Optical Deployment Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

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.

Crusoe Cloud is seeking a Senior Staff Network Deployment Engineer to serve as the technical owner of how we deploy network infrastructure across our global fleet. As we rapidly scale our footprint of high-performance compute (HPC) and GPU-based AI infrastructure, you will define the deployment strategy, set the standards, and architect the automation platform that brings new data centers and edge sites online — at a pace and scale few companies have ever attempted.

This is a senior technical leadership role at the intersection of Network Engineering, Data Center Operations, and Infrastructure Strategy. You will partner with Network Architecture to shape designs for deployability, mentor a team of Staff and Senior engineers executing your vision, and represent the deployment org in cross-functional planning with Supply Chain, Data Center Ops, and Site Reliability leadership. You're not refining a runbook — you're authoring the playbook that defines how the world's most innovative AI cloud comes online.

• Own Global Deployment Strategy: Define the multi-quarter technical roadmap for how Crusoe deploys network infrastructure across new and existing data centers, edge sites, and backbone interconnects.

• Set the Standards: Author and ratify internal RFCs and technical standards for physical and logical network deployment — cabling, optics, fabric provisioning, validation, and handoff — that the broader engineering org executes against.

• Influence Architecture for Deployability: Partner closely with Network Architecture to shape designs that scale operationally; serve as the senior voice ensuring what gets designed can actually be built and validated at hyperscale pace.

• Architect the Deployment Automation Platform: Set the technical direction for Crusoe's ZTP, IaC, and validation tooling stack. Drive the strategy for Python-, Ansible-, and CI/CD-based systems that stage and validate hundreds of devices simultaneously.

• Define the Validation Framework: Establish the burn-in, site acceptance testing (SAT), and commissioning criteria used across the fleet to ensure zero-defect handovers to Operations.

• Lead Vendor and Partner Strategy: Establish standards, SLAs, and qualification programs for structured cabling vendors, remote hands partners, and data center providers globally. Influence hardware vendor roadmaps (Arista, Juniper, NVIDIA/Mellanox) based on Crusoe's operational needs.

• Drive Capacity and Asset Strategy: Partner with Supply Chain and Infrastructure leadership on capacity planning, hardware lifecycle, and the turn-up cadence for new backbone capacity and edge interconnects.

• Mentor and Multiply: Provide technical guidance to Staff and Senior network deployment engineers. Lead design reviews, post-incident reviews, and drive systemic improvements to deployment quality across the org.

• 12+ years of network engineering experience with a heavy focus on large-scale data center deployments and infrastructure programs, including significant time in hyperscale, large cloud, or ISP environments.

• Demonstrated Technical Leadership: Proven track record of authoring standards, mentoring engineers, and driving multi-quarter technical initiatives that span teams. You've operated as a senior technical voice in an organization where decisions you've made are still in production.

• Hyperscale Operational Experience: Comfort operating at scale — 10K+ network devices, multi-region fabric deployments, and the realities of building when the supply chain, the timeline, and the physics are all working against you.

• Mastery of Physical Layer Standards: Deep expertise in structured cabling (SMF/MMF, MPO/MTP), optical transceivers (400G/800G and roadmap to 1.6T), and data center power/cooling for HPC workloads.

• Routing and Switching Fluency: Expert hands-on experience with Arista (EOS), Juniper (Junos), and NVIDIA/Mellanox platforms in leaf-spine architectures. You can go as deep as the problem demands.

• Protocol Proficiency: Strong working knowledge of BGP, EVPN-VXLAN, and LLDP as they relate to large-scale fabric provisioning and validation.

• Automation Architect: Track record of designing and shipping deployment automation systems used by a broader engineering team — not just scripts you wrote, but platforms others build on. Strong Python and Ansible; familiarity with modern IaC and CI/CD patterns.

• Program Leadership: Proven ability to lead multiple complex, concurrent deployment programs across time zones and physical locations, with executive-level communication and risk management.

• Diagnostic Depth: Able to diagnose complex physical layer and link-layer issues using OTDRs, light meters, and packet captures — and able to teach others to do the same.

• Education: Bachelor's degree in a technical field or equivalent practical experience in hyperscale or ISP environments.

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 - $275,000 + Bonus. Restricted Stock Units are included in all offers.