Senior Data Scientist (Data Center Operations)

ABOUT 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.
• We enable domain experts (our users) to configure the AI control systems (i.e. agents) without writing code. They define what they want their AI agents to do, and we do it for them.

Our team has a track record of applying AI to some of the toughest problems.

From achieving superhuman performance with DeepMind's AlphaGo [https://www.nature.com/articles/nature16961], to reducing the energy required to cool Google's Data Centers [https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/08/17/140987/google-just-gave-control-over-data-center-cooling-to-an-ai/] by 40%, we deeply understand AI and how to apply it in production for massive impact.

Phaidra’s ability to achieve its mission is determined by our ability to work together — as defined by our core values: Agency, Velocity, Craft, and Truth. 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 [https://www.oysterhr.com/]. Our team is currently located throughout the USA, Canada, UK, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Singapore, Australia, and

India.

WHO YOU ARE

You are the person who has always been the one asking "but why did it do that?" You came up through facilities, plant, or manufacturing operations, and somewhere along the way you realized the data your systems were already producing could answer questions nobody was asking. So you taught yourself to pull it, clean it, and use it.

You did not need a job title change to start doing that work, and you did not wait for permission.

You are not a data scientist by training, and we are not looking for one. We are looking for someone who understands cooling systems in their bones

• chillers, cooling towers, pumps, hydronics, air handling
• and who uses data as the sharpest tool in the box to make those systems run better. If your background is data center cooling, great. If it is district energy, industrial refrigeration, process cooling, or a large campus central plant, equally great. The physics travel.

This is not a "hide behind the keyboard" role. You will own the health of a large portfolio of customer systems, and you will treat each one as your own.

Our Solutions Engineers and TPMs are the front line with customers, and they pull you in when the problem needs your depth. But nobody has to activate you to go looking. You hunt through your portfolio for problems on your own initiative, and you surface what you find.

You are a truth-teller who uses thorough, compassionate communication to persuade others and drive impact in the high-stakes world of critical infrastructure. And you are deeply collaborative by instinct: you know your customers' success depends on your teammates, on Engineering, and on Product, and you invest in those relationships before you need them.

• *We are seeking teammates who are based in the United States or Canada.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own a portfolio: Serve as the Data Science owner across a large set of concurrent customer deployments. Proactively hunt for problems in your portfolio without waiting to be pulled in, and know which of your systems are drifting before anyone tells you.
• Break our product on purpose: Use Phaidra's platform daily to troubleshoot real customer systems. When the tool cannot answer your question, characterize the gap precisely and drive the fix into the product.
• Diagnose across disciplines: Analyze mechanical and electrical telemetry as well as CMMS and alarm data to find failure signatures, performance degradation, and control pathologies, and trace symptoms to true root cause.
• Encode your expertise: Convert telemetry and operational judgment into the SME-level logic our AI tooling uses to direct operators in real time.
• Validate the models: Run pilots that stress our AI-driven tools against real conditions, and hold the line on whether the output is operationally realistic.
• Support the front line: Partner with Solutions Engineering and TPMs, who own the customer relationship, and step into direct customer conversations when they need your depth. Give data-backed direction that actually gets implemented.
• Raise the team: Mentor your peers across all teams. Actively collaborate with others and share learnings in a way that makes everyone better within the company.
• Lean in: You will hit challenges and scopes not written here. Solve them.

KEY QUALIFICATIONS

• 8-12 years of experience in facilities, plant, industrial, or manufacturing operations, engineering, or controls, with a track record of using data analysis to materially improve how those systems perform.
• Deep cooling systems expertise: Chiller plant fundamentals, configurations, and sequences of operation. Applied thermodynamics, hydronics, refrigeration cycles, and airside behavior.
• Analytical horsepower: Strong Python with Pandas and NumPy, and the ability to do custom analysis on industrial time-series data when standard tooling falls short.
• Portfolio-scale ownership: Proven as a senior individual contributor across many concurrent sites or projects, with sound judgment about where to spend your attention.
• Relentless curiosity: A deep interest in how and why systems fail. You would rather solve a live problem than write a paper about it.
• Unbiased problem-solving: You walk into a problem without preconceived notions and work it out, independently or with the team.
• Communication mastery: You can explain a complex diagnostic finding to a plant operator, a VP, and a software engineer, and have all three walk away with what they need.
• Collaborative by default: You treat peers as fellow experts and measure success by the team's outcomes, not just your own portfolio.
• AI-native working style: You will use LLMs daily here. No AI/ML background required, but we expect you to use these tools strategically and help others do the same.
• Educational background: Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Control Theory, Chemical Engineering, or a related field grounded in physical systems and thermodynamics is preferred. Equivalent depth earned through operational experience is welcome.
• Shares our values: Agency, Velocity, Craft, Truth

PREFERRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• Time-series data from industrial sensors: SCADA, BMS, EMS, historians, smart meters.
• Working knowledge of industrial and commercial control protocols such as

BACnet and Modbus.

• Data Centers, district energy, thermal storage, industrial refrigeration, or other large-scale thermal systems.
• A customer-facing or multi-site role where you owned outcomes you did not fully control.
• Optimization problems in a thermal or controls context.
• Mentoring analysts or engineers newer to data work than you.

ONBOARDING

In your first 30 days…

• Familiarize yourself with the company handbook and commissioning playbooks.
• Review existing system ontologies and sensor data structures across both mechanical and electrical domains.
• Shadow team members during customer diagnostic reviews to understand the "voice" of the SME.

In your first 60 days…

• Build full proficiency in our internal data tools and analysis workflows.
• Identify failure signatures in customer data with peer guidance and begin automating detection logic.
• Identify at least one gap in our current tooling and propose a logic-based solution to Engineering.

In your first 90 days…

• Provide direct guidance to customers on anomalies with peer support.
• Contribute to the refinement of the LLM "instruction set" for cross-disciplinary diagnostics.
• Present a post-incident analysis correlating telemetry to a real-world root cause to the broader Customer Success team.

GENERAL INTERVIEW PROCESS

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

• Meeting with People Operations team member (30 minutes)

• Meeting with Hiring Manager (60 minutes)

• Technical Interview (60 minutes)

• Customer Interface Interview (30 minutes)

• 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): 144,000 USD - 198,000 USD
• Tier 2 (Other major metros): 136,800 USD - 188,100 USD
• Tier 3 (Mid-sized metro areas): 129,600 USD - 178,200 USD
• Tier 4 (All other locations): 122,400 USD - 168,300 USD

Canada Residents

• Tier 1 (Vancouver, Toronto): 145,800 CAD - 200,475 CAD
• Tier 2 (Montreal): 136,080 CAD - 187,110 CAD
• Tier 3 (Waterloo, Ottawa, Calgary): 116,380 CAD - 160,380 CAD
• Tier 4 (Smaller cities / rural areas): 106,920 CAD - 147,015 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] [[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

[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E2bNjdEIG-f7tZ2Hg_zFXR2FjT4idYz-/view?usp=share_link].

#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.