Senior Staff Technical Program Manager, NPI

Job description

Crusoe is on a mission to accelerate the abundance of energy and intelligence. As the only vertically integrated AI infrastructure company built from the ground up, we own and operate each layer of the stack — from electrons to tokens — to power the world's most ambitious AI workloads. When you join Crusoe, you join a team that is building the future, faster. We're in the midst of the greatest industrial revolution of our time. The demand for AI compute is boundless, and power is a bottleneck. We're solving that — with an energy-first approach that makes AI infrastructure better for the world and faster for the people innovating with AI. We're looking for problem-solving, opportunity-finding teammates with a sense of urgency, who believe in the scale of our ambition and thrive on a path not fully paved — people who want to grow their careers alongside a team of experts across energy, manufacturing, data center construction, and cloud services. If you want to do the most meaningful work of your career, help our customers and partners advance their AI strategies, and be part of a high-performing team that believes in each other, come build with us at Crusoe. About the Role NVIDIA Vera Rubin deployments begin in early 2027. We are hiring the Senior Staff TPM who will own that generation introduction. Not manage a workstream inside it, but define and drive the entire NPI engagement model from chip vendor engagement through first customer cluster delivery. This is a generation-level program, not a SKU-level one. Vera Rubin represents a fundamental architectural transition: new networking topology, new storage implications, new commissioning gate framework, and compounding cross-SKU dependencies running in parallel with active production deployments. The Senior Staff TPM owns all of that: the technical depth to define what the NPI model should look like, the organizational influence to make it happen across engineering, hardware partners, and DC operations, and the portfolio awareness to protect active production programs while standing up a new generation. If you have spent your career running NPI programs at a hyperscaler or leading neocloud, understand GPU architecture at the generation level, and have shaped NPI frameworks rather than just operated within them, this is the role. What You’ll Be Working On Generation-Level NPI Ownership - Own the Vera Rubin generation introduction end-to-end: chip vendor and OEM dependencies, architecture updates (networking topology, storage), cloud foundations work, commissioning gate framework definition, and first customer cluster delivery as the success metric. - Define the NPI engagement model for a new GPU generation: what changes architecturally from Grace Blackwell to Vera Rubin, what the commissioning gate framework needs to look like, and where standard hyperscaler NPI processes are broken and need redesign. - Lead NPI Phase 0 on the Cloud TPM side: define firmware version targets and DOCA targets before kickoff, set commissioning gate criteria (G0–G6), name the DRI matrix, and publish the node allocation plan with block-scheduled tasks. - Manage compounding cross-SKU dependencies where active B200/GB300 production programs are running in parallel with Vera Rubin NPI, and prevent them from competing for the same specialist pool without a plan. Portfolio-Level Technical Leadership - Maintain portfolio-level situational awareness across NPI programs, active production deployments, and cloud foundations work, holding an accurate mental model of cross-domain risks and dependencies without being in the weeds of every program simultaneously. - Integrate infrastructure economics with program decisions: how a GPU generation transition affects the capacity plan, how a commissioning gate failure cascades into customer commitment delays, how a firmware lifecycle choice has direct revenue implications. - Evolve the Site Operations PM to Cloud TPM engagement model as Crusoe scales from current deployment volume to significantly higher throughput. Organizational Influence and TPM Function Development - Partner with VP and SVP-level stakeholders on programs with significant organizational risk, framing trade-offs and surfacing decision-ready analysis. - Drive the TPM organization from reactive to predictable: define leading indicators, build portfolio visibility, and coach Staff and Senior TPMs on technical depth, risk identification, and executive communication. - Set the standard for AI tool integration across the TPM team: identify where AI materially changes program tracking, risk detection, and executive communication, and drive adoption. What You’ll Bring to the Team Technical Foundation - Generation-level GPU architecture fluency: you understand what changes architecturally between GPU generations, including networking topology, storage implications, power and cooling requirements, and commissioning gate evolution, and can reason through second-order infrastructure effects. - Deep software/firmware lifecycle knowledge: BIOS/BMC/GPU firmware, DOCA targets, driver stacks, GPU validation and burn-in, and why firmware versioning matters for fleet reliability at scale. - Networking and storage depth: cluster-leaf topology evolution, ZTP requirements, fabric commissioning, storage architecture implications (e.g., VAST integration), and how these must be updated for each new generation. - Direct hardware partner engagement: personal ownership of NVIDIA or OEM certification and validation timelines, not coordination feeding into someone else's relationship. - Active daily use of AI tools to drive program-level outcomes: risk detection, dependency mapping, and executive communication, not just personal productivity. Program Leadership - 12+ years as a Technical Program Manager with a track record of owning NPI programs end-to-end at a hyperscaler, GPU cloud provider, or AI infrastructure company, ideally with direct Vera Rubin or comparable next-generation GPU program experience. - Proven ability to define NPI engagement models from scratch, not just operate within existing frameworks, and make them stick across engineering organizations that didn't ask for them. - Demonstrated portfolio-level ownership: managing compounding dependencies across parallel NPI and production programs, building predictability where engineering estimates are unreliable and external dependencies are outside your control. - Track record of driving cross-organizational alignment at VP/SVP level without formal authority, including building durable alignment on programs that fall in the cracks between teams. - Exceptional written and verbal communication for delivering clear, data-driven, decision-oriented updates to executive stakeholders. Bonus Points - Direct Vera Rubin program experience from a hyperscaler with earlier hardware access than neoclouds. - Experience defining or substantially redesigning an NPI commissioning gate framework (G0–G6 or equivalent). - Exposure to generation-level architectural transitions affecting both IaaS and Managed Services simultaneously. - Experience coaching or developing Staff-level TPMs in technical depth and program execution. You May Not Be a Fit If - Your NPI experience has been primarily at the workstream or commissioning level rather than owning a new SKU or generation end-to-end. - You have not directly engaged hardware partners (NVIDIA, OEMs) on certification and validation timelines, and your role has been coordinating into someone else's partner relationship instead. - Your infrastructure background is primarily software-defined or post-deployment support rather than build-side hardware and firmware programs. - You prefer well-defined frameworks handed to you rather than defining what the framework should be. Benefits: - Competitive compensation and equity packages - Restricted Stock Units - Paid time off, paid holidays & leave of absence programs - Comprehensive health, dental & vision insurance - Employer contributions to HSA account - Paid parental leave - Paid life insurance, short-term and long-term disability - Professional development & tuition reimbursement - Mental health & wellness support - Commuter benefits (parking & transit) - Cell phone stipend - 401(k) Retirement plan with company match up to 4% of salary - Volunteer time off - Global travel insurance & emergency assistance - Daily meals allowance - Additional perks & programs specific to location Compensation Range Compensation will be paid in the range of up to $230,000 - $280,000 + Bonus. Restricted Stock Units are included in all offers. Compensation to be determined by the applicants knowledge, education, and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data. Crusoe is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, citizenship, marital status, sex/gender, sexual preference/ orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, national origin, or any other status protected by law or regulation.