Fluidstack Labs Lead

About the role

ABOUT FLUIDSTACK We exist to make humanity more free. For most of human history, you farmed or you starved. Technology gave people more time for the things they wanted to do, instead of things they had to do. Powerful AI will be the biggest lever for human choice we've ever built - but only if models are aligned with what humanity actually wants. There are groups building AI who don't share these goals. Whoever deploys frontier compute infrastructure fastest will decide whether AI expands human freedom or shrinks it. We're singularly focused on delivering 10 to 100s of GWs of compute faster than anyone else, rethinking every layer of the stack. We acquire power, design and build data centers, and operate them - with teams spanning hardware and software. Speed and scale are our key differentiators. Come be a part of building civilization-scale infrastructure for AI. We hire people who care deeply about this problem space. If that is you, please apply! HOW WE OPERATE - Be a barrel. Full autonomy. Own things end to end, take on scope without being asked, no permission required to operate outside your core role. - Insane urgency. We drive everything forward as fast as possible. - Reason from first principles. Challenge every assumption. Zero analogy thinking, no egos, the best idea wins. - Love of the game. The frontier of AI is the most interesting problem of our time. We put in long hours at high intensity to push the frontier forward. - Build something that actually matters. If you're going to spend your time, spend it on something that matters to the world. THE FLUIDSTACK LABS TEAM Examples of key problems the team is working on - Qualify the hardware the frontier runs on before it runs anywhere else. First samples of next-generation accelerators, switches, storage, and liquid cooling land here, and leave as production-ready platforms with runbooks the whole fleet inherits. - Compress silicon-to-production to weeks. The lab closes the gap between vendor sample and customer-ready gigawatt infrastructure, and every week cut here pulls the entire 10s-of-GW deployment curve forward. - Run the lab like a production site. Provisioning, telemetry, demand management, and liquid cooling mirror production architecture exactly, so a qualification pass in the lab is a deployment guarantee in the field. - Prove the power envelope nobody else will touch. Dynamic demand management lets AI compute deploy beyond nominal electrical capacity, and the lab validates the full detection-to-shutdown response chain that makes it safe. ROLE SCOPE - Own the NPI lab end to end: a direct-liquid-cooled facility with CDU-fed rows and an air-cooled zone that mirror production architecture, and take it fully operational by end of year. - Build and lead the on-site team of data center technicians and lab qualification engineers, and serve as the first escalation point for facility-floor issues. - Schedule and deconflict qualification programs across vendor sample timelines: next-generation accelerator platforms (NVIDIA, AMD, custom accelerators), Ethernet switching on the Broadcom Tomahawk and Jericho families and NVIDIA Spectrum, converged NVMe storage platforms (Weka, Hammerspace, VAST Data), and CDU platforms (nVent, CoolIT, Vertiv). You own operations, scheduling, and execution while an NPI technical program manager and per-domain technical leads (compute and storage, networking, optics and fiber, cooling and controls) drive the technical content of each program. - Run the multi-party access model under which hardware partners and customers qualify their own equipment in the lab, including customer-owned hardware, NDAs and access agreements, badging coordination, vendor escort, and provisioned remote access. - Own lab logistics: equipment receiving, asset inventory, rack-and-stack execution quality, RMA handling, migration and standup of lab infrastructure, and coordination of CDU manifold connections and leak inspection with deployment engineering. - Host the power oversubscription and demand-management validation program, from rPDU commissioning and stress harnesses through the full detection to load-shed to shutdown response chain. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR The below is a starting point. We always make space for exceptional people, so if you don't fit this role exactly, tell us where you would https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/fluidstack/05c2e69c-42f9-4fcb-9cf0-a467aaf98f1c. - You've run a hardware lab, NPI program, or qualification facility and owned its day-to-day operation, from equipment intake to floor discipline to schedule. - You've managed technicians and engineers directly, set the standard for work quality on the floor, and been the escalation point your team called first when something broke. - You've worked hands-on with liquid cooling and high-density power, close enough to a CDU loop and a 100 kW rack that technicians take your direction seriously. - You've hosted vendor or customer engineering teams on your own floor and kept their equipment, access, and confidentiality boundaries clean. - Inventory and asset discipline are habits, not afterthoughts: every device you've received, racked, RMA'd, or shipped was accounted for without an audit scramble. - You've stayed calm when multiple vendors' sample schedules collided in the same week, and you deconflicted with a plan rather than an apology. - Bonus: DLC and CDU commissioning depth. NPI experience at a hyperscaler or major OEM. ITIL-grade lab operations. Standing up a facility from scratch. We are committed to pay equity and transparency. Fluidstack is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and protected veterans’ status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Fluidstack will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records pursuant to applicable law. You will receive a confirmation email once your application has successfully been accepted. If there is an error with your submission and you did not receive a confirmation email, please email careers@fluidstack.io with your resume/CV, the role you've applied for, and the date you submitted your application-- someone from our recruiting team will be in touch.