Senior Principal Thermal Engineer - Data Center

$120,100 - $251,600/Yr

Oracle - Columbia, SC

Full-time - Principal

Columbia, SC

Publishing Industries

About the position

As a Senior Principal Thermal Engineer, you will focus on the alignment of OCI thermal hardware design and the data center physical infrastructure. This role requires a mix of technical breadth and depth to work cross-functionally with different disciplines, including Mechanical, Electrical, Thermal, and Software engineering, to develop thermal solutions optimized for the entire stack. You will be responsible for effectively managing high-performance data centers and collaborating with both internal and external partners to deliver the next generation of world-class hardware and data centers. Your primary responsibilities will include collaborating with OCI engineering teams to develop and implement new Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technologies and methodologies aimed at improving the performance and efficiency of OCI platforms and data center infrastructure. As a technical lead, you will serve as a resident expert in data center mechanical systems and thermal management. You will apply engineering cooling methodologies to craft solutions for both small and large-scale data center designs, utilizing CFD and flow network modeling tools to generate digital twin models from chip to external heat rejection solutions. In addition to technical responsibilities, you will design and conduct experiments to validate CFD models by comparing test results with platform telemetry and facility Building Management System (BMS) data. You will also engage with leading CFD software companies to influence their product roadmaps to meet OCI's requirements for high-density air and liquid cooling solutions. Your role will involve leading thermal design reviews and presenting concepts to peers, partner teams, and executives, as well as collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to develop Advanced Cooling Solution (ACS) prototypes. You will be expected to create robust, scalable, secure, and extensible thermal architecture solutions that account for current and anticipated industry needs, while also distilling architectural tradeoffs in terms of feasibility, performance, cost, reliability, availability, and schedule.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with OCI engineering teams to develop and implement new CFD technologies and methodologies for improving performance and efficiency of OCI platforms and data center infrastructure.
• Serve as a technical lead and resident expert in data center mechanical systems and thermal management.
• Apply engineering cooling methodologies to craft solutions for small and large-scale data center designs.
• Use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and flow network modeling tools to generate data center digital twin models from chip to external heat rejection solutions.
• Generate models for OCI high density compute, storage, and network racks implementing various heat rejection methods.
• Design and conduct experiments for generating and validating accurate CFD models by comparing test results with platform telemetry and facility BMS data.
• Collaborate with various hardware, thermal, and data center engineering teams to conduct reliability studies and expedite resolution of hardware/data center infrastructure issues.
• Engage with leading CFD software companies to drive their product roadmap to meet OCI's requirements for high density air and liquid cooling solutions.
• Lead thermal design reviews and presentations of concepts to peers, partner teams, and executives.
• Work jointly with multidisciplinary teams in the development of Advanced Cooling Solution (ACS) concept prototypes.
• 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.
• Create thermal characterization test plans and analyze results to validate compliance with specifications.
• Support the high-level thermal design direction and data center strategy for complex systems.
• Distill and articulate architectural tradeoffs in the thermal space in terms of key metrics.
• Partner with platform and data center architects to drive OCI roadmap definitions.
• Generate intellectual property to strengthen OCI's position in cloud computing.
• Drive and influence technology providers and design partners to develop optimal components and solutions.
• Collaborate with hardware development and data center design teams to ensure seamless transition from architecture to implementation.

Requirements

• 9+ years of cloud scale provider or related technical engineering experience AND Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Thermal Fluid Science, Systems or Aerospace Engineering.
• 6+ years of related cloud scale provider or technical engineering experience AND Master's degree in Mechanical, Thermal Fluid Science, Systems or Aerospace Engineering.
• 5+ years of related cloud scale provider or technical engineering experience AND Doctorate degree in Mechanical, Thermal Fluid Science, Systems or Aerospace Engineering.
• Comprehensive understanding of data center design, including compute, storage, and network rack deployments with a focus on performance dependency related to mechanical and thermal considerations.
• 3+ years experience and proficiency in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis.
• Expertise using Cadence Data Center Solution, CoolSim, TileFlow, AutoDesk CFD, ANSYS Icepak, or Mentor Graphics FloTHERM.
• Working knowledge of data center direct-to-chip liquid cooling technologies.
• Skilled in CFD model validation by aligning experimental results with simulations.
• Capability to perform coupled analyses, such as thermo-mechanical simulations.
• Ability to evaluate optimization methods to improve thermal performance of electronic cooling.
• Programming capability in MATLAB, Python, and SQL.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with creating digital twins.
• Experience with machine learning and artificial intelligence.
• Publications in peer-reviewed journals and conferences.
• Experience with data visualization using Tableau, PowerBI, Oracle Analytics Cloud, or equivalent.
• Strong communication skills to express technical concepts clearly in verbal and written forms.
• Experience creating high-level systems concepts and providing analysis to other organizations and executives.
• Problem-solving, debug, and failure analysis skills with a solid understanding of core engineering principles.
• Experience in thermal design and analysis of compute architecture.
• Working knowledge of mechanical and electrical system design considerations.
• Exposure/hands-on experience with compute-related thermal, airflow, and liquid cooling characterization and validation 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.
• Flexible vacation policy with accrued vacation based on hours worked.
• 11 paid holidays.
• Paid sick leave with annual refresh and carryover options.
• Paid parental leave.
• Adoption assistance.
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
• Financial planning and group legal services.
• Voluntary benefits including auto, homeowner, and pet insurance.