Rack Systems Architect, Technical Lead

Fluidstack; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 208,000 - 263,000; Full time

Job summary

Fluidstack is seeking a senior Rack Systems Architect to own the rack as a product for 150kW-class deployments: define power budgets, cooling architecture, interconnect topology, and serviceability. You will write interface control documents between rack and facility and lead EE, ME, and thermal engineers, running design reviews to catch faults before field deployment.

The role requires 10+ years in rack-scale architecture at hyperscalers or AI hardware companies, with a proven track record

Qualifications

• 10+ years in system architecture of rack-scale compute at a hyperscaler, NVIDIA-ecosystem ODM, or AI systems company.
• You've owned a rack as a product end to end: power budget, cooling architecture, interconnect topology, weight, transport, and serviceability.
• You've shipped dense liquid-cooled rack-scale products, NVL-class or equivalent.
• You've led the EE, ME, and thermal engineers who executed your architecture, not just advised them.
• You've written interface control documents that let both sides of a boundary move independently, and you've seen what happens when they don't.
• You hold a defensible view on copper versus optics for scale-up interconnect at 200G+ per lane, and you can argue where the crossover sits.

Responsibilities

• Own the rack as a product for 150kW-class deployments: architecture, power budget, cooling, interconnect topology, structure, and serviceability, with tradeoffs made explicitly and defended on the record.
• Write and hold the interface control documents between rack and facility, precise enough that power, liquid, and network teams can each move independently without breaking the boundary.
• Lead the rack EE, ME, thermal, and integration engineers, owning the architecture they execute and the technical calls that unblock them.
• Run design reviews where a 7-person team catches what a 70-person team would, so faults die in review rather than in the field.
• Align the rack roadmap with accelerator vendors and Fluidstack's facility architecture, so each rack generation lands in a facility built to receive it.

Skills

Rack-scale compute

System architecture

Lead engineers

Interface control documents

Dense liquid-cooled racks

NVL-class rack

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 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 acquire power, design and build data centres, 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

• 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.

The Rack Systems Team

Rack Systems owns the rack as a product: the unit of compute that Fluidstack designs, integrates, and deploys into gigawatt-scale AI data centres.

Examples Of Key Problems The Team Is Working On

• Architect 150kW-class liquid-cooled racks where power, thermal, weight, and interconnect budgets all bind at once and every tradeoff shows up somewhere else in the system.
• Define and hold the interfaces between rack and facility so power, liquid, and network can each evolve without forcing a redesign of the other side.
• Keep the rack roadmap ahead of accelerator vendor roadmaps, so the next generation of dense compute lands in facilities designed before that hardware existed.
• Run a small engineering team with the review rigor of a large one, catching design faults before they reach integration.

Role Scope

• Own the rack as a product for 150kW-class liquid-cooled deployments: architecture, power budget, cooling, interconnect topology, structure, and serviceability, with tradeoffs made explicitly and defended on the record.
• Write and hold the interface control documents between rack and facility, precise enough that power, liquid, and network teams can each move independently without breaking the boundary.
• Lead the rack EE, ME, thermal, and integration engineers, owning the architecture they execute and the technical calls that unblock them.
• Run design reviews where a 7-person team catches what a 70-person team would, so faults die in review rather than in the field.
• Align the rack roadmap with accelerator vendors and Fluidstack's facility architecture, so each rack generation lands in a facility built to receive it.

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.

• 10+ years in system architecture of rack-scale compute at a hyperscaler, NVIDIA-ecosystem ODM, or AI systems company.
• You've owned a rack as a product end to end: power budget, cooling architecture, interconnect topology, weight, transport, and serviceability.
• You've shipped dense liquid-cooled rack-scale products, NVL-class or equivalent.
• You've led the EE, ME, and thermal engineers who executed your architecture, not just advised them.
• You've traded real things away on a shipping rack and taken the pushback that came with it.
• You write interface control documents that let both sides of a boundary move independently, and you've seen what happens when they don't.
• You hold a defensible view on copper versus optics for scale-up interconnect at 200G+ per lane, and you can argue where the crossover sits.
• Bonus: NVL-class rack programs, transport and seismic qualification, facility-side liquid cooling fluency, or direct engagement with accelerator vendor roadmaps.

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.

Compensation Range: $208K - $263K