Technical Program Manager, Infrastructure Delivery

Lightning-Ai; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

Equity (RSUs)

401(k) matching

Unlimited PTO

Winter break

Parental leave

Learning & development allowance

Wellness stipend

Sabbatical

Job summary

Lightning AI is seeking a Technical Program Manager to join the Infrastructure Delivery team. You will own and drive cross-functional programs spanning compute, network, storage, hardware, and data center operations, partnering with Senior TPMs to deliver end-to-end infrastructure initiatives.

You will develop program depth across datacenter and AI infrastructure, influence planning, and ensure on-time execution while navigating evolving requirements in a fast-paced, startup-like environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in Technical Program Management, infrastructure program management, or similar.
• Experience driving programs within infrastructure, cloud, platform, SRE, systems, networking, hardware, or datacenter environments.
• Strong program management fundamentals: project planning, milestones, critical path, dependencies, RAID, stakeholder management.
• Ability to understand technical architecture, requirements, and dependencies without needing to be the engineer implementing them.
• Proven ability to drive execution across multiple technical teams without direct authority.
• Comfortable with evolving requirements, priorities, ownership, and processes.
• High learning agility and interest in developing expertise across datacenter and AI infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Own defined infrastructure workstreams, milestones, dependencies, risks, decisions, and deliverables within larger programs.
• Drive day-to-day execution across engineering, operations, vendors, and external partners.
• Build and maintain project plans, critical paths, dependencies, RAID logs, and execution status.
• Coordinate across Infrastructure Engineering, Network, DC Operations, Platform, Security, Hardware, and other teams.
• Connect engineering execution in Jira to broader infrastructure milestones and delivery commitments.
• Identify blockers and cross-functional dependencies early and drive them through resolution.
• Support hardware deployments, network and storage initiatives, datacenter expansions, migrations, and capacity growth.
• Provide clear, concise updates on progress, risks, decisions, and mitigation plans.
• Help improve Infra Delivery processes, tooling, documentation, and execution frameworks.
• Progressively take on broader scope toward independently leading end-to-end infrastructure programs.

Skills

Technical Program Management

Infrastructure experience

Strong communicator

Cross-functional leadership

Learning agility

Tools

Jira

Smartsheet

Job description

Technical Program Manager, Infrastructure Delivery

Who We Are

Lightning AI is the company behind PyTorch Lightning. Founded in 2019, we build an end-to-end platform for developing, training, and deploying AI systems—designed to take ideas from research to production with less friction.

Through our merger with Voltage Park, a neocloud and AI Factory, Lightning AI combines developer-first software with cost-efficient, large-scale compute. Teams get the tools they need for experimentation, training, and production inference, with security, observability, and control built in.

We serve solo researchers, startups, and large enterprises. Lightning AI operates globally with offices in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and London, and is backed by Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Firstminute.

The Way We Work

The people who thrive here are builders who move fast, communicate openly, take ownership, and continuously improve themselves, their teams, and our company. Here's what that looks like in practice:

• Move with Urgency: We move quickly, make thoughtful decisions, and keep momentum. We value action over perfection and learn by shipping.
• Take Ownership: We own outcomes, not just our individual work. We make decisions that move the company forward and follow through.
• Communicate Openly: We communicate directly, seek to understand, and create clarity for others. Honest conversations help us move faster together.
• Build Great Teams: We lead by example, empower others, and create healthy teams where people can do their best work.
• Raise the Bar: We're always improving ourselves. We learn from feedback, consistently challenge ourselves to grow, and focus on the work that matters most.
• Think Long-Term: We design for what's next. We create scalable systems, simplify complexity, and use AI and automation to amplify our impact.

About the Role

We are seeking a Technical Program Manager to join our Infrastructure Delivery team and help drive programs across compute, network, storage, hardware, platform engineering, and data center operations.

You'll work alongside Senior Infrastructure TPMs on complex datacenter and AI infrastructure deployments, taking direct ownership of defined workstreams while developing broader end-to-end infrastructure expertise. Over time, you'll expand your scope to independently lead programs from datacenter readiness through compute deployment to customer handoff.

