Principal Operations Engineer, Network

Fluidstack; New York (NY); On-site; USD 258,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Health insurance

Retirement plan

PTO

Job summary

Fluidstack seeks a senior network operations lead to own the operational network fleet across hyperscale data centers. You will drive site assessments, audits, platform reviews, and high-risk MOPs with a focus on reliability and scalability.

You will collaborate across network ops, compute, facilities, and supply chain, travel 50-75% when needed, and mentor teams while enforcing high standards.

Qualifications

• Experienced in operating mission-critical networks at scale as senior technical lead on a site, campus, or fleet.
• Experience in IP network operations and optical networking.
• Experience with TCP/IP and routing protocols (OSPF/IS-IS/BGP/MPLS) and network hardware.
• Authored/executed high-risk MOPs; led RCAs through closure.
• Hold OEMs/ODMs and partners to standards while preserving relationships.
• Clear technical writing; health assessments, RCAs, design feedback; train teams.
• Bonus: hyperscale HPC fleets; Linux tools; site handover to steady state; fleet scripting.

Skills

Senior onsite authority

IP network operations

Optical networking

TCP/IP routing

MOPs & RCAs

Vendor accountability

Technical communication

Hyperscale HPC experience

Linux tooling

Fleet scripting

Tools

Linux tooling

Networking scripting

HPC tooling

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.

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're singularly focused on delivering 10 to 100s of GWs 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.

How We Operate

• Be a barrel. Full autonomy. Own things end to end, take on scope without being asked, no permission required to operate outside your core role.
• Insane urgency. We drive everything forward as fast as possible.
• Reason from 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.
• Build something that actually matters. If you're going to spend your time, spend it on something that matters to the world.

Examples of key problems the team is working on

• Operate at the scale of a nation, not a building. Accelerating toward 10s of GW by the end of the decade, more electricity than most countries consume. You won't just run a data center; you'll run infrastructure the size of a G7.
• Fly the plane while it's being built. Running flawless operations inside a live construction zone, adapting in real time and turning the pace of build-out into our advantage. You will redefine operational excellence.
• Write the playbook, don't inherit it. Most operators step into someone else's system. Here you build one, leaving your fingerprints on how the whole company runs. As we scale 100x, you'll set the standards, shape the operating model, and grow the team by the thousands.

Role Scope

• Serve as the most senior technical authority for the operational network fleet across the hyperscale AI data center portfolio: switches, routers, cabling (copper and fiber), optics.
• Lead site assessments and operational audits, and drive the technical readiness of the network ops team ahead of site activation.
• Review network platforms and integration designs from an operational lens, and feed learnings back into network engineering, deployment, and supply chain as the build model becomes productionized.
• Author, approve, and execute high-risk network MOPs and change records in live production, and lead fleet-wide root cause analysis on disruptions to closure.
• Hold OEMs, ODMs, and service vendors accountable to a standard, including flawed RMA and integration processes, without burning the relationship.
• Act as the connective tissue and force multiplier across network operations, network engineering, compute operations, facilities, supply chain, and customer-facing teams. Travel 50-75%.

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 spent a career operating mission-critical network topologies at scale, with significant time as the senior technical voice on a site, campus, or fleet.
• You have experience in IP network operations, as well as optical networking.
• You have experience with TCP/IP and network routing protocols (OSPF, IS-IS, BGP, MPLS) and the devices of the physical infrastructure.
• You've authored and executed high-risk MOPs and led root cause analysis on significant network events through closure.
• You hold OEMs, ODMs, and deployment partners to a standard, and you enforce it without breaking the relationship.
• You write clearly (health assessments, RCAs, design feedback) and you teach, lifting the technical readiness of every team around you.
• Bonus: Hyperscale or large HPC fleets supporting thousands of end points. Linux and hardware management tooling. Standing up new sites from handover to steady state. Scripting for fleet-scale operations.

Salary & Benefits

Total compensation may also include equity in the form of restricted stock units.

• Competitive total compensation package (salary + equity).
• Retirement or pension plan, in line with local norms.
• Health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Generous PTO policy, in line with local norms.

We are committed to pay equity and transparency.

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.

You will receive a confirmation email once your application has successfully been accepted.

Compensation Range: $258K - $300K