Data Center Operations Manager

Nexthop Systems Inc; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A dynamic technology company in Santa Clara is seeking an experienced professional to manage lab infrastructure and deployments across multiple engineering teams. The ideal candidate has over 5 years of experience in lab administration or IT infrastructure management, strong networking knowledge, and exemplary communication skills. Join us to help shape and optimize our cutting-edge lab environments.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in lab administration or IT infrastructure management.
• Experience in the design and implementation of datacenters.
• Solid understanding of TCP/IP, VLANs, routing, switching.
• Familiarity with lab automation tools and scripting languages is a plus.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

• Own all aspects of lab deployments for multiple engineering teams.
• Design, implement, and maintain robust and scalable lab setups.
• Manage vendor relationships for lab equipment and services.

Skills

Lab administration

IT infrastructure management

Networking principles

Python

Bash

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or Electrical Engineering

Job description

Overview

Nexthop AI is a team of industry-leading professionals with deep hardware and software expertise spanning silicon, systems, network operations and cloud development, dedicated to building innovative, bleeding-edge solutions for large-scale AI deployments. The team culture thrives on collaboration, creativity and fun while delivering foundational technologies for next-generation AI infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Own all aspects of lab deployments for multiple eng teams (Software, Test, POC, Hardware), from initial setup and configuration to ongoing maintenance and optimization of lab infrastructure.
  • Collaborate closely with engineering teams to understand their lab requirements and provide tailored solutions.
  • Design, implement, and maintain robust and scalable lab setups, including network infrastructure, server systems, power & cable management, specialized equipment, and software tools.
  • Maintain environment to high standards for customer or partner visits and minimize outages by maintaining the lab at ideal operating conditions
  • Regularly document asset information and topologies and manage downtimes
  • Collaborate with IT to adhere to corporate policies and have security patches or upgrades rolled out in a timely fashion
• Play a key role in shaping the lab's evolution within a growing company – contribute to establishing best practices, challenge existing processes, and help define the future of the lab infrastructure.
  • Implement planning and forecasting for growth and manage inventory of servers, networking gear, cables/optics and other lab equipment to ensure availability, and operational efficiency
• Manage vendor relationships for lab equipment and services, ensuring cost-effectiveness and timely delivery.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Electrical Engineering, or a related field with a minimum of 5 years of experience in lab administration or IT infrastructure management.
• Experience in the design and implementation of datacenters including power management, rack selection and cabling/optics technologies.
• Solid understanding of networking principles and technologies (e.g., TCP/IP, VLANs, routing, switching).
• Familiarity with lab automation tools and scripting languages (e.g., Python, Bash) is a plus.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with technical teams and solid organizational skills is a must.
• Comfortable taking initiative, asking clarifying questions, and driving solutions within a fast-paced environment.

Why Us

Our company bolsters all the advantages of working at a startup with the expertise of a seasoned team who have successfully built startups into thriving companies. Here you’ll have the unique opportunity to enable our growth and define datacenter standards, establish best practices from the ground up, and directly influence the direction of our infrastructure. If you are excited to implement cutting-edge labs that look like data centers and define operational best practice and be a part of shaping a burgeoning company, this is the place for you.