---
title: 'Principal AI Systems Engineer - Highrise AI at Hut 8'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-ai-systems-engineer-highrise-ai-hut-8-remote-01q3avhr8qqm'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-17'
---

# Principal AI Systems Engineer - Highrise AI at Hut 8

- **Company:** Hut 8
- **Location:** Remote
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-10-16
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-17
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/hut8/jobs/5455342008

## Job description

## About Highrise AI

Highrise AI is a GPU-native infrastructure platform built for modern AI workloads. Designed for developers and enterprises operating in performance-critical and security-sensitive environments, Highrise delivers scalable GPU compute across dedicated clusters, managed cloud, and confidential environments.

Highrise combines bare-metal performance with full-stack orchestration, API-driven access, and hardware-enforced isolation to support training, fine-tuning, and production-scale deployment of AI models. From reserved GPU capacity to enterprise-grade confidential compute, Highrise provides flexible infrastructure models tailored to the needs of builders operating at scale.

Beyond infrastructure, Highrise integrates disciplined operations, advanced automation, and on-site engineering expertise to sustain high uptime and predictable performance across deployments. These capabilities extend beyond Highrise-owned fleets: through managed services, Highrise also operates third-party GPU hardware on behalf of customers and partners, applying the same operational standards to infrastructure it does not own.

Highrise is a subsidiary of Hut 8 Corp., an energy infrastructure platform. Hut 8 integrates power, digital infrastructure, and compute at scale. Highrise serves as the compute and operations layer—designing, deploying, and operating next-generation GPU clusters from commissioning through production.

## ROLE OVERVIEW

We are seeking a principal-level, hands-on AI Systems Engineer to design, deploy, integrate, and operate the supporting infrastructure required for large-scale AI compute clusters. Working alongside senior compute, networking, and infrastructure engineers, this person will lead the deployment and configuration of general-purpose compute, virtualization, high-performance storage, infrastructure services, identity management, and security platforms.

The engineer will be responsible for bringing these systems from initial installation through integration, validation, and production acceptance. Following deployment, this person will provide Tier 3 technical escalation, advanced troubleshooting, and ongoing optimization of production infrastructure.

## KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Systems Infrastructure Deployment and Integration

- Lead deployment and configuration of general-purpose x86 servers, Linux operating systems, virtualization platforms, and supporting infrastructure services.
- Design, deploy, and manage virtualized infrastructure using VMware, KVM, Proxmox, or equivalent technologies.
- Implement and maintain automated bare-metal provisioning, imaging, firmware management, and configuration workflows.
- Deploy and integrate core infrastructure services, including DNS, DHCP, NTP, IPAM, and DCIM platforms such as Infoblox and NetBox.
- Establish standardized configurations, infrastructure baselines, and scalable deployment procedures across multiple AI cluster environments.

Storage Infrastructure and Performance

- Deploy, configure, and optimize high-performance storage platforms, including WEKA, VAST Data, and other distributed storage solutions.
- Implement and manage file, object, and block storage services, including NFS and S3-compatible interfaces.
- Validate storage availability, performance, capacity, resilience, and integration with GPU compute environments.
- Troubleshoot storage performance bottlenecks, connectivity issues, filesystem errors, and distributed storage failures.
- Coordinate with storage vendors and engineering teams on deployment, acceptance testing, upgrades, and performance optimization.

Identity, Security, and Infrastructure Automation

- Deploy and maintain identity and access management services, including Active Directory/LDAP, SSO, SAML/OIDC, and role-based access control (RBAC).
- Integrate security and compliance infrastructure, including firewalls, access gateways, vulnerability scanning, logging, and audit systems.
- Implement automated provisioning, configuration management, and infrastructure-as-code solutions using Ansible, Terraform, Python, or equivalent tools.
- Establish secure administrative access, authentication, authorization, and privileged access management across infrastructure platforms.
- Partner with security and compliance teams to implement infrastructure controls, system hardening, access policies, and audit requirements.

Systems Validation and Production Acceptance

- Lead integration testing and operational acceptance of supporting infrastructure prior to commercial cluster deployment.
- Validate system availability, redundancy, failover, service dependencies, performance, and recovery procedures.
- Identify and remediate configuration inconsistencies, integration issues, and infrastructure reliability risks.
- Develop acceptance criteria, testing procedures, operational documentation, and production handoff requirements.

