Lead, Network Connectivity & Strategy

Fluidstack•Austin, TX

5h•$225,000 - $275,000

About The Position

Fluidstack is seeking a Lead, Network Strategy & Capacity Planning Lead, Network Connectivity & Strategy to own our external connectivity strategy end-to-end — from carrier relationship development and circuit procurement through site selection support, capacity forecasting, and backbone fiber optic topology collaboration. You’ll ensure that every datacenter Fluidstack builds or occupies has diverse, resilient, and on-time connectivity — and that our backbone network scales ahead of demand. This role sits at the intersection of network engineering, infrastructure planning, and commercial execution. You’ll work upstream of deployment teams to secure the connectivity foundation they need, partner with ICT and outside plant teams on fiber path design, and engage directly with carriers and dark fiber providers to negotiate and deliver services on aggressive timelines. Success means Fluidstack never waits on connectivity. When a new datacenter build reaches ready-for-service, diverse fiber paths are already lit. When leadership asks “can we build here?”, you have the connectivity picture within days. When the backbone team needs a new POP, you’ve already mapped candidate locations and provider options.

Requirements

Carrier & Provider Expertise: 7+ years of experience in network capacity planning, carrier relations, circuit procurement, or WAN strategy roles. You have established relationships with major fiber and transport providers and understand how to navigate carrier sales, engineering, and provisioning organizations. You know the difference between a committed information rate and a best-effort handshake, and you’ve negotiated contracts that protect your organization’s interests.
Outside Plant & Fiber Path Fluency: Strong working knowledge of fiber infrastructure — conduit systems, splice points, entrance facilities, and route diversity. You can read a KMZ file and identify whether two fiber paths share conduit, and you know enough about OSP construction to hold carriers and contractors accountable to timelines and quality standards. Experience with fiber characterization (OTDR, power meter testing) is a plus.
Construction & Build Cycle Experience: You’ve managed or closely supported fiber construction projects — permitting, right-of-way, trenching, aerial builds, or lateral construction into datacenters. You understand what drives timeline risk in construction and you build contingency into plans. You’ve delivered connectivity to greenfield sites on deadline.
Strategic Network Thinking: You think beyond individual circuits. You understand how POP placement, carrier diversity, and topology design create resilient backbone networks. You can model trade-offs between dark fiber IRUs vs. lit services, single-provider risk vs. multi-vendor complexity, and speed-to-market vs. long-term cost optimization. You bring a portfolio mindset to connectivity decisions.
Commercial & Negotiation Acumen: Comfortable operating in a commercial context — reviewing MSAs, negotiating SLAs and pricing, managing RFP processes, and evaluating total cost of ownership across multi-year agreements. You know how to create competitive tension between providers and how to structure deals that give your organization flexibility.
Project Management Discipline: You manage dozens of concurrent circuit orders and construction projects without dropping anything. You maintain tracking systems, drive vendor accountability, and communicate status proactively to stakeholders. You’ve operated successfully in environments where multiple datacenter builds happen in parallel and timelines are aggressive.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: You effectively collaborate across network engineering, datacenter operations, ICT/OSP, real estate, finance teams, and other business teams. You translate technical connectivity requirements into commercial actions and business timelines into engineering deliverables. You earn trust by delivering consistently and communicating clearly.

Nice To Haves

Hyperscale or Large-Scale Infrastructure Background: Experience in network capacity or connectivity roles at hyperscale companies, large telcos, or major cloud/AI infrastructure providers. You’ve seen what mature connectivity planning looks like at scale and can adapt those patterns to a fast-growing startup.
Datacenter Site Selection Experience: Direct involvement in datacenter site selection processes, including evaluating fiber infrastructure, utility availability, and interconnection options as part of go/no-go assessments. Experience with GIS tools and fiber mapping platforms.
Peering & IX Experience: Hands-on experience with peering strategy, IX participation, and interconnection economics. Familiarity with PeeringDB, IRR databases, and BGP community-based traffic engineering as it relates to provider selection.
WAN/Backbone Design Background: Experience contributing to backbone network design — POP placement, topology optimization, latency modeling, and capacity planning for national or regional transport networks. DWDM and optical transport familiarity is a plus.
Regulatory & Right-of-Way Knowledge: Familiarity with permitting processes, right-of-way agreements, pole attachment regulations, and the regulatory landscape that affects fiber construction timelines.
Startup Experience: You’ve built something from scratch before — ideally in a high-growth infrastructure or cloud company. You’re comfortable with rapid context switching, evolving requirements, and the intensity of early-stage company building.

Responsibilities

Carrier Strategy & Relationship Management: Own and develop strategic relationships with carriers, dark fiber providers, and connectivity partners (Zayo, Lumen, Crown Castle, Uniti, regional providers). Negotiate master service agreements, IRUs, and circuit contracts. Maintain a carrier matrix that maps provider capabilities, pricing, and lead times across all Fluidstack markets. Be the first call when we need capacity and the person carriers want to work with.
Circuit Procurement & Delivery: Manage the full lifecycle of circuit procurement — from requirements gathering and RFP/RFQ through contract execution, provisioning coordination, and acceptance testing. Procure diverse circuit types including dark fiber, lit wavelengths, DIA, and transport services. Track every circuit from order to turn-up with rigorous project management discipline. Ensure no datacenter launch is blocked by connectivity delays.
Diverse Path Engineering & OSP Coordination: Work with ICT outside plant teams and carrier engineering groups to ensure physically diverse fiber paths are available at and to every Fluidstack facility. Review KMZ files, fiber route maps, and conduit documentation to validate true diversity — not just logical separation. Understand entrance facility constraints, meet-me rooms, and demarcation architecture. Identify single points of failure before they become incidents.
Fiber Build Cycle Management: For sites requiring construction (new conduit, lateral builds, fiber extensions), own the planning and tracking of the build cycle end-to-end. Coordinate with carriers, construction crews, and permitting authorities. Understand typical construction timelines (permitting, trenching, splicing, testing) and build buffers into project plans. Ensure connectivity delivery aligns with datacenter construction milestones.
Backbone & POP Strategy: Participate in Fluidstack’s backbone network design by evaluating and recommending POP locations based on carrier density, interconnection options, latency targets, and cost. Assess colocation facilities for backbone node placement. Model capacity requirements and plan circuit augmentation ahead of demand. Provide the connectivity intelligence that shapes where and how Fluidstack builds its national network.
Peering & Interconnection Strategy: Support peering conversations with ISPs, content networks, cloud providers, and IX operators. Evaluate peering economics and interconnection options at candidate facilities. Coordinate cross-connect procurement and LOA workflows. Ensure Fluidstack’s interconnection strategy supports both current traffic patterns and future growth.
Site Selection Support: Serve as the connectivity subject matter expert during datacenter site selection. Evaluate candidate sites for fiber availability, provider diversity, proximity to backbone infrastructure, and construction feasibility. Produce connectivity assessments that inform go/no-go decisions. Ensure connectivity considerations are weighted appropriately alongside power, cooling, and real estate factors.
Capacity Planning & Forecasting: Build and maintain capacity models that project circuit utilization, identify augmentation triggers, and forecast procurement lead times. Establish early warning systems for capacity thresholds. Ensure Fluidstack always has runway between current utilization and circuit capacity — proactive procurement, not reactive scrambles.