AI Data Center Deployment Manager

Hydra Host, Inc.; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Hydra Host, Inc. is seeking a Manager of AI Data Center Development to lead the North American site pipeline, from first look to live capacity. You will source sites, secure power and fiber, align partners, and remove blockers to accelerate deployment.

You will negotiate with utilities and carriers, make go/no-go decisions, and own multiple site projects with ambitious timelines in a fast-moving startup environment.

Qualifications

• 8–12+ years in data center development, site selection or hyperscale infra.
• Direct experience securing utility power for large-load sites.
• Strong negotiation with utilities, landlords, carriers, and contractors.
• Executive-level communication and ownership in fast-moving environments.

Responsibilities

• Build and manage a pipeline of candidate sites and AI Factory partners across North America.
• Qualify sites against AI-specific requirements: power (MW), energization timing, rack density (100kW+), liquid cooling, fiber diversity/latency, permitting risk.
• Run due diligence on landlords, operators, and developers.
• Make go/no-go recommendations aligned with demand and Hydra's deployment roadmap.
• Engage utilities to secure load commitments and compress time-to-power.
• Track power delivery as the critical path on every site.
• Build relationships with fiber carriers and negotiate connectivity agreements.
• Own site delivery from qualification through handoff and manage timelines/budget.

Skills

Data center dev

Utility power

Fiber networks

Project delivery

Negotiation

Ambiguity tolerance

Executive communication

Job description

Manager, AI Data Center Development

Location / Remote – North America

Full-time

Travel: ~[40]%

About Hydra Host

Hydra Host is a Founders Fund-backed NVIDIA Cloud Partner building the infrastructure platform that powers AI at scale. We connect AI Factories, high-performance GPU data centers, with the teams that depend on them: research labs training foundation models, enterprises running production inference, and developer platforms that need compute capacity on demand.

The binding constraint on AI today isn't GPUs. It's power, fiber, and sites that can actually host high-density GPU clusters. Hydra Host works with site owners, utilities, network providers, and builders to bring AI-ready capacity online faster than anyone else.

The Role

We're hiring a Manager, AI Data Center Development to lead our Site Accelerator program and own our North American site pipeline, from first look to first GPU powered on. You'll find and qualify sites, unlock power and fiber, align partners and builders, and remove whatever stands between a site and live capacity.

This isn't a coordination role. You'll negotiate with utilities and carriers, make go/no-go calls on sites, and be accountable for megawatts delivered. Your work decides how fast Hydra can turn customer demand into deployed capacity.

What You'll Do

Site Sourcing & Qualification

• Build and manage a pipeline of candidate sites and AI Factory partners across North America.
• Qualify sites against AI-specific requirements: available and expandable power (MW), time-to-energization, rack density (100kW+), liquid-cooling readiness, fiber diversity and latency, and permitting risk.
• Run technical and commercial due diligence on landlords, operators, and developers.
• Make clear go/no-go recommendations, prioritized by customer demand and Hydra's deployment roadmap.

Power & Utility Acceleration

• Engage utilities and co-ops early to secure load commitments, navigate interconnection queues, and compress time-to-power.
• Manage load studies, service agreements, and substation or transmission upgrade timelines.
• Evaluate bridge and behind-the-meter power options (on-site generation, phased energization) where grid timelines fall short.
• Track power delivery as the critical path on every site.

Network & Connectivity

• Build relationships with fiber carriers, dark fiber providers, and network operators.
• Secure diverse, high-capacity routes and reduce time-to-service for new sites.
• Negotiate connectivity agreements and hold providers to delivery commitments.
• Align bandwidth capacity with customer demand forecasts and cluster requirements.

Build-Out & Delivery

• Own site delivery from qualification through operational readiness and customer handoff.
• Drive construction firms, engineering partners, and integrators to hit milestones for power, cooling, network, and rack-ready space.
• Manage schedules, budgets, risks, and critical-path dependencies across multiple sites at once.
• Escalate and clear blockers fast, internally and externally.

Partners & Commercial

• Act as the senior point of contact for site partners, utilities, builders, and local stakeholders.
• Negotiate terms within delegated authority on site, power, and connectivity agreements; partner with leadership and legal on larger commitments.
• Lead executive-level conversations to align priorities and speed up decisions.
• Work with Sales and Customer teams so site timelines match customer commitments.

Playbooks & Visibility

• Build a repeatable site qualification and onboarding playbook that scales as Hydra grows.
• Maintain a single source of truth for pipeline status, MW timelines, and partner performance.
• Deliver concise executive reporting on readiness, risks, and forecasted capacity.

What We're Looking For

Required

• 8–12+ years in data center development, site selection, colocation or hyperscale infrastructure, or energy/utility project development.
• Direct experience securing utility power for large-load sites, including interconnection, load studies, and service agreements.
• Working knowledge of fiber networks and carrier provisioning.
• A track record of delivering multiple concurrent infrastructure projects on aggressive timelines.
• Strong negotiation skills with utilities, landlords, carriers, and contractors.
• Comfort operating with ambiguity and real ownership in a fast-moving startup.
• Clear, concise executive communication.

Preferred

• Experience delivering high-density GPU or AI deployments, including direct liquid cooling and NVIDIA reference architectures.
• An existing network across utilities, developers, carriers, and data center operators in key North American markets.
• Familiarity with permitting, zoning, land entitlement, and local incentives.
• Exposure to site financing or capacity offtake structures.
• An electrical or mechanical engineering, construction management, or energy background.

What Success Looks Like

First 90 days

• Map Hydra's current site pipeline and partner landscape.
• Stand up a site qualification scorecard and pipeline tracker.
• Advance at least [2] priority sites to a clear go/no-go.

Why Hydra Host

Work on the most critical constraint in AI infrastructure, with direct impact on how fast capacity reaches customers.

High ownership and direct access to leadership at a well-backed, fast-growing company.

Competitive salary, meaningful equity, and [benefits].