--- title: 'Principal NPI Engineering Manager - Spark at Crusoe' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-npi-engineering-manager-spark-crusoe-denver-dswef1sa241g' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-11-06' --- # Principal NPI Engineering Manager - Spark at Crusoe - **Company:** [Crusoe](https://feeny.ai/companies/crusoe) - **Location:** Denver, CO / United States - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-10-05 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-06 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/crusoe/85caa3eb-2192-49cb-ba76-8596bdeeae36 ## Job description Crusoe is on a mission to accelerate the abundance of energy and intelligence. As the only vertically integrated AI infrastructure company built from the ground up, we own and operate each layer of the stack — from electrons to tokens — to power the world's most ambitious AI workloads. When you join Crusoe, you join a team that is building the future, faster. We're in the midst of the greatest industrial revolution of our time. The demand for AI compute is boundless, and power is a bottleneck. We're solving that — with an energy-first approach that makes AI infrastructure better for the world and faster for the people innovating with AI. We're looking for problem-solving, opportunity-finding teammates with a sense of urgency, who believe in the scale of our ambition and thrive on a path not fully paved — people who want to grow their careers alongside a team of experts across energy, manufacturing, data center construction, and cloud services. If you want to do the most meaningful work of your career, help our customers and partners advance their AI strategies, and be part of a high-performing team that believes in each other, come build with us at Crusoe. About the Role: Crusoe is a vertically integrated AI Factory accelerating energy and compute infrastructure. We are seeking a New Product Introduction (NPI) Engineering Leader in the Spark Business Unit to bridge Spark Hardware Design with enterprise execution. In this role, “hardware” and “product” refers to the physical infrastructure of the Spark module: structural steel modules, RPPs, DLC cooling loops, CDUs, chillers, piping headers, electrical and mechanical systems, and power distribution gear. Compute hardware (servers, GPUs, storage, networking, and rack specifications) is owned by Cloud Product. Sitting on the Spark Hardware product team, you are the single-threaded owner ensuring the physical module is fully verified for handoff to manufacturing. You gather and lead everything needed to introduce Spark hardware modules into the Crusoe ecosystem, orchestrating the NPI phase-gate process to turn the design team’s output into one complete NPI packet. You don’t run manufacturing. You equip and support Manufacturing and Supply Chain with clean design baselines, complete documentation, and qualified inputs to build at scale. What You'll Be Working On: I. Gate Framework & Hardware Release Authority - Framework Ownership: Own the Spark hardware NPI framework (Concept to Launch) within the Spark BU to align design engineering progress with enterprise release readiness. - Release Authority: Define design release readiness for physical Spark modules. Ensure design freeze and production gates clear only when product specs, subsystem verification tests, and manufacturing handoff criteria are fully met. - Design Package Quality: Enforce gate discipline to resolve design, thermal interface, and electrical interference issues in engineering well before drawings and BOMs reach manufacturing, such that manufacturing receives a clean and complete NPI packet. - Product Readiness Scorecard: Maintain an objective hardware readiness scorecard (modeled on MRL/PRR standards) providing clear product maturity visibility to leadership and manufacturing. - Design Baseline & Change Control: Manage engineering baseline transitions into production. Support ECO/ECN workflows in PLM so Supply Chain and Manufacturing operate against clear, unambiguous release states. - Handoff Package Completeness: Deliver complete hardware release packages to downstream teams, including CAD models, structural drawings, electrical single-lines, fluid schematics, multi-level BOMs, and factory acceptance test (FAT) criteria. II. Enterprise Enablement & Subsystem Integration - Cross-Functional Alignment: Translate Spark hardware roadmaps into actionable handoff schedules for Supply Chain, Quality, Manufacturing, and Construction well ahead of production builds. - Validation Campaigns: Plan and orchestrate first-of-a-kind (FOAK) prototype builds. Participate on the shop floor during validation runs to feed design-for-manufacturability (DFM) insights back to engineering. - Manufacturing Enablement: Partner directly with Manufacturing, ensuring their engineering team has the documentation, assembly instructions, tooling access, and test specs for a smooth line setup. - Supply Chain Synchronization: Partner with Supply Chain early to identify long-lead electrical and thermal components, ensuring supplier vetting before design freeze. - Subsystem Hardware Integration: Ensure core physical elements (mechanical shells, structural frames, Direct-to-Chip cooling loops, 800V DC distribution, and rack interfaces) are validated as a cohesive package prior to release. - Downstream Deployment Handoff: Ensure released packages include clear interface