STEM OPT Data Center Engineering Jobs
Data center engineering roles in power systems, cooling infrastructure, and network hardware qualify for the 24-month STEM OPT extension when your degree aligns with an eligible CIP code. Your employer must be enrolled in E-Verify and sign a Form I-983 training plan before your extension starts.
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Get Access To All JobsAbout the job
Our thirst for technology is a part of everything we do. The Data Center Engineering team takes the physical design of our data centers into the future. Our lab mirrors a research and development department - cutting-edge strategies are born, tested and tested again. Along with a team of great minds, you take on complex topics like how we use power or how to run state-of-the-art, environmentally-friendly facilities. You're a visionary who optimizes for efficiencies and never stops seeking improvements - even small changes that can make a huge impact. You generate ideas, communicate recommendations to senior-level executives and drive implementation alongside facilities technicians.
With your technical expertise, you ensure compliance with codes and standards, develop infrastructure improvements and serve as an expert in your specialty (e.g., cooling, electrical).
In this role, you will act as an owner’s engineer and primary technical lead to drive the development and implementation of the civil and structural discipline for hyperscale data centers. You will lead the review and validation of civil and structural designs, critically auditing program drawings, data center site plans, and typical utility layouts produced by external consultants. Beyond project-level oversight, you will take ownership of programmatic template designs, drive improvements to structural and civil design standards. You will have broad cross-disciplinary expertise to seamlessly coordinate with geotechnical, electrical, mechanical, architectural, systems, and telecom teams, ensuring all designs are continuously optimized for cost, schedule, and reliability.
Responsibilities
- Act as the primary technical lead for civil and structural scopes, thoroughly evaluating and approving drawings, calculations, and models for accuracy, constructability, and alignment with project requirements.
- Drive interdisciplinary coordination with mechanical, electrical, systems, and other discipline teams to ensure load requirements, foundations, and underground utility routing are seamlessly integrated into the overarching civil and structural plans.
- Develop, maintain, and implement internal owner design guidelines, performance specifications, and standardization strategies across multiple data center development initiatives.
- Own the program civil and structural template design development, continually optimizing for cost, schedule, and reliability.
Minimum qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Civil/Structural Engineering or equivalent practical experience.
- 3 years of experience in civil/structural or site engineering.
- Experience with building design, coordination, and construction.
- Experience implementing civil/structural engineering principles (e.g., grading and drainage, hydraulic modeling, sediment control, erosion control, or soil migration).
Preferred qualifications:
- Master's degree in Chartered Engineering, Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, or a related field.
- Experience working as an owner’s engineer or lead design engineer in mission-critical facilities such as data centers, oil and gas, or similar heavy industrial sectors.
- Experience in enclosure design and manufacturing (e.g., switchgear enclosures).
- Experience in drafting technical scopes of work, managing external engineering consultants, and evaluating complex technical proposals.
- Knowledge of international building codes (e.g., IBC, Eurocode) alongside local municipal regulations to ensure design compliance.
Compensation
- The US base salary range for this full-time position is $122,000-$174,000 + bonus + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.
Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, equity, or benefits. Learn more about benefits at Google.
In accordance with Washington state law, we are highlighting our comprehensive benefits package, which is available to all eligible US based employees. Benefits for this role include:
- Health, dental, vision, life, disability insurance
- Retirement Benefits: 401(k) with company match
- Paid Time Off: 20 days of vacation per year, accruing at a rate of 6.15 hours per pay period for the first five years of employment
- Sick Time: 40 hours/year (increased to 69 hours/year for Seattle) including 5 discretionary sick days per instance
- Maternity Leave (Short-Term Disability + Baby Bonding): 28-30 weeks
- Baby Bonding Leave: 18 weeks
- Holidays: 13 paid days per year
Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See also Google's EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form.
About the job
Our thirst for technology is a part of everything we do. The Data Center Engineering team takes the physical design of our data centers into the future. Our lab mirrors a research and development department - cutting-edge strategies are born, tested and tested again. Along with a team of great minds, you take on complex topics like how we use power or how to run state-of-the-art, environmentally-friendly facilities. You're a visionary who optimizes for efficiencies and never stops seeking improvements - even small changes that can make a huge impact. You generate ideas, communicate recommendations to senior-level executives and drive implementation alongside facilities technicians.
With your technical expertise, you ensure compliance with codes and standards, develop infrastructure improvements and serve as an expert in your specialty (e.g., cooling, electrical).
In this role, you will act as an owner’s engineer and primary technical lead to drive the development and implementation of the civil and structural discipline for hyperscale data centers. You will lead the review and validation of civil and structural designs, critically auditing program drawings, data center site plans, and typical utility layouts produced by external consultants. Beyond project-level oversight, you will take ownership of programmatic template designs, drive improvements to structural and civil design standards. You will have broad cross-disciplinary expertise to seamlessly coordinate with geotechnical, electrical, mechanical, architectural, systems, and telecom teams, ensuring all designs are continuously optimized for cost, schedule, and reliability.
Responsibilities
- Act as the primary technical lead for civil and structural scopes, thoroughly evaluating and approving drawings, calculations, and models for accuracy, constructability, and alignment with project requirements.
- Drive interdisciplinary coordination with mechanical, electrical, systems, and other discipline teams to ensure load requirements, foundations, and underground utility routing are seamlessly integrated into the overarching civil and structural plans.
