Data Center Architect
Senior individual-contributor role at Gimlet Labs (an AI-inference 'neocloud') owning data hall design for colocation sites: turning compute requirements into white-space floor plans, rack layouts, power/cooling fit, and physical network connectivity, then handing off coordinated, buildable design packages to deployment teams.
- Compensation
- $225K–$280K / yr
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
- Work setup
- Onsite
- Seniority
- Not specified
- Employment
- Not specified
- Experience
- Not specified
- Category
- Architecture
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- Owned data center white-space designs from initial requirements through installation handoff
- Produce floor plans and rack layouts balancing equipment density, serviceability, containment, cabling, power, cooling, and future growth
- Interpret electrical and mechanical drawings and translate equipment specifications into infrastructure requirements, resolving capacity gaps with specialists
- Understand practical constraints of high-density deployments within colocation facilities (equipment access, cable management, ongoing operations)
- Understand data center network layers well enough to plan equipment placement, physical connectivity, fiber pathways, and resilience
- Author and review layouts using AutoCAD, Bluebeam, or equivalent tools; maintain equipment schedules, design requirements, and revision records
- Make sound design tradeoffs across capacity, reliability, serviceability, cost, and growth and communicate decisions clearly
Nice to have
- Experience with high-density AI or HPC infrastructure, GPU racks, or heterogeneous compute platforms
- Experience with direct-to-chip liquid cooling, CDUs, facility water interfaces, or hybrid air- and liquid-cooled deployments
- Experience evaluating colocation sites and aligning customer equipment requirements with provider electrical and mechanical infrastructure
- Experience with Revit or other BIM tools, DCIM systems, and capacity-planning tools
- Familiarity with TIA-942, BICSI, and ASHRAE guidance and coordinating applicable code requirements with qualified design professionals
Full description
About us
Gimlet is building the first multi-silicon neocloud designed for fast, efficient AI inference.
We combine large-scale compute infrastructure with an execution platform that partitions AI workloads and maps each stage to the hardware best suited to run it.
We work with foundation labs, hyperscalers, and AI-native companies, giving our team access to technical problems spanning frontier models, production infrastructure, and emerging hardware.
About the role
Gimlet Labs is seeking a Data Center Architect to turn compute requirements into buildable data hall designs for new colocation sites and expansions. This is a centralized senior individual-contributor role with ownership across four areas: white-space design, infrastructure fit, physical network architecture, and design handoff.
Your primary deliverable is an approved, coordinated design package that defines what goes where, how it connects, and the power and cooling infrastructure it requires. You will translate equipment configurations and capacity plans into floor plans, rack layouts, and physical connectivity designs that deployment teams can execute.
As Gimlet’s technical authority for data hall design, you will approve designs, resolve tradeoffs within your scope, and establish repeatable standards across our global portfolio. You will work closely with compute and network engineers, facilities teams, colocation providers, and deployment teams to resolve issues before installation begins. You will also contribute to consultant reviews, RFPs, cost reviews, and commissioning where they relate to the data hall design.
What you will work on
- White-space design: Own floor plans and rack layouts, including equipment placement, aisle widths, service clearances, containment, cable pathways, and expansion space. Confirm access and floor-loading constraints with providers and maintain reusable layout standards.
- Infrastructure fit: Translate equipment specifications into rack-level and aggregate IT power and cooling requirements. Verify that provider capacity, redundancy, and connection points support the deployment, and coordinate cooling equipment placement and distribution routes with specialists.
- Physical network architecture: Define network equipment placement, physical connections between rack groups and network layers, fiber routes, patching locations, and redundant pathways. Partner with network engineering to align these designs with capacity requirements and the detailed logical network design.
- Design handoff: Deliver coordinated floor plans, rack layouts, connectivity drawings, equipment schedules, and power and cooling requirements. Review design changes, resolve installation questions, and maintain drawings that reflect the installed configuration.