control documents (ICDs) usable by site engineering, civil construction, and commissioning teams. III. Launch & Continuous Improvement - Ramp Support: Partner closely with Manufacturing during initial production ramps to resolve design friction or supply exceptions and protect schedules. - Single Source of Truth: Provide executive stakeholders and Spark BU leadership unified visibility into release readiness, subsystem risks, and manufacturing enablement. - Closed-Loop Feedback: Lead post-launch reviews following build campaigns to capture field and factory feedback, continually refining release standards for future hardware generations. What You'll Bring to the Team: Education - Required: Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, or Systems Engineering, or a related physical engineering discipline. ## Experience - 10 to 15 years in hardware NPI, technical program management, or systems engineering within a physical hardware organization. - Direct experience holding release authority and guiding complex hardware programs from concept through transfer-to-manufacturing. - Fluent in Level of Development (LOD) frameworks (i.e. LOD 100–400). - Proven track record equipping manufacturing, supply chain, and field teams with high-quality release packages. Technical Depth NPI & Handoff Methodology: Mastery of phase-gate frameworks, hardware verification, and formal transfer-to-manufacturing processes. - PLM & Configuration Management: Expertise in PLM systems, multi-level hardware BOMs, revision control, and structured ECO/ECN workflows. - Design for Excellence (DFX): Practical knowledge of DFM, DFA, and DFT principles to optimize design packages for assembly and testing prior to release. - Quality & Validation: FMEA, First Article Inspection (FAI), hydrostatic leak testing, and electrical high-pot testing standards. Bonus Points - Experience with modular, containerized, or prefabricated infrastructure product lines. - Familiarity with high-density data center physical requirements (fluid manifolds, heat exchangers, heavy electrical equipment). - A collaborative approach combining rigorous design package standards with a commitment to cross-functional empowerment. Benefits: - Competitive compensation and equity packages - Restricted Stock Units - Paid time off, paid holidays & leave of absence programs - Comprehensive health, dental & vision insurance - Employer contributions to HSA account - Paid parental leave - Paid life insurance, short-term and long-term disability - Professional development & tuition reimbursement - Mental health & wellness support - Commuter benefits (parking & transit) - Cell phone stipend - 401(k) Retirement plan with company match up to 4% of salary - Volunteer time off - Global travel insurance & emergency assistance - Daily meals allowance - Additional perks & programs specific to location ## Compensation Range Compensation will be paid in the range of up to $225,000 - $255,000 + Bonus. Restricted Stock Units are included in all offers. Compensation to be determined by the applicant's knowledge, education, and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data. Crusoe is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, citizenship, marital status, sex/gender, sexual preference/ orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, national origin, or any other status protected by law or regulation. ## About Crusoe ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Crusoe is an energy-first AI infrastructure company that designs, builds, and operates hyperscale data centers and a cloud platform purpose-built for artificial intelligence workloads. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series E) - **Headquarters**: Denver, Colorado, USA - **Founded**: 2018 - **Founders**: Chase Lochmiller and Cully Cavness ## Core Business - Primary industry/industries: AI Infrastructure, Cloud Computing, Data Centers, Clean Energy - Target customers: Enterprise AI companies, AI-native startups, research institutions, government agencies (B2B) - **Mission**: "Accelerate the abundance of energy and intelligence." ## Products & Services - **Crusoe Cloud**: An AI-optimized cloud platform purpose-built for AI workloads, featuring high-performance NVIDIA and AMD compute, accelerated storage, and optimized RDMA networking. Claims to deploy models up to 20x faster and cut costs by up to 81%. - **Crusoe Managed Inference**: A managed AI inference service built with Crusoe's proprietary MemoryAlloy technology, offering best-in-class speed, throughput, and reliability. Features the Crusoe Intelligence Foundry for model selection and API key management. - **AI Data Center Infrastructure**: Vertically integrated design, build, and operation of hyperscale AI factories (e.g., the 1.2 GW Stargate campus in Abilene, TX). Modular, scalable construction for power-hungry AI workloads. - **Crusoe Managed Kubernetes & Slurm**: Managed orchestration services that eliminate operational overhead for customers. - **Crusoe AutoClusters**: Fault-tolerant, managed cluster services for large-scale AI training. