Senior Staff Optics Engineer, Network Qualification & Strategy

Crusoe•Sunnyvale, CA

34d•$250,000 - $300,000•Onsite

About The Position

Crusoe is building the physical and software backbone that powers the world's most demanding AI workloads, and our networking team sits at the center of that mission — designing and operating the high-performance fabrics that connect thousands of GPUs into unified compute clusters. As Sr. Staff Optics Engineer, Network Qualification & Strategy, you will own the technical strategy, qualification, and lifecycle management of optical transceivers and interconnect technologies across Crusoe's data center fleet. This is a highly visible, cross-functional role that directly influences network reliability, cost, and scalability at a moment when optics choices (400G, 800G, and beyond) are among the most consequential decisions in AI infrastructure build-outs. The ideal candidate is a deeply technical optics/networking expert who thrives at the intersection of hardware engineering, vendor strategy, and operational rigor — someone equally comfortable in a lab characterizing signal integrity as they are in a boardroom negotiating a multi-year supply agreement. This is a full-time position reporting into Networking Engineering, with the opportunity to shape optics strategy from the ground up as Crusoe scales its global fleet.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field (Master's or PhD preferred).
10+ years of experience in optical networking, with direct hands-on experience qualifying transceivers/optics for hyperscale or large-scale data center environments.
Deep technical expertise in optical interconnect technologies (SR/DR/FR/LR optics, DAC/AOC, coherent DWDM) and signal integrity fundamentals for high-speed Ethernet (100G/400G/800G).
Proven experience building and running hardware qualification programs, including test plan design, lab test execution, and statistical reliability analysis.
Track record of managing vendor relationships and technical negotiations with optics/component suppliers at scale.
Strong understanding of data center network architectures (leaf-spine, rail-optimized GPU fabrics) and how optics choices impact overall fabric design.
Excellent cross-functional communication skills, with experience influencing engineering, procurement, and executive stakeholders.
Demonstrated ability to operate independently in a fast-paced, high-growth environment with evolving priorities.

Nice To Haves

Experience with AI/ML cluster networking (InfiniBand, RoCEv2) and GPU-to-GPU interconnect requirements.
Familiarity with co-packaged optics (CPO) or linear-drive pluggable optics (LPO) architectures.
Active participation in industry standards bodies (OIF, IEEE 802.3, CWDM8/QSFP-DD MSA groups).
Experience with automated optics testing/validation frameworks and telemetry-driven fleet health monitoring.
Prior experience in a hyperscaler, cloud provider, or optical component supplier environment.

Responsibilities

Design and run the end-to-end qualification process for optical transceivers, cables, and interconnects (DAC/AOC/pluggable optics), including signal integrity, thermal, interoperability, and long-term reliability testing.
Define Crusoe's multi-generation optics strategy (400G → 800G → 1.6T), evaluating emerging technologies like linear pluggable optics (LPO), co-packaged optics (CPO), and coherent DWDM for scale-out and scale-across fabrics.
Own relationships with optics and component vendors, driving RFQs, cost negotiations, second-source strategies, and supply chain risk mitigation to ensure availability at scale.
Lead root cause analysis for optics-related field failures, partnering with vendors and internal ops teams to drive corrective actions and improve fleet-wide reliability.
Collaborate closely with SDN, physical network design, data center operations, and procurement teams to align optics selection with fabric architecture and deployment timelines.
Represent Crusoe in industry standards bodies and multi-source agreements (MSAs) relevant to optical interconnects, ensuring the company's requirements are reflected in evolving specs.
Build qualification test plans, acceptance criteria, and technical documentation that scale across the organization and inform build partners and vendors.
Partner with finance and supply chain to model optics cost curves and capacity needs against Crusoe's data center growth plans.