Principal Technical Program Manager, AI Physical Deployment

Nscale; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 250,000 - 303,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Base + equity

Flexible work arrangements

Career growth plan

Medical benefits

Job summary

Nscale seeks a Principal Technical Program Manager, AI Physical Deployment, to lead large-scale data center infrastructure programs and drive cost efficiency through RFx processes and partner engagements. You will coordinate with cross-functional teams and executives to deliver high-impact AI deployments.

The role demands 5+ years in technical program management, deep data center, networking knowledge, and a proven ability to influence without authority while mentoring teams in a fast-growing AI

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in Technical Program Management leading large-scale infra projects.
• Deep understanding of data center infrastructure, distributed systems, and networking.
• Experience influencing senior stakeholders and managing complex vendor relationships.

Responsibilities

• Act as central coordination point across internal/external teams for data center delivery.
• Drive program milestones, risk mitigation, and decision points with executive visibility.
• Mentor program managers and onsite technicians on communication and structured decision-making.

Skills

Program management

Data center infrastructure

Networking concepts

Agile / PMP

Stakeholder alignment

Education

Bachelor's degree in a technical field

Master's degree in a technical field

Tools

Smartsheet

Jira

Asana

Monday.com

MS Project

Primavera P6

Power BI

Tableau

Job description

Nscale is the GPU cloud engineered for AI. We provide cost-effective, high-performance infrastructure for AI start-ups and large enterprise customers. Nscale enables AI-focused companies to achieve superior results by reducing the complexity of AI development. Our GPU cloud bolsters technical capabilities and directly supports strategic business outcomes, including cost management, rapid innovation, and environmental responsibility.

We thrive on a culture of relentless innovation, ownership, and accountability, where every team member takes pride in their work and drives it with excellence and urgency. As an Nscaler, you'll build trust through openness and transparency, where everyone is inspired to do their best work. If you join our team, you'll be contributing to building the technology that powers the future.

About The Role

The Principal Technical Program Manager, AI Physical Deployment, is a senior individual contributor responsible for driving project delivery and execution with our data center and physical deployment partners. In this hands-on leadership role, you will own key RFx processes, partner with internal cross-functional teams on contracts, drive cost efficiency initiatives, and serve as a primary escalation point for complex technical and business challenges. Acting as a strategic bridge between internal stakeholders and external partners, you will navigate vendor relationships and ensure seamless alignment to achieve core business objectives.

You will partner closely with Data Center Development, Design & Construction, Engineering, Power & Utilities, Procurement, Supply Chain, Finance, Legal, Commercial, Security, Network, Operations, Project Controls, and Executive Leadership to create a single operating rhythm across complex infrastructure programs. You will be accountable for driving internal alignment, facilitating decision-making, removing blockers, and ensuring teams are coordinated from planning through operational readiness.

The ideal candidate has deep, hands-on experience running strategic programs in data center infrastructure, networking, AI, construction, or mission-critical environments, and has chosen depth of craft over people management. You should be highly effective at influencing without authority, aligning senior stakeholders, translating complexity into clear decisions, and setting the delivery, governance, and controls standards others follow.

What You'll be Doing

Internal Stakeholder Engagement & Alignment

• Act as the central coordination and alignment point across internal and external teams involved in data center infrastructure delivery.
• Build programs from ambiguous ideas and drive real value (financial, timeline, or risk avoidance). From idea to execution, delivery must be in the forefront of your mind.
• Establish clear communication channels, decision forums, escalation paths, and operating rhythms to keep stakeholders aligned across the full delivery lifecycle.
• Drive alignment on program priorities, delivery milestones, ownership, dependencies, risk mitigation plans, and executive decisions required to maintain momentum.
• Proactively identify areas of misalignment, ambiguity, or competing priorities and facilitate resolution with the appropriate stakeholders.
• Translate complex technical, commercial, operational, and financial inputs into clear, actionable plans and decision points for leadership.

Technical Leadership & Mentorship

• Act as the most senior practitioner of physical deployment delivery in the organization, setting the bar for program discipline, communication quality, and stakeholder engagement.
• Mentor and coach program managers and onsite technicians across the business on executive communication, cross-functional influence, issue resolution, and structured decision-making — without formal reporting lines.
• Raise the capability of the wider delivery community through playbooks, templates, reviews, and hands-on coaching on live programs.
• Advise executive leadership on portfolio strategy, delivery risk, and where organisational or process change is needed to sustain pace.
• Promote a delivery culture grounded in service, accountability, transparency, and business impact.
• Experience: 5+ years of experience in a Technical Program Management role, successfully driving large-scale, complex infrastructure or physical deployment projects.
• Technical Domain Knowledge: Strong foundational understanding of data center infrastructure, distributed systems, and networking concepts.
• Program Management Rigor: Proven expertise in modern program management methodologies (Agile, Scrum, PMP certification preferred). Exceptional organizational, communication, and presentation skills.
• Metrics-Driven Approach: Demonstrable experience in defining, tracking, and improving system performance based on operational metrics (e.g., Uptime, Availability, MTTR, SLOs/SLIs).
• Execution in Ambiguity: Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth environment, managing multiple priorities and adapting to evolving technical requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience managing programs related to data center infrastructure build-outs and hardware commissioning processes.
• Specific domain knowledge of AI/HPC infrastructure, including NVIDIA GPUs, InfiniBand/RDMA networks, and the challenges of tightly-coupled systems.
• Experience in a hyperscale or public cloud environment supporting 24/7 mission-critical services.
• Familiarity with SRE principles, automation tooling, and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines for infrastructure.
• A Bachelor's or Master's degree in a technical field (Computer Science, Engineering, etc.) or equivalent practical experience.
• Willingness to travel occasionally to project sites as needed.

Nice to Have

• Experience in hyperscale data center delivery, AI infrastructure, GPU clusters, cloud regions, or high-density compute environments.
• Experience with end-to-end data center lifecycle management, including site development, power, utilities, design, procurement, construction, commissioning, network, security, and operations handoff.
• Familiarity with data center power infrastructure, utility interconnection, substations, generators, switchgear, cooling systems, and MEP dependencies.
• Experience implementing or operating within program delivery tooling such as Smartsheet, Jira, Asana, Monday.com, MS Project, Primavera P6, Power BI, Tableau, or similar systems.
• Experience standing up or scaling a program delivery operating model in a high-growth infrastructure organization.
• PMP, PgMP, Agile, Lean Six Sigma, or similar certification preferred but not required.

What We Can Offer You

• Highly competitive package (base + equity) with reviews every 12 months.
• Join the fastest-growing tech startup — your chance to push boundaries, collaborate with brilliant minds, and make your mark on cutting-edge AI.
• Expect a dynamic progression plan tailored to your ambitions. Grow by trying new things, leading, challenging the status quo, and owning your impact, always with our full support.
• Human-First Flexibility: We treat you as humans first.
• Our flexible workplace trusts Nscalers to deliver, giving you the autonomy to shape your day around life's moments.

The range below reflects the base salary for the position. Actual compensation may vary based on job-related factors such as skill set, experience, education, and location. In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for bonus, equity, and/or commission programs. Nscale may offer a competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, flexible paid time off, parental leave, and retirement plan participation.

Salary Range: $250,000 USD - $303,000 USD

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