NeoCloud & Colo Due Diligence Lead

OpenAI is evaluating multiple infrastructure pathways, including powered land, colo/BTS, and NeoCloud opportunities. The Site Readiness & Development team provides the diligence layer needed to compare opportunities, identify risk, and support credible deployment decisions across those pathways.

The NeoCloud & Colo Due Diligence Lead will evaluate third-party infrastructure opportunities where OpenAI is considering deployment through NeoCloud, colo, or BTS structures. This role will focus on facility and deployment readiness, including MEP readiness, rack strategy, developer capability, facility design, power deliverability, schedule credibility, and operating assumptions.

Unlike the land diligence team, this role is centered on technical and operational readiness of third-party infrastructure rather than greenfield site master planning, civil development, and entitlement strategy.

This is an individual contributor lead role and does not have direct reports initially. The role determines whether each opportunity is fit-for-use and fit-for-service against OpenAI facility, rack, power, network, reliability, and operational standards; identifies material deficiencies and tracks remediation with developers/operators; and evaluates commissioning, validation, AHJ/code, and deployment interfaces such as structured cabling, network readiness, and high-density rack support where relevant.

- Lead diligence on NeoCloud, colo, and BTS opportunities across technical and operational readiness dimensions.

- Assess each opportunity against OpenAI facility, rack, power, network, reliability, and operational standards to determine deployment fit.

- Validate MEP readiness, rack deployment strategy, facility design assumptions, power deliverability, and schedule credibility.

- Identify material deficiencies and work with developers/operators to define remediation plans, owners, timing, and residual risk.

- Review reliability, availability, maintainability, commissioning/validation readiness, and AHJ/code compliance where relevant.

- Evaluate structured cabling, network deployment, high-density rack support, and other technical interfaces required for OpenAI deployment where in scope.

- Assess developer/operator capability, execution maturity, and operational risk.

- Produce diligence findings, gap analyses, and go / no-go recommendations for the relevant commercial and deployment owners.

- Coordinate cross-functional diligence with engineering, operations, procurement, legal, finance, and other stakeholders as needed.

- Build repeatable evaluation frameworks for third-party infrastructure opportunities.

- 8+ years in data center development, mission-critical facilities, MEP engineering, colocation operations, commissioning, or similar roles.

- Strong understanding of data center mechanical, electrical, network, and deployment-readiness requirements.

- Experience evaluating third-party developers, operators, or colocation providers.

- Ability to translate technical findings into commercial, schedule, and execution risk.

- Strong cross-functional communication and executive-summary skills.