Senior Lab Ops Engineer — AI Hardware & Networking

Upscale AI; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 205,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Upscale AI is hiring a hands‑on Lab Operations lead to run day‑to‑day lab activities, manage racks, switches, and servers, and ensure projects stay on schedule. You will own asset tracking, forecasting, and procurement workflows, partnering with engineering and facilities to scale operations efficiently.

This role requires deep lab infrastructure experience, strong networking fundamentals, and the ability to physically handle hardware in data centers or colocations as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a technical field or equivalent hands‑on experience.
• 10–12 years of hands‑on experience in lab operations or similar roles.
• Demonstrated hands‑on experience with servers, racks, switches and lab equipment; not a desk role.
• Ability to rack and stack hardware, move and lift equipment, and travel to data centers or on‑site facilities.
• Strong networking fundamentals and ability to own connectivity and systems issues independently.
• Proven track record in planning lab needs with stakeholders and forecasting capacity.
• Experience building tracking systems and running physical audits.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day lab operations across software and hardware labs; receive, commission, deploy equipment, and maintain health and schedules.
• Partner with lab owners to forecast lab capacity, equipment needs, and infrastructure requirements.
• Install, configure, and maintain servers, switches, and lab network infrastructure; troubleshoot issues directly.
• Build and maintain tracking dashboards and asset databases; manage vendor relationships and procurement workflows.
• Triage and prioritize engineering requests; coordinate with hardware, firmware and validation teams to keep projects moving.

Skills

Lab operations

Hardware procurement

Vendor management

Project coordination

Networking fundamentals

Cross-functional communication

Inventory management

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Servers

Switches

Rack hardware

Asset dashboards

Job description

Upscale AI is hiring a hands‑on Lab Operations lead to run day‑to‑day lab activities, manage racks, switches, and servers, and ensure projects stay on schedule. You will own asset tracking, forecasting, and procurement workflows, partnering with engineering and facilities to scale operations efficiently.

This role requires deep lab infrastructure experience, strong networking fundamentals, and the ability to physically handle hardware in data centers or colocations as needed.