- Develop, maintain, and implement internal owner design guidelines, performance specifications, and standardization strategies across multiple data center development initiatives.
- Own the program civil and structural template design development, continually optimizing for cost, schedule, and reliability.
Minimum qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Civil/Structural Engineering or equivalent practical experience.
- 3 years of experience in civil/structural or site engineering.
- Experience with building design, coordination, and construction.
- Experience implementing civil/structural engineering principles (e.g., grading and drainage, hydraulic modeling, sediment control, erosion control, or soil migration).
Preferred qualifications:
- Master's degree in Chartered Engineering, Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, or a related field.
- Experience working as an owner’s engineer or lead design engineer in mission-critical facilities such as data centers, oil and gas, or similar heavy industrial sectors.
- Experience in enclosure design and manufacturing (e.g., switchgear enclosures).
- Experience in drafting technical scopes of work, managing external engineering consultants, and evaluating complex technical proposals.
- Knowledge of international building codes (e.g., IBC, Eurocode) alongside local municipal regulations to ensure design compliance.
Compensation
- The US base salary range for this full-time position is $122,000-$174,000 + bonus + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.
Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, equity, or benefits. Learn more about benefits at Google.
In accordance with Washington state law, we are highlighting our comprehensive benefits package, which is available to all eligible US based employees. Benefits for this role include:
- Health, dental, vision, life, disability insurance
- Retirement Benefits: 401(k) with company match
- Paid Time Off: 20 days of vacation per year, accruing at a rate of 6.15 hours per pay period for the first five years of employment
- Sick Time: 40 hours/year (increased to 69 hours/year for Seattle) including 5 discretionary sick days per instance
- Maternity Leave (Short-Term Disability + Baby Bonding): 28-30 weeks
- Baby Bonding Leave: 18 weeks
- Holidays: 13 paid days per year
Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See also Google's EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form.
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding STEM OPT Authorization in Data Center Engineering
Verify your CIP code matches data center engineering
Check your degree's CIP code against the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List before applying. Electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and computer science codes typically qualify, but systems engineering or applied technology programs vary by institution.
Filter job postings by E-Verify enrollment status
Ask hiring managers directly whether their company is enrolled in E-Verify before your first interview. Employers who haven't enrolled can't legally employ STEM OPT students, so confirming early saves you from pursuing roles that can't proceed.
Align your I-983 training plan with specific data center competencies
Your I-983 must name concrete learning objectives tied to your job duties, such as data hall capacity planning, UPS system maintenance, or thermal management protocols. Generic training plan language gets flagged by DSOs and delays your extension start date.
Target employers with existing STEM OPT infrastructure in place
Use Migrate Mate to find data center engineering employers whose hiring history shows prior STEM OPT placements. Companies already familiar with the I-983 process and E-Verify reporting move faster through onboarding than those filing for the first time.
Use OFLC Wage Search to benchmark your offer before signing
Your STEM OPT salary must meet or exceed the prevailing wage for your specific SOC code and work location. Run the OFLC Wage Search using the code for computer network architects or electrical engineers before evaluating any offer.
Time your extension filing around your 90-day window
USCIS requires your STEM OPT extension application to be filed within 90 days before your initial OPT expires. Data center hiring timelines can stretch three to four months, so start employer conversations at least five months before your EAD end date.
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Find Data Center Engineering JobsFrequently Asked Questions
Does a data center engineering role qualify for the STEM OPT extension?
It depends on your degree, not just your job title. The role must relate directly to a STEM Designated Degree Program on the DHS list, and your employer must confirm the position requires that degree field. Data center roles involving electrical systems, mechanical infrastructure, or network architecture commonly qualify when paired with engineering or computer science degrees. Your DSO verifies eligibility before recommending the extension.
What does my employer need to do before my STEM OPT extension starts?
Your employer must be enrolled in E-Verify and co-sign a Form I-983 training plan that outlines your learning objectives, supervision structure, and how the role connects to your degree field. The I-983 must be in place before USCIS approves your extension. Employers who've never hired STEM OPT students before sometimes underestimate the lead time this requires, so flag it early in the offer process.
How do I find data center engineering employers who are already E-Verify enrolled?
You can ask employers directly during the interview process, or search Migrate Mate, which filters data center engineering roles by employers with verified sponsorship history. Federal contractors and large infrastructure operators are typically enrolled in E-Verify by compliance requirement, which makes them reliable targets. Startups and smaller colocation providers are less consistent, so always confirm before accepting an offer.
What happens to my work authorization if my STEM OPT extension is still pending when my initial OPT EAD expires?
If you filed your STEM OPT extension before your initial OPT expired and your application is still pending, you're covered by a 180-day cap-gap that allows you to keep working under the same employer and terms. You must remain employed and your I-983 must stay active during this period. USCIS issues a new EAD once the extension is approved, and your employer can verify your continued authorization through E-Verify.
Can I switch data center engineering employers while on my STEM OPT extension?
Yes, but you can't start with the new employer until a fresh I-983 is signed and your DSO has updated your SEVIS record to reflect the change. The new employer must also be enrolled in E-Verify. There's no grace period for gaps between employers during the extension, so coordinate your end date and start date carefully to avoid any lapse in authorized employment status.
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