Senior Electrical Systems Specialist (Data Center Reliability)
1 day ago
New York
Job DescriptionAbout Phaidra Phaidra is building the future of industrial automation. The world today is filled with static, monolithic infrastructure. Factories, power plants, buildings, etc. operate the same they've operated for decades — because the controls programming is hard-coded. Thousands of lines of rules and heuristics that define how the machines interact with each other. The result of all this hard-coding is that facilities are frozen in time, unable to adapt to their environment while their performance slowly degrades. Phaidra creates AI-powered control systems for the industrial sector, enabling industrial facilities to automatically learn and improve over time. Specifically: • We use reinforcement learning algorithms to provide this intelligence, converting raw sensor data into high-value actions and decisions., • We focus on industrial applications, which tend to be well-sensorized with measurable KPIs — perfect for reinforcement learning. Phaidra's ability to achieve its mission is determined by our ability to work together — as defined by our core values: Transparency, Collaboration, Operational Excellence, Ownership, and Empathy. We seek individuals who embody these values, as they are instrumental in ensuring our team consistently delivers excellence and fosters an engaging and supportive culture Phaidra is based in the USA, but we are 100% remote with no physical office. We hire employees internationally with the help of our partner, OysterHR. Our team is currently located throughout the USA, Canada, UK, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Singapore, Australia, and India. We are seeking a team member located within one of the following areas: UK, USA, or Canada. • In the United States, we accept applicants located in the following states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington., • In Canada, we accept applicants located in the following provinces: Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta.Responsibilities, • Define and maintain a domain-accurate electrical system ontology for data centers, ensuring customer system data reflects real-world electrical infrastructure, dependencies, and failure modes rather than abstract or purely data-driven representations., • Apply deep knowledge of data center electrical systems to interpret telemetry from sensors, smart meters, and facility management systems, identifying early indicators of equipment degradation or abnormal behavior originating from customer-owned infrastructure., • Specify, constrain, and validate analytical approaches—including statistical methods and machine learning—to detect anomalies in power usage, voltage stability, load behavior, and UPS/battery systems, ensuring outputs correspond to meaningful electrical risk rather than statistical novelty., • Design and refine automated detection and alerting logic that mirrors how experienced operators reason about electrical system health, ensuring alerts correspond to actionable operational conditions such as unsafe load distributions, power anomalies, or loss of redundancy., • Perform post-incident and post-anomaly analysis by correlating electrical, mechanical, and environmental signals to determine root causes and evaluate how accurately the product represented system behavior during customer incidents., • Collaborate with customer-facing and product teams to translate anomaly insights into actionable guidance, helping customers recognize poor maintenance practices, reduce unplanned downtime, and improve overall reliability and PUE., • Design, implement, and continuously refine rules-based electrical fault detection logic grounded in real data center operating experience, ensuring failure conditions are identified before they result in customer-visible impact., • Minimum of 3 years of direct experience operating or monitoring electrical power systems within data center environments, including hands-on exposure to live, production infrastructure and participation in operational decision-making where uptime, redundancy, and recovery constraints materially influenced outcomes., • Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, power systems engineering, energy systems, or a closely related discipline or equivalent professional experience involving sustained, hands-on engagement with data center electrical infrastructure beyond purely procedural or observational roles., • Deep, working understanding of data center electrical power systems—including power quality, load balancing, redundancy architectures (e.g., A/B paths), harmonics, fault detection, and protective relaying—sufficient to interpret abnormal behavior during live operations and translate those realities into product requirements or improvements., • Proven ability to identify recurring electrical or operational patterns in data center environments and contribute to durable, scalable solutions—particularly by capturing lessons learned and applying them to system or product improvements., • Ability to communicate complex electrical system behavior and operational risk clearly to both technical peers and non-domain stakeholders, particularly in post-incident analysis, product retrospectives, or reviews of how systems performed under stress., • Demonstrated alignment with company values—Transparency, Collaboration, Operational Excellence, Ownership, and Empathy—especially in environments where reliability, trust, and learning from failure matter more than individual heroics., • Proven experience analyzing, monitoring, and interpreting electrical distribution systems in data center environments, including substations, UPS systems, batteries, switchgear, PDUs, and stand-by generators, with a focus on understanding operational behavior and failure modes rather than day-to-day maintenance execution., • Hands-on experience working with SCADA, BMS, or energy monitoring systems, including sensor integration and data acquisition, applied in a real-world operational context to understand system behavior and detect abnormal conditions., • Experience designing and validating rules-based detection logic, thresholds, or analytics to identify electrical faults or abnormal operating conditions, grounded in practical operational experience rather than experimental modeling., • Demonstrated ability to apply machine learning or advanced analytics as a tool to enhance fault detection, predictive insights, or energy optimization, with outputs validated against real electrical system behavior., • Familiarize yourself with the Phaidra Handbook., • Review department roadmaps and product vision documents., • Participate in recurring meetings with relevant teams., • Review existing electrical system ontology & taxonomy and provide feedback., • Build an understanding of our work processes and tools., • Start solidifying a new electrical system ontology and components database., • Work with solutions engineers to guide their new system build-outs., • Finish creation of electrical system ontology and components database., • Work with solutions engineers to ensure that all customer systems are constructed to follow the new ontology and taxonomy., • Define initial electrical fault detection rules to identify system failure modes for customer-facing products., • Engage with core product teams to ensure that our solutions are meeting the needs of our customers., • Meeting with People Operations team member (30 minutes), • Meeting with Hiring Manager (60 minutes), • Meeting with the Director of AI Controls Solutions Engineering (60 minutes), • Meeting with the Data Science team (60 minutes), • Tier 1 (Largest highest-cost metros): 140,800 USD - 211,200 USD, • Tier 2 (Other major metros): 133,760 USD - 200,640 USD, • Tier 3 (Mid-sized metro areas): 126,720 USD - 190,080 USD, • Tier 1 (London): 89,440 GBP - 134,170 GBP, • Tier 2 (Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Bristol): 84,180 GBP - 126,270 GBP, • Tier 1 (Vancouver): 146,700 CAD - 220,000 CAD, • Tier 2 (Toronto): 136,900 CAD - 205,400 CAD, • Tier 3 (Montreal): 117,000 CAD - 176,000 CAD, • Fast-paced, team-oriented environment where your work directly shapes the company's direction., • We are a 100% remote company., • Competitive compensation & meaningful equity., • Outsized responsibilities & professional development., • Training is foundational; functional, customer immersion, and development training., • Medical, dental, and vision insurance (exact benefits vary by region)., • Unlimited paid time off, with a required minimum of 20 days per year., • Paid parental leave (exact benefits vary by region)., • Flexible stipends to support your workspace, well-being, and continued professional development. Additional information about E-Verify can be found here. #LI-Remote To be considered for any position at Phaidra, you must submit an online application. This role will remain open until it is filled. Phaidra only hires individuals who are legally authorized to work in the specified location(s) above. We do not provide employment sponsorship. Candidates requiring visa sponsorship, either now or in the future, are not eligible for hire. WE DO NOT ACCEPT APPLICATIONS FROM RECRUITERS.