Director Operational Technology Engineer Jobs in Tennessee

SpaceXAI’s mission is to create AI systems that can accurately understand the universe and aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. Our team is small, highly motivated, and focused on engineering excellence. This organization is for individuals who appreciate challenging themselves and thrive on curiosity. We operate with a flat organizational structure. All employees are expected to be hands-on and to contribute directly to the company’s mission. Leadership is given to those who show initiative and consistently deliver excellence. Work ethic and strong prioritization skills are important. All employees are expected to have strong communication skills. They should be able to concisely and accurately share knowledge with their teammates.

SpaceXAI is seeking an exceptional Operational Technology (OT) Engineer to own the design, implementation, optimization, and long-term reliability of industrial control and monitoring systems across our next-generation hyperscale data center campuses and co-located power generation facilities. You will architect and deliver resilient OT infrastructure supporting BMS, EPMS, SCADA, PLC, and related OT systems capable of supporting ultra-dense AI compute loads, massive power infrastructure, and aggressive deployment timelines that redefine industry standards. This is a high-impact, high-ownership role for an exceptional engineer who thrives in fast-paced, technically demanding environments. You will combine deep expertise in industrial automation, control systems, and mission-critical infrastructure with exceptional speed of execution, while seamlessly collaborating across mechanical, electrical, facilities operations, networking, and construction teams to deliver the control backbone that powers the future of AI.

• Own end-to-end OT critical infrastructure design, programming, configuration, commissioning, sustainment, and ongoing optimization. Deliver high availability OT infrastructure for critical hyperscale cooling & power control systems, including datacenter facility networks (MDFs/IDFs), industrial control networks (PLCs, turbines, etc.), and server rooms with switches/hosts/virtualization.Provide on-call network infrastructure support for BMS, EPMS, SCADA, PLC, and related systems (connectivity, addressing, protocol transport, troubleshooting at Layers 1-3/4).
• Hands-on design and sustainment of Juniper fiber/copper networks in OT/facility environments (EX/QFX series preferred), including segmentation, VRFs, and integration with industrial control networks.
• Design, implement, and secure OT networks and communications (BACnet, Modbus, OPC UA, MQTT, Ethernet/IP, and related protocols) while driving robust segmentation, monitoring, and cybersecurity practices.
• Drive cross-functional multidisciplinary coordination with mechanical, electrical, structural, facilities operations, IT/OT networking, and construction teams to ensure seamless integration of control systems with overall campus infrastructure.
• Perform advanced troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, and continuous improvement of OT systems to maximize availability, and operational resilience.
• Deliver rapid, high-quality responses to field issues, design reviews, RFIs, and operational needs while maintaining rigorous documentation, change control, and design intent.
• Identify and implement innovative solutions in industrial automation, advanced monitoring, predictive analytics readiness, and standardized control architectures to support SpaceXAI’s aggressive growth trajectory.
• Mentor junior engineers and technicians and contribute to the continuous improvement of SpaceXAI’s OT design standards, programming standards, and best practices for mission-critical facilities.

• Bachelor’s degree in Controls Engineering, Automation Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience).

• 5+ years of progressive, high-quality hands-on experience as a Controls / OT / Automation Engineer on data centers, semiconductor fabs, power plants, heavy industrial, or other mission-critical facilities.
• Direct experience designing, implementing, and sustaining OT infrastructure in large-scale critical infrastructure environments for control systems such as BMS, EPMS, and SCADA.
• Systems administration experience for virtualization platforms (Proxmox/VMware), Juniper networks, and SQL databases.
• Experience hardening and monitoring OT servers (RAID, UPS-backed, isolated management planes
• E experience with industrial communication protocols (BACnet, Modbus TCP/RTU, OPC UA, MQTT, Ethernet/IP, DNP3) and OT network design/segmentation.
• Track record of delivering complex control system projects with exceptional speed and uncompromising quality in fast-moving environments.
• Familiarity with OT cybersecurity principles, secure remote access, and coordination with IT networking teams (VLANs, VRFs, firewalls, jump hosts, remote access, monitoring).
• Optional experience with control systems programming (Ignition SCADA, Siemens TIA portal).
• Experience supporting commissioning of major mechanical and electrical systems in data centers or industrial plants.
• Proven cross-functional collaboration skills with mechanical, electrical, facilities operations, construction, and networking teams.
• Willingness to travel to project sites as required and to work extended hours or non-standard shifts when needed to support critical operations and deployments.

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