Tier 3 Operations and Reliability

- Serve as a senior technical escalation point for complex production incidents involving systems, virtualization, storage, identity, and infrastructure services.
- Perform advanced troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and corrective action planning for recurring or systemic failures.
- Support infrastructure upgrades, maintenance, capacity expansion, and lifecycle management with appropriate change controls.
- Develop diagnostic tooling, automation, operational runbooks, and monitoring standards to improve reliability and reduce operational overhead.
- Collaborate with NOC, SRE, data hall technicians, engineering teams, and external vendors to resolve critical infrastructure issues.

## ABOUT YOU

Education and Experience

- Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, information technology, or related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
- 10+ years of hands-on experience engineering and operating enterprise, cloud, HPC, or large-scale data center infrastructure.
- Expert-level Linux systems administration, troubleshooting, automation, and infrastructure integration experience.
- Strong experience with enterprise x86 platforms, virtualization technologies, and automated provisioning solutions.
- Hands-on experience deploying and supporting high-performance or distributed storage platforms, preferably WEKA or VAST Data.
- Strong understanding of DNS, DHCP, IPAM, identity management, SSO, RBAC, and core infrastructure services.
- Experience with infrastructure automation using Python, Bash, Ansible, Terraform, or equivalent technologies.
- Familiarity with security infrastructure, compliance requirements, monitoring, and enterprise authentication systems.
- Experience supporting AI/HPC clusters, GPU infrastructure, or large-scale distributed computing environments is highly desirable.

Core Competencies

- Expert-level troubleshooting and problem-solving across hardware, operating systems, virtualization, storage, and infrastructure services.
- Strong ownership of deployment outcomes, operational reliability, system performance, and technical documentation.
- Ability to independently design and implement complex infrastructure solutions while collaborating with senior engineering peers.
- Highly analytical, detail-oriented, and comfortable operating in fast-paced, mission-critical environments.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with engineering leadership, vendors, and operational stakeholders.
- Continuous improvement mindset with a strong emphasis on automation, standardization, and operational efficiency.

## ABOUT THE WORK ENVIRONMENT

This is a full-time, engineering role supporting large-scale AI compute infrastructure across multiple sites. Travel to data centers for cluster commissioning, acceptance, and complex troubleshooting will be required. Flexibility to assist with critical incidents or maintenance activities outside regular business hours is expected. This role is hybrid or remote depending on location. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

WHAT MAKES HIGHRISE A GREAT PLACE TO WORK

At Highrise, you will directly influence the performance, reliability, and production readiness of large-scale AI clusters, work alongside experienced infrastructure engineers, and help define the technical standards for a growing global AI infrastructure platform.

At Highrise, you will have the opportunity to:

- Work with bright, driven peers from a range of educational and professional backgrounds including software development, energy, engineering, entrepreneurship, investment banking, private equity, and management consulting
- Design and pitch new products, services, and other initiatives to a leadership team consisting of serial entrepreneurs and seasoned executives and backed by a board of directors consisting of industry veterans of energy, finance, and government
- Debate ideas and alternatives in a truly meritocratic setting where the learning curve is steep and the lessons come from both senior and junior members of the team
- Build a lifelong network of friends and professional connections at the cutting-edge intersection of technology, energy, and infrastructure

## About Hut 8

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Hut 8 is an energy infrastructure platform that integrates power, digital infrastructure, and compute at scale to fuel next-generation, energy-intensive technologies including Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing (HPC/AI).
- **Entity Type**: Public (NASDAQ: HUT; TSX: HUT)
- **Headquarters**: Miami, Florida, United States
- **Founded**: 2017
- **Founders**: Not publicly listed as individual founders; the company emerged from the Hut 8 Mining Corp. lineage.

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Energy Infrastructure, Digital Infrastructure, High-Performance Computing (HPC), Artificial Intelligence (AI) Compute, Bitcoin Mining.
- **Target customers**: B2B; primarily enterprise and institutional clients needing purpose-built data centers, colocation, and compute capacity for AI and HPC workloads. Also includes institutional energy partners and Bitcoin mining operators.
- **Mission/Purpose**: To build a platform that evolves alongside energy-intensive technologies for decades to come—from world-shaping innovations today to the breakthroughs yet to be achieved. They take a "power-first, innovation-driven" approach.

