Senior Program Manager
- Palo Alto, CA, United States
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Job details
- Posting language
- English
- Posted
Original job description
Built to set the gold standard for integrated AI infrastructure
Crux AI is a newly formed, U.S.-based integrated AI infrastructure company created to remove the physical and operational constraints on consequential AI ambitions. Crux brings together power, high-density data centers, TPU silicon, networking, orchestration software, and ongoing operations as one integrated system.
Crux is being capitalized to plan every layer together, develop each one to demanding standards, and operate the whole system with efficiency and reliability. That gives hyperscalers, frontier AI labs, sovereign customers, enterprises, and AI-native companies greater freedom to pursue the AI they are here to create.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
You will run the day-to-day operating rhythm of Crux's technology organization and keep the programs that cut across it on track. Reporting to our CTPO, you will build and maintain the integrated plan for how Compute, Networking, Security, AI Ops, and ServerOps deliver our first production TPU clusters, and you will be the person who knows what is on track, what is at risk, and who needs to make a decision to fix it. You will run the working-level program cadence with Google, connect engineering milestones to the capacity plan of record and to customer commitments, and keep the CTPO's priorities moving while the organization is still being built. This is a builder's seat: you build the plans, the dashboards, and the tools yourself.
In this role, you will:
- Build and maintain the integrated technology plan for the first builds: milestones, dependencies, and readiness gates across Compute, Networking, Security, AI Ops, and ServerOps, from cluster design through customer handoff.
- Run the technical program cadence with Google on TPU hardware, software, and services delivery, and track action items and commitments on both sides.
- Work with Capacity Delivery, Data Center Engineering, and the Development program managers where site delivery hands off to cluster bring-up, so that every handoff from rack-ready to customer-ready is tracked against the committed date.
- Run the CTPO operating rhythm: weekly reviews, quarterly planning inputs, and goal tracking. Prepare the materials for executive and board updates.
- Surface risks early and bring them to the right owner with the decision needed, the options, and a date, rather than reporting status after the fact.
- Track the CTPO hiring plan and headcount with Recruiting and Finance, and help each new team get set up as its leader arrives.
- Build the program tooling yourself: plans, dashboards, and AI-enabled workflows that keep status current without status meetings.
SIGNALS OF SUCCESS
After 60 days in this role:
- Learned the capacity plan of record, the Google partnership model, and our first customer commitments, and published the first version of the integrated technology plan for the first build.
- Stood up the CTPO weekly review and the working cadence with Google.
- Adapted to a fast-paced environment, triaging appropriately and continuously improving our function.
After 6 months:
- Kept the integrated plan current through the first production TPU cluster delivery, with readiness gates that caught issues before they became delays.
- Become the place leadership goes first for an accurate read on technology delivery status, risks, and open decisions.
- Demonstrated an AI-forward and automated approach to this role: you have built, in a hands-on way, AI-enabled tools for planning, tracking, or reporting that the team uses every day.
After 1 year:
- Turned the lessons from the first build into a repeatable delivery playbook for the next sites.
- Kept execution steady as the CTPO organization grew from its first leaders to a full team.
- Become a trusted partner to the CTPO and engineering leads on keeping priorities and tradeoffs visible.
EXPERIENCES, ATTRIBUTES AND MINDSET THAT INDICATE A GOOD MATCH
Experiences
- 7+ years in technical program management, including 3+ years on cross-functional programs for large-scale infrastructure at a hyperscaler, neocloud, or data center operator.
- Delivered programs that spanned hardware, network, and software, such as new cluster or region launches, new hardware introductions, or data center bring-ups, against hard dates.
- Experience working with senior leaders and external partners, including running workstreams in a joint program with a strategic technology partner.
Attributes
- You are outcome driven and hands-on. You build your own plans, dashboards, and tools, and you use AI and automation by default. This is a builder's seat, not a supervisory one.
- You are technical enough to be useful. You can follow an engineering tradeoff on fabric design or cluster bring-up and know which question to ask.
- You have a high tolerance for ambiguity. You absorb ambiguity and navigate complexity rather than passing it along.
Mindset
- You are skeptical by default. "On track" is a hypothesis until the dependency owner shows you the evidence.
- You deliver through discipline, not heroics. You build the process that makes the next launch boring.
- You are AI-agentic first. Fluent with AI agents, or committed to becoming so quickly, you embed them as first principles in how you and your team work, defaulting to agentic workflows before adding headcount or process.
Nice to have (Preferred, not required):
- Technical program management at a hyperscaler (Google, Meta, Microsoft, AWS) or a neocloud (CoreWeave, Nebius, Lambda, Crusoe).
- Experience delivering TPU, GPU, or other accelerator clusters, including new product introduction.
- Experience in an office of the CTO, chief of staff, or business operations role supporting a technology executive.
- Familiarity with data center power, cooling, and capacity planning.
- An engineering degree, or a PMP or similar program management certification.
Salary Range Information
The annual salary range for this position has been estimated based on market data and other factors. However, a salary higher or lower than this range may be appropriate for a candidate whose qualifications differ meaningfully from those listed in the job description.
About Crux
- We offer generous base, bonus and additional incentive based compensation
- Health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents
- Company-paid life insurance and disability
- Full suite of other optional benefits
- 401(k) Plan with 4% company match
- Hybrid schedule offering four days in-office collaboration paired with one remote workday for focused, individual work