You do not need to have already led a large-scale GPU cluster deployment or a greenfield data center build. We're looking for strong infrastructure experience, solid TPM fundamentals, technical curiosity, and the ability to learn new domains quickly.

What You’ll Do

• Own defined infrastructure workstreams, milestones, dependencies, risks, decisions, and deliverables within larger programs
• Drive day-to-day execution across engineering, operations, vendors, and external partners
• Build and maintain project plans, critical paths, dependencies, RAID, and execution status
• Coordinate across Infrastructure Engineering, Network, DC Operations, Platform, Security, Hardware, and other teams
• Connect engineering execution in Jira to broader infrastructure milestones and delivery commitments
• Identify blockers and cross-functional dependencies early and drive them through resolution
• Support hardware deployments, network and storage initiatives, datacenter expansions, migrations, and capacity growth
• Develop enough technical depth across workstreams to ask the right questions, understand dependencies, and challenge delivery assumptions
• Provide clear, concise updates on progress, risks, decisions, and mitigation plans
• Help improve Infra Delivery processes, tooling, documentation, and execution frameworks
• Progressively take on broader scope toward independently leading end-to-end infrastructure programs

Who You Are

• 5+ years of experience in Technical Program Management, infrastructure program/project management, or similar
• Experience driving programs within infrastructure, cloud, platform, SRE, systems, networking, hardware, or datacenter environments
• Strong program management fundamentals, including project planning, milestones, critical path, dependencies, RAID logs, and stakeholder management
• Able to understand technical architecture, requirements, and dependencies without needing to be the engineer implementing them
• Proven ability to drive execution across multiple technical teams without direct authority
• Comfortable getting into the details while maintaining visibility into the broader program outcome
• Strong communicator who creates clarity across engineering, operations, vendors, and leadership
• Comfortable operating where requirements, priorities, ownership, and processes are evolving
• High learning agility and interest in developing expertise across datacenter and AI infrastructure

Ideal Experience

• Experience supporting compute, network, storage, cloud infrastructure, hardware deployment, or capacity expansion programs
• Experience working with hardware vendors, colocation providers, VARs, or external partners
• Experience coordinating programs through Smartsheet
• Experience coordinating engineering execution through Jira
• Familiarity with infrastructure capacity planning or hardware lifecycle management
• Exposure to GPU infrastructure, AI/ML infrastructure, HPC, or distributed systems
• Experience in a startup, high-growth company, or similarly fast-moving technical environment

We are committed to offering competitive compensation that reflects the value each team member brings to our mission. Final offers are based on factors such as experience, skills, geographic location, and role expectations. In addition to base salary, our total rewards package for eligible roles includes a discretionary bonus, a meaningful equity component, and comprehensive benefits.

The anticipated annual base salary range for this role is:

$160,000 - $220,000 USD

Benefits and Perks

We offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support our employees’ health, well-being, and long-term success:

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and eligible dependents.
• Meaningful Equity: RSUs that give employees a stake in the company's long-term success.
• Retirement Savings: 401(k) matching (U.S.) and pension contributions (U.K.).
• Flexible Time Off: Unlimited PTO, company holidays, and floating holidays to support work-life balance.
• Company-Wide Winter Break: Two weeks of company closure each winter to disconnect and recharge.
• Paid Parental & Family Leave: Paid leave to support you and your family through life's important moments.
• Professional Development: Annual learning and development allowance to support your professional growth.
• Wellness Benefits: Wellness and work-from-home stipends to support your physical and mental well-being.
• Sabbatical Program: Four weeks of paid sabbatical leave after four years of service.
• Flexible Work: Flexible schedules and a hybrid work model for our office-based teams.
• In-Office Meals: Complimentary meals at our office hubs.

Benefits may vary by location, team, and role.

At Lightning AI, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe that diverse teams drive innovation and create better products. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We are dedicated to building a culture where everyone can thrive and contribute to their fullest potential.