Director, Data Center Networking

Crux AI; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 250,000 - 450,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, vision insurance

401(k) plan with company match

Hybrid work schedule

Life insurance

Job summary

Crux AI is building a global network that stitches high-density TPU fabrics with edge networking. As Director, Data Center Networking, you will own the network layer end-to-end from powered shell to production fabric, leading a senior team across North America and Europe.

This is a hands-on builder role with strong autonomy and direct collaboration with Google TPU teams. You will drive architecture, provisioning, reliability, and automation from day one, while partnering with cross-functional

Qualifications

• 15+ years in large-scale data center, ISP, or hyperscale network engineering.
• 7+ years leading network engineering teams.
• Experience standing up provisioning and turn-up processes using IaC.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead the global network engineering org across NA and Europe.
• Define global fabric and edge architecture for high-density TPU clusters.
• Own provisioning, turn-up, and burn-in from powered shell to IST commissioning.
• Drive reliability, observability, and self-healing automation with SRE.
• Own network automation and Infrastructure-as-Code from day one.
• Partner with Google's TPU networking teams on integration and roadmaps.
• Align with Capacity Delivery, Facility Ops and Energy Manager on site handoffs.
• Inform capacity plans and cost/margin models with procurement data.

Skills

High-performance fabrics

Data center provisioning

Leadership of network teams

Tools

Infrastructure as Code

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.

Crux AI is led by CEO, Ben Treynor Sloss, who spent over two decades in executive technical leadership at Google, led the creation of Google’s global network, and founded the Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) discipline. At Crux AI, we treat operations and network infrastructure fundamentally as a software engineering problem.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Crux AI is standing up multi-gigawatt TPU cluster fabrics and edge networking from zero. As Director, Data Center Networking, you will own the network layer end-to-end, from powered shell to the production fabric moving traffic at line rate.

Reporting directly to the CTO, you will build and scale our global network engineering function from scratch. This is a true hands-on, builder seat, not a supervisory position.

You will lead an elite group of unusually senior network and automation engineers, acting as the chief technical authority interfacing with Google’s TPU networking teams. You must thrive on high autonomy and revel in ambiguity, translating complex physical and logical constraints into concrete engineering priorities in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.

In this role, you will:

• Build & Lead the Network Engineering Org: Recruit, structure, and develop an elite global team of senior network engineers across North America and Europe to scale ahead of rapid fleet builds.
• Set Fabric & Edge Architecture: Establish the global plan-of-record design standards for high-density TPU supercomputing clusters.
• Own Network Provisioning: Define and execute network provisioning, turn-up, and burn-in procedures from powered shell through Level 5 / IST commissioning, optimizing the velocity of capacity delivery.
• Own Network Reliability & Observability: Drive fabric reliability, incident response, and telemetry/observability in tight coordination with SRE, establishing self-healing automation to remediate faults before they impact customers.
• Drive Network Automation & IaC: Own network automation from day one, establishing Infrastructure-as-Code as the mandatory basis for all configuration.
• Direct Google TPU Engineering Partnership: Serve as the primary technical authority partnering with Google’s TPU networking teams on fabric integration, link qualification, and co-engineering roadmaps.
• Cross-Functional Infrastructure Alignment: Partner with Capacity Delivery, Facility Operations, and the Energy Manager on site handoffs and constraints; align with SRE on reliability and observability.
• Optimize Network Economics & Margins: Feed network cost, lead times, and hardware procurement inputs into the capacity plan of record and cost/margin models.

SIGNALS OF SUCCESS

After 60 days in this role:

• Assessed active site network architectures; established working relationship with Google TPU networking teams; published the standardized fabric design adopted as plan of record for upcoming builds.

After 6 months:

• Delivered a production network turn-up on the first site; automated provisioning workflows to eliminate manual config; onboarded initial senior network engineering hires across geographies.

After 1 year:

• Standardized network architecture deployed as reference design across the fleet; fabric incident response running on automated telemetry rather than heroics; function delivering defensible cost/lead-time models to the business.

EXPERIENCES, ATTRIBUTES AND MINDSET THAT INDICATE A GOOD MATCH

Experiences

• 15+ years in large-scale data center, ISP, or hyperscale network engineering, with 7+ years leading network engineering teams.
• Deep Knowledge of High-Performance Fabrics: Hands-on mastery of high-throughput AI/ML or HPC networks at hyperscaler or neocloud scale.
• Data Center Provisioning: Track record standing up network provisioning and turn-up processes using Infrastructure-as-Code techniques across multiple data center builds, partnering directly with construction, MEP, and capacity delivery teams.

Attributes

• Senior Talent Magnet: Track record of attracting, evaluating, and leading senior network engineers who excel in fast-paced, high-stakes infrastructure environments.

Mindset

• Builder Mindset & Ambiguity: A true "builder, not supervisory" orientation; comfortable owning 2am fabric escalations early on, navigating ambiguity, and establishing structure amidst rapid growth.
• AI-Agentic First: Active utilization of AI agents and automated workflows to streamline network diagnostics, telemetry parsing, and provisioning or an enthusiastic commitment to adopting them rapidly.

Nice to have (Preferred, not required):

• Hyperscaler / Neocloud Leadership: Network engineering leadership at a hyperscaler or leading neocloud during rapid growth.
• TPU / GPU Cluster Operations: Direct experience with TPU/GPU interconnect fabrics, collective communication debugging, and scale-out burn-in testing.
• Hyperscale Supplier Partnership: Experience managing technical co-engineering relationships with major technology/silicon partners comparable to Google.
• Expert-Level Technical Depth: CCIE/JNCIE-level technical rigor (formal credential not required).
• 0-to-1 Org Building: Experience building a network engineering function from scratch.

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