AI Controls Solutions Engineer

About Phaidra

Phaidra builds AI agents for AI factories.

As demand for AI grows, data centers need to get more out of the power and infrastructure they already have. Power, cooling, and compute are closely connected, and making them work efficiently is one of the biggest challenges in scaling AI.

Phaidra builds AI agents that help data center operators understand their infrastructure, troubleshoot issues, and optimize how their facilities run. Our agents connect data across IT and OT systems, helping teams find problems faster and use existing resources more effectively. Operators use Phaidra to optimize performance, reliability, and efficiency. From helping technicians get to the root cause of an issue to optimize cooling and power allocation, our work helps data centers maximize tokens per watt.

Phaidra was founded in 2019 by former Google, DeepMind, and Trane engineers. Our team brings deep experience in AI, cybersecurity, mission-critical cooling, data centers, and industrial controls. We believe deploying AI in production demands deep domain expertise. We work closely with our partners to tackle challenges around real-world infrastructure at gigawatt-scale.

Our team has a track record of applying AI to the toughest problems. We achieved superhuman performance with DeepMind’s AlphaGo and cut the energy needed to cool Google’s data centers by 40%. We know AI deeply, and we know how to apply it in production for massive impact.

Phaidra can only achieve its mission if we work well together. Our core values define how we do that: Agency, Velocity, Craft, and Truth. We look for people who embody these values. They help our team deliver excellence consistently and build an engaging, supportive culture.

Phaidra is headquartered in the USA, but we are 100% remote with no physical office. We hire internationally with support from our partner, OysterHR. Our team is spread across the USA, Canada, the UK, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Singapore, Australia, and India.

Who You Are

As an AI Controls Solutions Engineer, you'll play a critical role in operationalizing and scaling Phaidra's solutions for enterprise data center customers.

We are seeking a team member located in the following area: USA or Canada.

Responsibilities

You will work closely with the Technical Program Managers (TPMs) and Data Scientists (DSs), as the technical experts for Phaidra's customers. Your role is to use Phaidra's platform and tools to put AI into production.

This role can be broken down into four concrete areas of responsibility:

• You will use Phaidra’s products and your knowledge of the customers' needs to create a model of the facility for ingestion by our product lineup. This will require working closely with our Data Science team. You’ll understand the facility and configure our products according the facility and customer requirements. Then, you will commission and tune our products and assist in analyzing and triaging these systems in the support phase.

• You will work with the product team to identify and define product requirements based upon each customer’s specification and needs. You will work closely with other AI Controls Solutions Engineers and the Product team to ensure our automated tools enable Phaidra to scale across thousands of customers. You will translate a combination of customer-stated and customer-implied needs into coherent needs documentation for use by the software development team.

• You will provide ongoing support of deployed products, including support issue resolution and monitoring of performance. ****You will lead the deployment and support of multiple Solutions, perhaps in parallel. This includes resolving onboarding or support tickets by coordinating with the appropriate stakeholders or providing direct solutions. You will analyze the performance and viability of your engineered solutions, as well as troubleshoot, triage, and analyze issues with control systems and equipment. You will possess deep knowledge of Phaidra’s pipelines to effectively identify and address issues and actively manage risk.

• You will act as an internal and customer-facing SME on a range of initiatives, including the delivery of platinum support to customers, providing technical advice to research projects, and supporting sales and marketing efforts.

*This role can include 25% travel

Key Qualifications

• 5-10 years of work experience as a controls engineer, programmer, or equivalent.

• Possesses expertise in HVAC and Data Center cooling control methodologies and strategies and displays knowledge of chiller plant fundamentals, configurations, and sequence of operations

• Understanding of applied thermodynamics for cooling systems, refrigeration systems, and hydronics.

• Experience in controls design engineering, or strong working knowledge of industrial and commercial control systems and protocols such as BACnet and Modbus.

• Understanding the applications and control strategies of air side chilled water and direct expansion cooling systems.

• Strong proficiency in working with data center operations teams and contributing to solving field operations related problems and challenges.

• Experience programming control systems with PLC, ladder logic, text, or block programming languages.

• Passion for problem solving and using scalable solutions to solve repeat problems.

• Good educational background in one or more related disciplines pertinent to your area of expertise. Example disciplines include Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Control Theory, Applied Mathematics and other various engineering and applied science fields.

• Ability to read and write Python scripts (in collaboration with the software engineering team) to implement Phaidra's AI development tool for customer use cases.

