# Hardware Operations Lead at Crux

- Company: Crux
- What the company does: Backed by a16z.
- Company website: https://www.cruxdata.com
- Type: Startups
- Level: Senior
- Location: Palo Alto
- Work setup: Remote
- Posted: 2026-09-09
- Apply by: 2026-10-24
- Apply: https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/crux/f4c18960-b78d-45ca-bbdf-376e1f0611eb
- Page: https://www.1752.vc/careers/jobs/crux-hardware-operations-lead/

## About the role

You will own everything inside the rack, physically, across Crux’s entire fleet — the TPU hosts, network switches, optics, cabling, and liquid-cooling manifolds that arrive on a truck and have to become a validated, customer-ready cluster on the date Sales committed.

## What they're looking for

- 10+ years in data center hardware or server operations — deployment, break/fix, and asset lifecycle for large server and network fleets — including 5+ years leading technician teams across shifts and sites in a 24/7 environment
- Built or scaled a hardware operations program through rapid growth: deployment playbooks, spares and RMA programs, DCIM/CMDB discipline with audited inventory accuracy, and vendor or colo remote-hands management under contractual SLAs
- Hardware or server operations leadership at a hyperscaler (Google, AWS, Meta, Microsoft) or neocloud (CoreWeave, Lambda, Nebius, Nscale or similar) during a multi-site deployment ramp
- Direct TPU deployment experience, or large GPU cluster deployments (NVL-class or DGX/HGX-class racks) including burn-in and validation handoff
- DCIM/CMDB administration (NetBox or similar), ITIL/ITSM process design, and comfort with failure-rate and inventory analytics
- Experience with data-bearing device sanitization standards (NIST 800-88), ITAD vendor management, and export-control handling for accelerator hardware

Tags: Technology