Field Hardware Engineer, HPC

Mistral AI; Paris; On-site; EUR 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare coverage

Relocation support

Wellness programs

Meal and transportation allowances

Job summary

Mistral AI in Bruyères-le-Châtel is seeking a Field HW Engineer to understand end-to-end systems, perform vendor-level interventions, and guide L1 engineers on site—without direct line management.

You will work hands-on across compute, storage, interconnect and cooling to keep one of France’s largest GPU/CPU clusters healthy and scalable; you’ll travel between Paris area sites as needed.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in data center/server hardware or L2/L3 hardware support in production (HPC/AI/Cloud).
• End-to-end hardware expertise: CPU/memory/PCIe, NICs, PSUs, drives, network and cooling.
• Diagnostics depth: analyze BMC/IPMI and Linux logs; perform root-cause analysis.
• Safety and discipline: ESD/LOTO/PPE, clean and auditable work.
• Communication and mentoring: provide clear status updates and instructions to L1s.
• Willingness to travel between sites (Paris area or nearby; Europe occasionally).

Responsibilities

• Lead complex interventions: plan/execute vendor-level or multi-node ops; own risk assessment/rollback; coordinate with vendors (RMA/escalations).
• Advanced diagnostics: correlate symptoms across compute, storage, interconnect, cooling; read indicators and logs to identify root causes.
• Guide and uplift L1s: coach on safe practices; first-line triage; rack craftsmanship; documentation; pair on procedures.
• Process & automation: improve SOPs/checklists; build small Python/Bash tools for photo/serial capture, inventory sync, dashboards/alerts; shorten MTTR.
• Safety & compliance: enforce lockout/tagout, ESD, PPE; ensure audit-ready tickets, evidence and change traces.
• Parts & logistics (advanced): plan spares strategy, track failure trends, and drive proactive vendor actions.

Skills

Field hardware

Diagnostics

Safety protocols

Communication

Mobility

Tools

iDRAC/IPMI

RAID/storage basics

Jira/ServiceNow

Job description

About Mistral

Mistral provides full-stack AI solutions: from frontier models to developer tools, applications, and compute. We partner with enterprises tackling the hardest problems—across high-stakes industries like finance, manufacturing, defense, healthcare, and the public sector—co-creating customized AI systems that they can run on their terms.

We are a dynamic, collaborative team passionate about AI and its potential to transform society. Our diverse workforce thrives in competitive environments and is committed to driving innovation. Our teams are distributed between Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. We are creative, low-ego and team-spirited.

Role summary

Our compute footprint is growing fast to support our science and engineering teams. We’re hiring a Field HW Engineer to understand end-to-end systems, execute complex/vendor-level interventions, and guide L1 engineers on site—without direct line management. You’ll work hands‑on across compute, storage, interconnect and cooling to keep one of France’s largest GPU/CPU clusters healthy and scalable.

Location: Bruyères‑le‑Châtel — on‑site, field role (multi‑site mobility: Paris area and nearby)

Reporting line: Hardware Ops

Impact

• Compute is a key lever for Mistral’s success and our largest spend item.
• Direct impact on scale: you’ll restore service on complex incidents and raise the bar on reliability as we grow.
• Enable breakthrough AI: your work unlocks science & engineering teams to deliver state‑of‑the‑art AI.

What you will do

• Lead complex interventions: plan and execute vendor‑level or multi‑node operations (e.g., full rack work, intricate recabling, post‑restart diagnosis), own risk assessment/rollback, and coordinate with vendors (RMA/escalations).
• Advanced diagnostics: correlate symptoms across compute, storage, interconnect, cooling; read system indicators (LED/POST/beep), BMC/IPMI consoles, and logs to identify root causes.
• Guide and uplift L1s: coach on safe practices (ESD/LOTO), first‑line triage, rack craftsmanship, documentation quality; pair on tricky procedures. (No people management.)
• Process & automation: improve SOPs/checklists; propose/build small automation (Python/Bash) for photo/serial capture, inventory sync, dashboards/alerts; shorten MTTR.
• Safety & compliance: enforce lockout/tagout, ESD, PPE; ensure audit‑ready tickets, evidence and change traces.
• Parts & logistics (advanced): plan spares strategy, track failure trends, and drive proactive vendor actions.

About you

• 5+ years in data center/server hardware or L2/L3 hardware support, with proven complex hands‑on work in production (HPC/AI/Cloud at scale).
• End‑to‑end hardware expertise: comfortable across CPU/memory/PCIe cards (incl. accelerators), NICs, PSUs, drives, network, power and cooling (including DLC); strong judgment on when/how to evolve.
• Diagnostics depth: confident in analyzing BMC/IPMI logs, Linux software logs and crashes simple CLI checks; methodical root cause analysis.
• Safety & discipline: impeccable ESD/LOTO/PPE habits; zero rough handling; clean, labeled, auditable work.
• Communication & mentoring: crisp status/handovers; able to coach L1s during live operations. Provide technical documentations to L1s or other team.
• Mobility: willing to travel between sites (Paris area or nearby regions, occasionally in Europe or US).

Nice to have

• Vendor tools (iDRAC/iLO/IPMI), RAID/storage basics (NVMe/SAS/SATA), high‑speed interconnect (Ethernet/InfiniBand).
• Coding/automation (Python/Bash) for small ops tools and reporting.
• Experience with ticketing (Jira/ServiceNow), inventory/RMA flows, vendor coordination.

What We Offer

We offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your well‑being, growth, and work‑life balance. Benefits vary by country and may include healthcare coverage, parental leave, retirement plans, relocation support, wellness programs, meal and transportation allowances, and other location‑specific perks.

For the most up‑to‑date details on benefits available in your location, please refer to our Benefits page.

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