• Exhibits excellent communication skills and has the ability to explain complex domain specific concepts to non-domain experts and also explain complex AI and ML specific concepts to non-AI/ML specific customers.

• Ability to own and manage large sections of documentation, fostering a culture of high standards in documentation and communication.

• Ability to understand customers well and drive a culture of pragmatic urgency and customer satisfaction.

• Supports peers and helps them to improve their work and does pairing sessions.

• Independently uses AI tools to improve workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and support onboarding and troubleshooting.

• Alignment with Phaidra's values: Agency, Velocity, Craft, & Truth.

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Experience with rapidly prototyping new technologies and converting into commercially viable products.

• Experience building, owning, and operating your own codebases/services.

• Experience architecting services within cloud platforms.

• Experience applying AI and ML in controls applications.

• Experience with statistics, analytics, etc.

• Experience with domain relevant optimization problems and solutions.

• Familiarity with markup languages like Xml, Json, or Yaml.

Onboarding

In your first 30 days...

• You will have a solid understanding of what Phaidra does and how we do it.

• You will have met with team members across Phaidra and started building relationships that will help you be successful at your job.

• You will have become proficient at navigating the Solution team’s processes and software tools.

By your first 60 days...

• You will introduce yourself to our customers

• You will understand our customer onboarding process

• You will dig into Mort, our project workflow tool

• You will build a toy system from scratch

By your first 90 days...

• You will participate in troubleshooting issues

• You will participate in customer onboarding and new system creation

• You will contribute to code repository

• You will create and refine business processes

• You will attend site visits

General Interview Process

All of our interviews are held via Google Meet, and an active camera connection is required.

1. Meeting with People Operations team member (30 minutes)

2. Meeting with Hiring Manager (60 minutes)

3. Meeting with Data Science team member (30 minutes)

4. Meeting with Solutions Engineer (30 minutes)

5. Culture fit interview with one of Phaidra’s co-founders (30 minutes)

We use Kula as our hiring platform. During your interview, Kula's AI Notetaker will record a transcript of the meeting to allow the interviewer to focus on the interview, not the note taking.

Base Salary

US Residents:

• Tier 1 (Largest highest-cost metros): $95,725 - $143,587

• Tier 2 (Other major metros): $90,939 - $136,408

• Tier 3 (Mid-sized metro areas): $86,152 - $129,228

• Tier 4 (All other locations): $81,366 - $122,049

Canada Residents:

• Tier 1 (Vancouver, Toronto): 99,793 CAD - 149,690 CAD

• Tier 2 (Montreal): 93,140 CAD - 139,710 CAD

• Tier 3 (Waterloo, Ottawa, Calgary): 86,487 CAD - 129,731 CAD

• Tier 4 (Smaller cities / rural areas): 79,834 CAD - 119,752 CAD

In addition to base salary, this position is eligible for equity. Final salary will be determined based on several factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, experience, expertise, education and location. In some cases, final compensation may fall outside the posted range. Salary ranges are regularly reviewed and may be adjusted in response to market trends.

Benefits & Perks

• 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.

• Company MacBook.

Please note: Not all of Phaidra’s benefits and perks listed above apply to temporary employees such as interns.

On being Remote

We take a thoughtful and intentional approach to remote collaboration. Inspired by pioneers like GitLab, we embrace proven best practices to foster an exceptional remote work environment. Our culture is documentation-first, and we prioritize asynchronous communication to support focus and flexibility across time zones. While we value independence, we stay closely connected through tools like Slack and video conferencing. Weekly all-hands meetings help us align and build strong relationships, and we regularly host virtual team-building activities and social events to maintain a sense of camaraderie.

Equal Opportunity Employment

Phaidra is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Phaidra is governed on the basis of merit, competence, and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status. We welcome diversity and strive to maintain an inclusive environment for all employees. If you need assistance with completing the application process, please contact us at [email protected].

E-Verify Notice

Phaidra participates in E-Verify, an employment authorization database provided through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA). As required by law, we will provide the SSA and, if necessary, the DHS, with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization for those residing in the United States.

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.

Candidates who advance beyond the initial screening stage will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in order to continue through the interview process.

All employment offers are contingent upon successful completion of employment authorization verification and applicable background checks, in accordance with local laws and company policies.

WE DO NOT ACCEPT APPLICATIONS FROM RECRUITERS.