Category Manager, Mechanical

Fluidstack; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 239,000 - 278,000; Full time

Job summary

Fluidstack seeks a Senior Mechanical Sourcing Lead to own the data center equipment category and drive multi-year supply strategies. You will source major mechanical equipment (chillers, CDUs, AHUs, pumps) for large-scale data-center builds and work closely with OEMs to secure capacity and favorable terms.

You will implement accurate lead-time forecasting, constrain the critical path, and help build faster, reliable deployment through disciplined sourcing and strong vendor relationships.

Qualifications

• Sourcing major mechanical equipment for data center or industrial programs.
• Negotiating multi-year committed volumes with OEMs.
• Knowledge of liquid cooling equipment to challenge specs or prices.
• Experience managing factory schedules and witness points.

Responsibilities

• Own the data center mechanical category: CDUs, chillers, pumps, and piping packages.
• Negotiate supply agreements with OEMs covering price, lead time, and capacity.
• Dual-source CDU and chiller platforms and manage qualification work.
• Coordinate with manufacturing and design to freeze specs early.

Skills

Sourcing hardware

OEM negotiation

Liquid cooling knowledge

Factory scheduling

Job description

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 are singularly focused on delivering 10 to 100s of GW 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

• Extreme ownership. Full autonomy. Own things end to end often taking on scope outside your core role without being asked to get things done.
• Velocity. We drive everything forward as fast as possible.
• 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.

Supply Chain Team

• Supply tens of gigawatts of compute, the largest build‑out of compute in history. Qualify and dual‑source across every critical equipment category, with lead‑time and capacity thresholds tied directly to the forward build pipeline.
• Make supply chain the reason we build faster than anyone. Our modular build redefines speed in this industry, and it lives or dies on supply chain. Keep procurement permanently off the critical path so schedule compression stays our advantage, not our constraint.
• Build the most accurate supply chain prediction modelling that exists. Use the frontier of AI to forecast lead times, demand, and disruption with a precision the industry has never had, and turn that foresight into a structural edge.

Role Scope

• Own the data center mechanical category: CDUs, chillers, pumps, dry coolers, and piping packages for liquid‑cooled builds.
• Negotiate supply agreements with mechanical OEMs covering price, lead time, and factory capacity across a multi‑year pipeline.
• Dual‑source CDU and chiller platforms and drive the qualification work that makes the second source usable.
• Coordinate with manufacturing and design so equipment specs freeze early enough to buy at the lead times the market gives.

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.
• You’ve sourced major mechanical equipment (chillers, CDUs, AHUs, pumps) for data center or industrial programs.
• You’ve negotiated with mechanical OEMs on multi‑year committed volumes.
• You know liquid cooling equipment well enough to challenge a spec or a price with substance.
• You’ve managed factory schedules and witness points so delivery dates held.
• Bonus: Direct‑to‑chip liquid cooling. Modular skid packages. Factory acceptance testing. Refrigerant and coolant markets.

We are committed to pay equity and transparency.

Compensation Range: $239K - $278K

EEO Statement

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.