Operations Lead, R&D

Fluidstack•Austin, TX

6d•$229,000 - $271,000

About The Position

Fluidstack is building civilization-scale infrastructure for AI, aiming to deliver 10 to 100s of GWs of compute faster than anyone else. This role represents operations within R&D, ensuring that designs are operable from the outset. The Operations Lead will own operability requirements, build the foundation for Operations & Maintenance (O&M) for new designs, and run operability reviews on every release. The company values extreme ownership, velocity, first principles thinking, and a passion for the problem space, often involving long hours at high intensity.

Requirements

Operated critical facilities: data centers, plants, or heavy industrial sites.
Influenced design from the operations seat and won the arguments that mattered.
Write procedures technicians actually follow.
Know what maintainability costs when it's missing.
Translate field pain into engineering requirements.

Nice To Haves

Data center operations depth.
CMMS and maintenance strategy.
Commissioning participation.
Startup site experience.

Responsibilities

Represent operations inside R&D: the voice of the people who will run the design, embedded before it's built.
Own operability requirements: maintenance access, sparing, and procedures designed in, with vetoes exercised.
Build the O&M foundation for new designs: procedures, training outlines, and staffing models drafted with the design.
Run operability reviews on every release: what breaks at 3am, and whether a technician can actually fix it.