SST Systems Architect, Technical Lead

Fluidstack; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 208,000 - 263,000; Full time

Job summary

Fluidstack in San Francisco seeks a senior leader for power conversion to architect end-to-end SST systems and drive MW-scale converter programs. You will own topology decisions, mentor a cross-disciplinary team, and push a high-velocity roadmap that aligns with grid-scale data-center needs.

You will shape semiconductor strategy, collaborate with MVDC interfaces, and cultivate vendor relationships to ensure access to cutting-edge SiC devices.

Qualifications

• 15+ years in power conversion and lead an SST or MV converter program at major research centers or industry leaders.
• Owned converter topology selection, semiconductor strategy, and system trade-offs at MW scale.
• Led converter development teams from architecture through working hardware.
• Knowledge of SiC ecosystem and five‑year semiconductor strategy.

Responsibilities

• Architect the SST end to end, selecting topology and semiconductor strategy with defensible trade-offs.
• Lead power electronics, magnetics, and controls engineers from architecture to hardware.
• Define interfaces with MVDC systems team and clearly delineate system boundaries.
• Develop the program plan and prototype roadmap, including build-vs-partner recommendations.
• Develop vendor and research partnerships to secure devices and test capacity.

Skills

Power conversion

SST leadership

MV converter

System architecture

Tools

SiC devices

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 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 Product Engineering Team

Product Engineering builds the power and cooling systems that let Fluidstack deliver gigawatt-scale AI data centers faster and denser than the grid-standard supply chain allows. The SST group is designing solid-state transformers as a core building block of that power architecture.

Examples Of Key Problems The Team Is Working On

• Architect a medium-voltage solid-state transformer that can be manufactured, serviced, and scaled across gigawatt-scale campuses, not just demonstrated in a lab.
• Define the interface between the SST and the MVDC distribution system, including protection, control boundaries, and fault behavior.
• Build a semiconductor and magnetics supply strategy that survives a thin 10kV SiC market over a multi-year horizon.
• Take converter hardware from topology selection through working prototypes on a schedule that data center construction actually depends on.

Role Scope

• Architect the SST end to end, selecting the topology (ISOP DAB stacks, MMC-based, or another approach) and semiconductor strategy, with every choice defended on efficiency, redundancy, manufacturability, and device availability.
• Lead the power electronics, magnetics, and controls engineers from architecture to working hardware, owning the technical decisions that get prototypes built rather than debated.
• Own the system trade-offs and the interface with the MVDC systems team, writing down exactly where the SST stops and the system begins, precisely enough that both teams can design against it.
• Build the program plan and prototype roadmap, and make the build-vs-partner recommendation honestly, including the case where partnering is the right answer.
• Develop vendor and research partnerships across device makers, labs, and universities that secure the devices, test capacity, and expertise the program needs.

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 have 15+ years in power conversion and have led an SST or MV converter program at the level of ABB/Hitachi Energy research, GE, Delta, EPRI, or a FREEDM/ETH/Aachen lineage lab.
• You've owned converter topology selection, semiconductor strategy, and system trade-offs at MW scale, and can defend the choices you made.
• You've led converter development teams from architecture through working hardware, not just papers or simulations.
• You know the SiC ecosystem well enough to write a five-year semiconductor strategy in a market where 10kV devices barely exist.
• You've lived through a program that died or nearly died, and you know exactly why, and what you'd do differently.
• You can write a 12-month program plan for 8 engineers and defend it line by line.
• Bonus: medium-frequency transformer design depth, MVDC system integration experience, established vendor and university research relationships, or certification exposure for MV power conversion.

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. If there is an error with your submission and you did not receive a confirmation email, please email [e-mail] with your resume/CV, the role you've applied for, and the date you submitted your application-- someone from our recruiting team will be in touch.

Compensation Range: $208K - $263K