VP, Networking Greater San Jose, CA Area

Built to set the gold standard for integrated AI infrastructure

Crux AI is a newly formed, U.S.-based integrated AI infrastructure company created to remove the physical and operational constraints on consequential AI ambitions. Crux brings together power, high-density data centers, TPU silicon, networking, orchestration software, and ongoing operations as one integrated system.

Crux is being capitalized to plan every layer together, develop each one to demanding standards, and operate the whole system with efficiency and reliability. That gives hyperscalers, frontier AI labs, sovereign customers, enterprises, and AI-native companies greater freedom to pursue the AI they are here to create.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

You will own the Crux network end to end: the fabric inside every TPU cluster and data center, the interconnect and backbone between sites, the connectivity that brings customers onto the platform, and the software that designs, deploys, and operates all of it. Reporting to our CTO, you will build the networking organization from its first leaders, set the architecture of record, and make the network one of the reasons the largest AI workloads choose Crux. The network has to be designed alongside power, facilities, and TPU systems, not after them, so you will be in the room for every build decision from site selection onward.

In this role, you will:

Define the network architecture of record across cluster fabric, data center network, data center interconnect, backbone, and customer connectivity (dedicated interconnect, peering, and private links), designed to meet the TPU system design Google provides.

Build and lead the networking organization across architecture, network software and automation, deployment, and operations. Hire people better than you at their craft, then stay close enough to know when something is off before it shows up in a report.

Own network performance and reliability for large-scale training and inference: bandwidth, latency, congestion behavior, failure domains, and availability SLOs,

Operate achieved through discipline, not heroics.

Run the network as a software system: zero-touch provisioning, intent-based configuration, fleet-wide telemetry, and automated remediation, so that the network scales with sites rather than with headcount.

Set vendor and technology strategy for switching, optics, and transport with Strategic Supply, including when to standardize, when to dual-source, and when to adopt emerging options such as optical circuit switching.

Partner with Data Center Engineering and Capacity Delivery on fiber, cabling, and meet-me design in every build; with Site Selection on fiber and carrier access at candidate sites; with the Compute team on tenant isolation and provisioning; and with Sales and Customer Success on customer connectivity commitments.

Establish the network security and isolation posture that sovereign and regulated customers require, and own the network inputs (capex, optics, transport, and failure rates) to the cost and margin model of record.

SIGNALS OF SUCCESS

After 60 days in this role:

Gained a complete understanding of the TPU system design, the capacity plan of record, and first-site network requirements, and published a written network architecture and org plan.

Hired or committed your first network leaders across architecture, software, and deployment.

Locked the switching, optics, and transport approach for the first builds with Strategic Supply and Google.

Established working cadences with Google counterparts, Data Center Engineering, Compute Engineering, and our customers’ engineering and product teams.

Adapted to a fast-paced environment, triaging appropriately and continuously improving our function.

Stood up AI-forward development of the zero-touch provisioning, orchestration and observability stack

After 6 months:

Delivered the network for the first production TPU clusters through design, deployment, and acceptance on the committed timeline.

Stood up zero-touch provisioning and fleet telemetry, with network SLOs reviewed weekly in a format the executive team trusts.

Brought the first customers onto the platform through dedicated connectivity that met their performance and isolation requirements.

Demonstrated an AI-forward and automated approach to this role: you have built, in a hands-on way, AI-enabled tools for network design or operations that the team uses every day.

After 1 year:

Running a multi-site network with backbone and interconnect at the reliability and performance targets committed to customers, with incidents becoming rarer and more boring.

Built a high-performing networking organization with strong leaders in every domain and a hiring bar that holds as the team grows.

Agreed a network roadmap for the next phases of capacity that keeps cost per unit of bandwidth falling as the fleet grows.

EXPERIENCES, ATTRIBUTES AND MINDSET THAT INDICATE A GOOD MATCH

Experiences

15+ years in large-scale networking, including 7+ years leading organizations of organizations at the VP level or above.

Direct ownership of a production network at hyperscale, such as a data center fabric, global backbone, data center interconnect, or a cloud networking platform, with accountability for reliability and customer outcomes.

A track record of turning the network into a software system through SDN, automation, programmable data planes, or network virtualization, at production scale.

Attributes

You are outcome driven and hands-on. You hold your own with principal architects and vendor CTOs on congestion control, optics, or fabric topology, and you can take the same topic to the board. This is a builder's seat, not a supervisory one.

You have sat on both sides of the table, operator and vendor or builder and buyer, and you use that to make better architecture and supply decisions.

You have a high tolerance for ambiguity. You absorb ambiguity and navigate complexity rather than passing it along.

Mindset

You are skeptical by default. "The fabric is up" is a hypothesis until it passes acceptance under all-to-all, customer-shaped load. You build the system that makes the next incident boring.

You operate as an owner, not a supervisor

You like to build and are not afraid to go deep into engineering implementations.

You are AI-agentic first. Fluent with AI agents, or committed to becoming so quickly, you embed them as first principles in how you and your team work, defaulting to agentic workflows before adding headcount or process.

Nice to have (Preferred, not required):

Network leadership at a hyperscaler (Google, Microsoft Azure, AWS, Meta) or a neocloud (CoreWeave, Nebius, Lambda, Crusoe).

Hands-on experience with AI cluster networking: RDMA and RoCE, Ultra Ethernet, large training fabrics, or optical circuit switching.

Depth in optical transport, including long-haul, metro, or subsea systems.

Experience with programmable data planes, SmartNICs, or DPUs.

Patents or publications (for example SIGCOMM or OFC) and standing in industry bodies such as the Open Compute Project, Ultra Ethernet Consortium, or OpenConfig.

Salary Range Information

The annual salary range for this position has been estimated based on market data and other factors. However, a salary higher or lower than this range may be appropriate for a candidate whose qualifications differ meaningfully from those listed in the job description.

About Crux

We offer generous base, bonus and additional incentive based compensation

Health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents

Company-paid life insurance and disability

Full suite of other optional benefits

401(k) Plan with 4% company match

Hybrid schedule offering four days in-office collaboration paired with one remote workday for focused, individual work