## Products & Services
- **Energy Infrastructure (Power)**: Acquisition, development, and management of critical energy assets—powered land, interconnects, substations, switchyards, and generation assets. This is the foundational layer of their platform.
- **Digital Infrastructure (Data Centers)**: Design, build, monetize, and operate purpose-built facilities for energy-intensive applications (AI, HPC, Bitcoin mining). Key assets include the Beacon Point (1 GW AI campus) and River Bend (330 MW) sites.
- **Compute (HPC & AI)**: Operating businesses that acquire, deploy, and monetize specialized hardware for next-generation workloads. This includes their **Highrise.ai** subsidiary, which commercializes AI infrastructure and cloud capacity.
- **Bitcoin Mining & Managed Services**: Legacy and ongoing ASIC compute operations across sites in Alberta, New York, and Texas.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed in provided sources. As a public company (NASDAQ: HUT), market cap fluctuates with stock price.
- **Key Metric**: **1,020 megawatts** of energy capacity under management across 15 sites in the US and Canada (as of mid-2026). They recently commercialized the first phase of their 1 GW Beacon Point AI data center campus with a **15-year, 352 MW IT lease** carrying a base-term contract value of **$9.8 billion**.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Macquarie (joint venture partner), a Fortune 200 renewable energy producer (JV partner), and institutional debt investors (closed $4.25 billion in investment-grade senior secured notes for Beacon Point).
- **Growth Signals**: Massive headcount growth (+55.7% year-over-year to 175 employees). Active job postings have grown +116.7% year-over-year (52 open roles). They are aggressively building out their AI/HPC commercial arm (Highrise.ai) and expanding their energy origination team.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Power-First Approach**: Unlike pure data center developers, Hut 8 originates and owns the power assets (land, interconnects, substations) first, giving them a structural advantage in speed and cost to market.
- **Multi-Use Case Flexibility**: They can deploy Bitcoin mining as a "transitional load" to generate cash flow while building out higher-return AI/HPC data centers on the same site. This allows rapid, cost-effective commercialization.
- **Scale & Financial Backing**: A 1 GW campus (Beacon Point) with a $9.8B contracted lease and $4.25B in investment-grade debt financing is a rare, institutional-grade asset in the AI infrastructure space.
- **Integrated Platform**: They own the full stack—power, physical data centers, and compute operations—enabling them to optimize assets for the highest risk-adjusted return over time.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling AI Infrastructure**: The primary current focus is commercializing the Beacon Point campus and building out River Bend for AI compute. The Highrise.ai subsidiary is central to this push.
- **Energy Origination**: Aggressively acquiring and developing new power assets (interconnects, substations) across North America.
- **Platform Optimization**: Actively managing the portfolio to transition assets from Bitcoin mining to higher-return HPC/AI use cases over time.
- **Capital Discipline**: Using creative financing (investment-grade notes, JVs) to fund massive capital expenditures while maintaining a disciplined balance sheet.

## Why Work Here
- **High-Impact Work**: Employees work at the intersection of energy and AI—two of the most transformative industries. The company is building infrastructure that powers the next generation of technology.
- **Culture & Values**: Certified as a **Great Place to Work®** and included in Newsweek's America's Greatest Companies. Culture is described as "ownership mindset," "merit-based decision-making," "no room for ego," and "the best idea wins." CEO Asher Genoot emphasizes "substance over flash."
- **Growth Trajectory**: The company is in a hyper-growth phase (55% headcount growth YoY, 117% increase in job postings). This offers rapid career advancement and the chance to shape a scaling organization.
- **Work Environment**: Headquarters in **Miami, FL**, with roles available in San Francisco, Baton Rouge, Nueces County (TX), and remote options for some positions (e.g., Director, Energy Origination is remote).
- **Notable Perks**: Working with a team of "sector veterans and proven builder-operators." Emphasis on intellectual rigor, ownership, and solving hard problems at scale.

## Sources
1. [Hut 8 Corporate Website](https://www.hut8.com/)
2. [Hut 8 Careers Page (Greenhouse)](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/hut8)
3. [Hut 8 LinkedIn Profile](https://www.linkedin.com/company/hut8corp)
4. [Hut 8 About Us Page](https://www.hut8.com/about-us)
5. [Hut 8 Platform Page](https://www.hut8.com/our-platform)

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