Director of Technical Program Management, Physical Deployment

Description

The company builds and operates large-scale AI infrastructure, supplying GPU clusters to hyperscalers, AI labs and enterprises in North America, EMEA and APAC.

The Deployment PMO converts signed contracts into live AI infrastructure, coordinating the many teams and partners that bring large GPU clusters online.

As Director of Physical Deployment, you are accountable for each cluster from the point the company takes handover of the data hall until every GPU rack is powered, cabled and through hardware acceptance testing. You translate construction, power, cooling and supply chain conditions into schedules the business can rely on, and you hold partners to them.

Your scope starts at handover of the data hall and ends when racks are ready for logical bring-up. It includes site readiness, rack receipt and placement, power and cooling activation, structured cabling and vendor-led hardware testing. You hand the Logical Deployment team a clean, fully documented floor for network configuration, validation and customer handoff.

This is a field role. You will spend at least 90% of your time travelling and leading work on the data center floor.

You own outcomes, not status updates. You set the real date even when it is unpopular and pair it with a recovery plan. You make decisions on incomplete information and stand by them.

You escalate early, directly and with evidence when a data center partner, OEM or vendor slips. You explain what you are doing about a delay rather than waiting on the vendor.

You bring order to a site in crisis, help your team think clearly when schedules collapse, and brief SVPs and customers with an honest view of what is true, what is at risk and what you need.

You hire and grow TPMs, give them real ownership, and develop them into site and pillar leaders. You walk the data hall and know the floor firsthand.

Responsibilities

• Own the integrated physical schedule for each cluster, covering data center early access, rack delivery, power, cooling, cabling and hardware acceptance testing.
• Set milestone dates you can defend, build in buffer, and escalate early when float runs out.
• Run daily and weekly site cadences with data center partners, OEMs such as Dell, Lenovo and Supermicro, cabling vendors and onsite teams.
• Keep rack-level tracking current so leadership can see the status of every rack and manage supply and site risk.
• Track GPU, rack, switch, transceiver and cabling materials against need dates, working with Supply Chain and BOM specialists.
• Work with data center partners on power and cooling readiness, including primary cooling loops, phased energization and temporary solutions.
• Lead recovery plans when supply, construction or vendor staffing slips, including re-sequencing work, re-routing hardware and adding resources.
• Lead, hire and develop a team of Physical Deployment TPMs, with clear ownership for each site.
• Hold vendors to their SOWs, staffing plans and quality standards.
• Hand off to Logical Deployment with complete documentation, punch lists and test results.
• Define the physical deployment playbook, including entry criteria, gates, checklists and standard timelines.
• Work with the tooling team on automation for rack tracking, cabling verification and status reporting.
• Report weekly status and risks to the VP and senior leadership, keeping forecast separate from upside.
• First 6 to 12 months: every active cluster has one integrated physical schedule, owned by a named TPM and reviewed weekly.
• First 6 to 12 months: physical milestones meet their committed dates, or slips are flagged at least two weeks ahead with a recovery plan.
• First 6 to 12 months: leadership can see rack-level status without manual chasing, and a documented playbook is used on every new site.
• First 6 to 12 months: Logical Deployment receives floors with no open blockers, and the Physical Deployment team is fully staffed with clear site ownership and a succession path.

Requirements

• 12+ years in data center, hyperscale infrastructure or large-scale hardware deployment, including 5+ years leading teams.
• Direct experience delivering multi-megawatt GPU or HPC clusters, from data hall readiness through rack energization.
• Working knowledge of data center power, liquid and air cooling, structured cabling and rack integration.
• A proven record of getting OEMs, data center operators and construction partners to firm commitments.
• Skill in building integrated schedules and critical paths across many parties, and in recovering them when they slip.
• Clear, concise executive communication, both written and spoken, with honest forecasts.
• Ability to travel at least 90% of the time, mainly to data center sites, often at short notice.
• Preferred: hands-on experience with NVIDIA GB200/GB300 or Vera Rubin NVL72-class rack deployments.
• Preferred: experience at a hyperscaler, neocloud or AI lab deploying 10K+ GPU clusters.
• Preferred: familiarity with rack-level burn-in and hardware validation.
• Preferred: experience introducing tooling or automation for rack tracking and deployment reporting.
• Preferred: PMP, or a construction or engineering background.

Conditions

Base salary range: $290,000 to $350,000 USD. Actual pay depends on factors such as skill set, experience, education and location.

Travel: at least 90% of your time, primarily to data center sites, often at short notice.

Field-based leadership on the data center floor.

Benefits

• May be eligible for bonus, equity and/or commission programs in addition to base salary.
• Benefits package may include medical, dental and vision coverage, flexible paid time off, parental leave, and retirement plan participation.