Manager, Finance - Data Center Design

AI Chopping Block; San Francisco, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation & equity

401(k) with company match

Paid time off & holidays

Health, dental & vision insurance

Professional development & tuition

Mental health support

Commuter benefits

Daily meals allowance

Job summary

Crusoe is seeking a Data Center Design Manager to optimize data center designs for space, power, and cost. You will partner with Manufacturing, Engineering, Finance, Supply Chain, and Operations to ensure designs reflect commercial trade-offs, balancing rack density with build costs across disciplines.

You will lead standardization, evaluate new tech, and run cross-functional design reviews to deliver economics that meet targets while enabling high-density AI/ML workloads.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in data center design, engineering, or infrastructure planning, with exposure to power, cooling, and space optimization trade-offs.
• Strong understanding of data center electrical and mechanical systems, power distribution, UPS, cooling architectures (air and liquid), and structural/floor loading considerations.
• Demonstrated experience partnering with commercial or business teams to translate cost and timeline constraints into engineering decisions.
• Comfort building and using cost models to compare design alternatives quantitatively.
• Excellent cross-functional communication skills, with the ability to work with both engineers and business stakeholders.
• Experience with high-density compute environments (AI/ML, HPC, or GPU-dense infrastructure) strongly preferred.
• Bachelor's degree in related field; advanced degree a plus

Responsibilities

• Design optimization: lead trade-off analysis across space, power density, and cost for new data center designs, identifying opportunities to increase compute per rack and per square foot.
• Business partnership: translate commercial requirements into concrete design specifications with Finance, Engineering, and Supply Chain.
• Power & Cooling strategy: evaluate power distribution, cooling architecture and impact on rack density.
• Cost modeling: build and maintain models comparing design alternatives on total installed cost, per kW, per rack, and per square foot.
• Standardization & reuse: develop repeatable design standards and reference architectures for multiple sites.
• Vendor & technology evaluation: assess new data center technologies for potential to improve density or deployment speed.
• Cross-Functional design reviews: run reviews with Engineering, Operations, and business stakeholders to ensure designs meet requirements and targets before lock

Skills

Data center design

Cost modeling

Cross-functional collaboration

Vendor evaluation

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Structural Engineering, Architecture, or related field

Advanced degree a plus

Job description

Crusoe is on a mission to accelerate the abundance of energy and intelligence. As the only vertically integrated AI infrastructure company built from the ground up, we own and operate each layer of the stack — from electrons to tokens — to power the world's most ambitious AI workloads. When you join Crusoe, you join a team that is building the future, faster.

We're in the midst of the greatest industrial revolution of our time. The demand for AI compute is boundless, and power is a bottleneck. We're solving that — with an energy-first approach that makes AI infrastructure better for the world and faster for the people innovating with AI.

We're looking for problem-solving, opportunity-finding teammates with a sense of urgency, who believe in the scale of our ambition and thrive on a path not fully paved — people who want to grow their careers alongside a team of experts across energy, manufacturing, data center construction, and cloud services.

If you want to do the most meaningful work of your career, help our customers and partners advance their AI strategies, and be part of a high-performing team that believes in each other, come build with us at Crusoe.

About the Role:

Crusoe is looking for a Data Center Design Manager to own the optimization of our data center designs against the constraints that matter most: space, power, and cost. This role sits at the intersection of engineering and the business — you'll partner directly with Manufacturing, Engineering, Finance, Supply Chain, and Operations to make sure design decisions reflect real commercial trade-offs, not just technical ideals. You'll work across mechanical, electrical, product, and structural design disciplines to push rack density and power delivery further while keeping build and operating costs in check, and you'll be the person in the room translating between design engineers and business stakeholders so every site delivers the best possible economics.

What You'll Be Working On:

• Design Optimization: lead trade-off analysis across space, power density, and cost for new data center designs, identifying opportunities to increase compute per rack and per square foot without compromising reliability

• Business Partnership: work directly with Finance, Engineering, and Supply Chain to translate commercial requirements — cost targets, delivery timelines, customer commitments — into concrete design specifications

• Power & Cooling Strategy: partner with electrical and mechanical engineering teams to evaluate power distribution, cooling architecture (air, liquid, immersion), and their impact on achievable rack density

• Cost Modeling: build and maintain models comparing design alternatives on total installed cost and cost per kW, per rack, and per square foot, giving leadership a clear basis for design decisions

• Standardization & Reuse: develop repeatable design standards and reference architectures that can be deployed across sites, reducing engineering rework and accelerating time to build

• Vendor & Technology Evaluation: assess new data center technologies (power delivery, cooling, rack/enclosure systems) for their potential to improve density, cost, or deployment speed

• Cross-Functional Design Reviews: run design review sessions with Engineering, Operations, and business stakeholders to validate that designs meet both technical requirements and commercial targets before they're locked

What You'll Bring to the Team:

• 7+ years of experience in data center design, engineering, or infrastructure planning, with direct exposure to power, cooling, and space optimization trade-offs

• Strong understanding of data center electrical and mechanical systems — power distribution, UPS, cooling architectures (air and liquid), and structural/floor loading considerations

• Demonstrated experience partnering with commercial or business teams to translate cost and timeline constraints into engineering decisions

• Comfort building and using cost models to compare design alternatives quantitatively, not just qualitatively

• Excellent cross-functional communication skills, with the ability to work fluently with both engineers and business stakeholders

• Experience with high-density compute environments (AI/ML, HPC, or GPU-dense infrastructure) strongly preferred

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Structural Engineering, Architecture, or a related field; advanced degree a plus

Benefits:

• Competitive compensation and equity packages

• Restricted Stock Units

• Paid time off, paid holidays & leave of absence programs

• Comprehensive health, dental & vision insurance

• Employer contributions to HSA account

• Paid parental leave

• Paid life insurance, short-term and long-term disability

• Professional development & tuition reimbursement

• Mental health & wellness support

• Commuter benefits (parking & transit)

• Cell phone stipend

• 401(k) Retirement plan with company match up to 4% of salary

• Volunteer time off

• Global travel insurance & emergency assistance

• Daily meals allowance

• Additional perks & programs specific to location

Compensation Range

Compensation will be paid in the range of up to $160,000-$195,000 + Bonus. Restricted Stock Units are included in all offers. Compensation to be determined by the applicant's knowledge, education, and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.

Crusoe is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, citizenship, marital status, sex/gender, sexual preference/ orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, national origin, or any other status protected by law or regulation.