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (private company). - **Key Metric**: Raised over $1.8B+ in total funding (Series E in 2024 was $1B+; Series D in 2024 was $600M; Series C in 2021 was $350M). - **Notable Investors/Partners**: NVIDIA, NYDIG, GE Vernova, Redwood Materials, Tallgrass, AMD. The company has also partnered with leading energy and technology firms to power its data centers. - **Growth Signals**: Divested bitcoin mining business to NYDIG in 2023 to focus exclusively on AI infrastructure; broke ground on the 1.2 GW Stargate campus in Abilene, TX; expanded into Europe with a geothermal/hydro-powered deployment in Iceland; announced 1.8 GW Wyoming data center with Tallgrass; acquired GPU memory optimization startup Atero and established a Tel Aviv office. ## Competitive Advantages - **Energy-First Approach**: The company’s core differentiator is its vertical integration starting from energy sourcing. It uses "environmentally aligned power sources" (wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, natural gas with carbon capture) to power its AI factories, including pioneering technology to convert wasted natural gas into energy. - **Vertical Integration**: Controls the entire stack—from finding innovative energy sources to building and managing hyperscale data centers and operating the cloud platform. - **NVIDIA Partnership**: Close partnership with NVIDIA, providing access to the latest and highest-performance GPU hardware for its cloud and infrastructure. - **Proven Performance**: Claims 99.98% uptime, 100% customer satisfaction score, and significant cost/performance advantages (up to 81% cost reduction). ## Strategic Focus - **Massive Infrastructure Expansion**: Aggressively scaling its data center footprint, with major projects in Abilene, Texas (Stargate) and Wyoming (Tallgrass), and expansion into Europe. - **Deepening AI Cloud**: Continuing to build out its Crusoe Cloud platform with managed services (Kubernetes, Slurm, AutoClusters) to make it easier for AI companies to use their infrastructure. - **Responsible AI**: Emphasizing sustainability and responsible AI governance, as evidenced by achieving ISO 42001 certification and publishing an ESG report. - **Acquisition-led Growth**: Acquired Atero (GPU memory optimization) to enhance its core technology stack. ## Why Work Here - **Mission-Driven**: The company is united by a tangible mission: "Accelerate the abundance of energy and intelligence." Employees report high levels of engagement (92% proud to work there per internal survey). - **Massive Growth Trajectory**: Crusoe is at the center of the AI infrastructure boom, building some of the world's most powerful AI factories. For job seekers, this means exposure to cutting-edge technology and the opportunity to scale a company from a startup to an industry leader. - **Culture**: The company values "moving fast and making things," continuous learning, and collective genius. It describes itself as an "AI factory company" that values velocity and impact. - **Work Policy**: Hybrid/Office presence required in most roles. Office locations include: Denver (HQ), San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Bellevue, Tulsa, Dublin (Ireland), and Tel Aviv (Israel). - **Benefits**: Competitive compensation & equity, comprehensive health & wellness, mental health resources, retirement plans, paid time off, leave of absence programs, learning & development, volunteer time off, daily meals allowance, and other location-specific perks. - **Engineering Culture**: Strong emphasis on technical excellence, working with large-scale systems, and pioneering new approaches to energy and infrastructure. The company values candidates' "AI fluency" in its hiring process. ## Sources 1. [crusoe.ai](https://www.crusoe.ai/) 2. [crusoe.ai/careers](https://www.crusoe.ai/about/careers) 3. [crusoe.ai/about/culture](https://www.crusoe.ai/about/careers/culture) 4. [crusoe.ai/about/company](https://www.crusoe.ai/about/company) ## Other roles at Crusoe - [Staff Software Engineer, AI Model Lifecycle](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-software-engineer-ai-model-lifecycle-crusoe-san-francisco-3918za8e9e1h) — San Francisco, CA / United States - [Chief of Staff (Internal)](https://feeny.ai/job/chief-of-staff-internal-crusoe-san-francisco-bwkm4fm3s4sa) — San Francisco, CA / United States - [Chief of Staff](https://feeny.ai/job/chief-of-staff-crusoe-san-francisco-qrfygkwp3rwj) — San Francisco, CA / United States - [Senior Technical Sourcing Manager, Fiber](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-technical-sourcing-manager-fiber-crusoe-bellevue-wyvbb6jrpc2m) — Bellevue, WA / United States - [Senior Asset Analyst, Supply Chain](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-asset-analyst-supply-chain-crusoe-denver-vc7357r6rbt7) — Denver, CO / United States - [Senior Asset Analyst, Supply Chain](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-asset-analyst-supply-chain-crusoe-san-francisco-hakbnyhhqfsv) — San Francisco, CA / United States - [Associate, Capital Markets](https://feeny.ai/job/associate-capital-markets-crusoe-san-francisco-fxjyaaymqs4r) — San Francisco, CA / United States - [Senior QA Engineer, Client Interfaces](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-qa-engineer-client-interfaces-crusoe-san-francisco-m5nzrby0g8r9) — San Francisco, CA / United States - [Senior Financial Analyst, Headcount & OpEx Planning](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-financial-analyst-headcount-opex-planning-crusoe-bellevue-bm7y7n3p3kej) — Bellevue, WA / United States - [Staff Quality Control (QC) Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-quality-control-qc-engineer-crusoe-childress-88wv4gkyhqw4) — Childress, TX / United States