Founding Operations Manager

Madrone•San Francisco, CA

2d•$125,000 - $150,000•Onsite

About The Position

Madrone is building the thermal infrastructure required for artificial intelligence to tackle humanity’s most complex challenges - from curing cancer to achieving room-temperature superconductivity. Power is the primary constraint on data center growth, and currently up to 40% of power is lost to cooling at current GW-scale sites. Madrone’s first product is a modular, hyper-efficient facility water cooling system for hyperscale data centers. It allows cooling to the dew point, lower than anyone else can without using mechanical chillers. We’re assembling an exceptional team to push the frontier of heat rejection on Earth. We are hiring a Founding Operations Manager to build and run the physical operations that turn Madrone’s technology into deployed, reliable infrastructure. You will own the operational backbone of the company: setting up our R&D facility, coordinating suppliers and shipments, managing inventory and equipment, and supporting installation and maintenance at customer sites. You will create the processes that allow a small engineering team to move quickly without losing track of critical details. This is a highly hands-on role. On any given day, you might negotiate with a supplier, receive a freight delivery, organize a prototype build, resolve an equipment issue, or travel to a customer site to coordinate maintenance. You will work directly with the founders and have substantial influence over how Madrone builds, deploys, and supports its products.

Requirements

Experience managing physical operations in a hardware, industrial, manufacturing, construction, logistics, or field-service environment.
A track record of coordinating complex projects involving suppliers, equipment, shipping, facilities, and tight deadlines.
Strong organizational and project-management skills, with exceptional attention to detail.
Comfort working around mechanical and electrical equipment and learning unfamiliar technical systems.
The resourcefulness to solve practical problems with limited time, information, and infrastructure.
Sound judgment about when to build a process, when to improvise, and when to escalate.
The ability to communicate clearly with engineers, suppliers, contractors, customers, and company leadership.
Willingness to work primarily in person and travel regularly to customer and supplier sites.
Ability to safely perform hands-on work in R&D and industrial environments.

Nice To Haves

Have managed physical operations in a hardware, industrial, manufacturing, construction, logistics, or field-service environment.
Have helped set up a laboratory, workshop, warehouse, manufacturing facility, or industrial workspace.
Naturally take ownership of everything required to get a physical project across the finish line.
Enjoy bringing order to fast-moving, ambiguous environments.
Notice operational details before they become expensive problems.
Are equally comfortable coordinating suppliers, planning a deployment, and helping unload equipment.
Stay calm and resourceful when plans change or something breaks.
Build straightforward systems that help teams move faster.
Have experience with procurement, inventory, freight, equipment installation, commissioning, maintenance, or field service.
Are comfortable working with engineers, contractors, suppliers, customers, and permitting or utility partners.
Want to see your work deployed at gigawatt scale.
Care deeply about increasing the efficiency of AI infrastructure.

Responsibilities

Establish and manage Madrone’s R&D facility, including equipment, utilities, workspace, vendors, access, maintenance, and day-to-day operations.
Coordinate purchasing, freight, receiving, storage, and delivery of components and equipment.
Build systems for procurement, inventory management, asset tracking, documentation, and operational planning.
Develop strong working relationships with fabricators, contract manufacturers, component suppliers, freight providers, and other operational partners.
Track supplier commitments, lead times, costs, and risks to ensure parts arrive when the engineering team needs them.
Coordinate the operational aspects of prototype builds, system assembly, testing, and field deployments.
Plan and support installations, commissioning, preventative maintenance, repairs, and service visits at customer sites.
Travel to customer and supplier locations to solve problems and keep projects moving.
Manage contractors and service providers across facilities, logistics, fabrication, and field operations.
Establish practical safety, training, and incident-response procedures for the R&D facility and field work.
Maintain clear operating records, checklists, schedules, budgets, and project updates.
Identify recurring operational problems and turn their solutions into lightweight, repeatable processes.
Help hire and develop Madrone’s operations, supply-chain, manufacturing, and field-service functions as the company grows.