Solution (aka 6SigmaDCX), OR CoolSim, OR TileFlow, OR AutoDesk CFD, OR ANSYS - Icepak, OR Mentor Graphics FloTHERM.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with creating digital twins.
• Working knowledge and design ability for data center direct-to-chip liquid cooling technologies, including using liquid-to-liquid, liquid-to-air, single-phase and two-phase cooling distribution units, cold plates, manifolds for hybrid of air and liquid data center cooling.
• Experience performing data analytics and visualization using Python, SQL, Tableau, PowerBI, Oracle Analytics Cloud, OR equivalent.
• Communication skills, including the ability to clearly express technical concepts in verbal and written forms.
• Experience creating high-level systems concepts, documenting, and evaluating concepts, and providing analysis to other organizations and upper management.
• Problem-solving, debug, and failure analysis skills with a solid understanding of core engineering principles and analytical techniques.
• Experience in thermal design and analysis of compute architecture is desired.
• Working knowledge of mechanical and electrical system design considerations.
• Exposure/Hands-on experience with compute-related thermal, airflow, and liquid cooling characterization and evaluation testing.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, including expert medical opinion
• Short term disability and long term disability
• Life insurance and AD&D
• Supplemental life insurance (Employee/Spouse/Child)
• Health care and dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts
• Pre-tax commuter and parking benefits
• 401(k) Savings and Investment Plan with company match
• Paid time off: Flexible Vacation is provided to all eligible employees assigned to a salaried (non-overtime eligible) position. Accrued Vacation is provided to all other employees eligible for vacation benefits. For employees working at least 35 hours per week, the vacation accrual rate is 13 days annually for the first three years of employment and 18 days annually for subsequent years of employment. Vacation accrual is prorated for employees working between 20 and 34 hours per week. Employees working fewer than 20 hours per week are not eligible for vacation.
• 11 paid holidays
• Paid sick leave: 72 hours of paid sick leave upon date of hire. Refreshes each calendar year. Unused balance will carry over each year up to a maximum cap of 112 hours.
• Paid parental leave
• Adoption assistance
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Financial planning and group legal
• Voluntary benefits including auto, homeowner and pet insurance