HPC Data Center Ops Engineer

ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO COMPUTE San Francisco Compute exists to give ambitious teams large scale supercomputers without taking on a catastrophic balance sheet risk. Most GPU clouds force you to sign long term contracts with no way out. If you underbuy, you miss the window. If you overbuy, you’ll blow up with no way out. It’s a desperate gamble that San Francisco Compute does not force you to play.   Originally, SFC was an AI lab that bought too big of a GPU cluster and was forced to sublease it or go under. Today, we build data centers and supercomputers, then lease those machines on contracts that let our customers sublease. More than anyone else in the industry, we deeply felt the pain and fear of being forced to bet the farm with your neocloud vendor. To enable subleasing, we invented the first compute market and became the first to offer physical settlement. That means we operate GPU clusters like a neocloud and derisk our customers like a market.   Customers buying GPU clusters don’t want to work through a network of brokers. They want to transact with the folks that have the keys to the cluster and can own the SLA.   To keep the industry safe from unnecessary risk, SFC needs to scale fast. To do that, we serve financially motivated parties as a technical partner to build, operate, & lease supercomputers on their behalf. Basically, we help folks who want an economic return build GPU clusters on their balance sheet, but operated in full by us. That lets us retain the technical control needed to run a cloud while scaling fast like a market. SFC’s ability to offer subleasing can significantly increase the levered returns for cluster owners.   Our hybrid model outperforms brokered contracts or other “compute markets,” which have to go through a network of counterparties to solve problems. It also lets us design custom solutions for our customers, like clusters deployed in regions next to your dataset or physical eval set or a large CPU fleet deployed colocated with your GPU cluster.   Our team includes senior & technical leadership from places like Lambda, Crusoe, Digital Ocean, AWS, and Hut8. Our CTO is the cofounder and former CEO of Voltage Park. In prior roles, our team has deployed 8GW of datacenter capacity & hundreds of thousands of GPUs. We’ve been described as having “the highest talent density in the space.” If you are an honorable, gritty person with eyes wide open & good epistemics, who wants to see AI go right, we’d love to work with you. There has never been a more critical moment in history and it is up to us to shape it on behalf of those who come after us. ABOUT THE ROLE Our clusters don’t run themselves. Someone has to pull the failed tray, chase the bad optic that’s flapping a link at 3am, and make sure the spare was already on the shelf before anyone needed it. That’s this role, and it’s as hands-on as it gets. From racking and commissioning systems to replacing failed components, managing fiber, transceivers, liquid cooling, and maintaining accurate asset records. You’ll also manage procurement, including BOMs, vendor quotes, lead times, spares, warranties, and RMAs. Around 80% of the role focuses on data center operations and procurement, with 20% supporting office IT. Regular visits to local facilities and occasional travel to remote sites are required. You’ll work with cutting-edge infrastructure, including HGX/DGX-class GPU systems, InfiniBand and 400G+ networks, high-density power, and liquid cooling. As part of a small team, you’ll also help establish standards, develop runbooks, and mentor future team members. ABOUT YOU - You have 5+ years in data center operations, infrastructure support, or systems administration, with real hands-on hardware and cabling responsibility - You know fiber — high-density trunks and breakouts, end-face inspection and cleaning, transceiver swaps — and you can tell a dirty connector from a dying optic - You’ve replaced server FRUs and racked, cabled, and commissioned equipment, and you work safely in and around energized racks - You’ve bought hardware, not just installed it: BOMs, vendor quotes, POs, receiving, warranty, and RMAs are familiar territory - You keep inventory and asset records that would survive an audit, across more than one site - You’re comfortable with TCP/IP, DHCP, DNS, VLANs, out-of-band management (IPMI, iDRAC, iLO, Redfish), and the Linux command line - You’re open to occasional travel to remote sites and to after-hours maintenance windows when the work requires it SOME NICE TO HAVES - Experience in HPC, GPU, or other high-density compute environments, including HGX- or DGX-class platforms and rack-scale designs - Experience with InfiniBand or high-rate Ethernet at 400G and above - Experience with liquid cooling — CDUs, manifolds, and direct-to-chip cold plates - Colocation experience and familiarity with the tenant/operator relationship - NetBox or similar DCIM, and procurement or ERP systems - Scripting for automation and inventory reconciliation (Bash, Python, or PowerShell) - Enterprise wireless (Meraki, Ubiquiti, Aruba, Mist), MDM (Jamf, Intune, Kandji), and identity providers (Okta, Google Workspace, Entra ID) - Certifications such as CompTIA Server+, Cisco CCNA, or NVIDIA credentials PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS This job is physical. With or without reasonable accommodation, you’ll need to lift and position equipment up to 50 lbs unassisted (heavier chassis by team lift), work at elevation and in confined spaces behind racks, stand and walk for extended periods, handle fine motor work with optics and liquid-cooling quick-disconnects, work in sustained cold-aisle temperatures and elevated noise (hearing protection provided), read small-format labels and status indicators, and wear required PPE. BENEFITS GENEROUS EQUITY GRANT Team members are offered a competitive salary along with equity in the company VISA SPONSORSHIPS Yes, we sponsor visas and work permits RETIREMENT MATCHING We match 401(k) plans up to 4% MEDICAL, DENTAL & VISION We offer highly competitive medical, dental, vision insurance for employees and dependents. TIME OFF We offer unlimited paid time off as well as 10+ observed holidays PARENTAL LEAVE We offer biological, adoptive, and foster parents paid time off to spend quality time with family DAILY LUNCH We cover lunch daily for employees UNLIMITED OFFICE BOOK BUDGET You can buy as many books for the office as you want The San Francisco Compute Company is committed to maintaining a workplace free from discrimination and harassment. We make employment decisions based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, belief, national origin, social or ethical origin, age, physical, mental, or sensory disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, civil union or domestic partnership status, past or present military service, HIV status, family medical history or genetic information, family or parental status including pregnancy, or any other status protected by law. We welcome the opportunity to consider qualified applicants with prior arrest or conviction records. Our commitment to diversity includes hiring talented individuals regardless of their criminal history, in accordance with local, state, and federal laws, including San Francisco’s Fair Chance Ordinance and California’s ban-the-box laws.