Principal Technical Program Manager (TPM) - AI Infrastructure Operations
Nscale is hiring a Principal Technical Program Manager (TPM) - AI Infrastructure Operations in Houston, New York and San Francisco, United States. Level rates it ; you can apply on Nscale.
Level's read on this job
- Level rates this role Works on AI ●●●○: the daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- The posting mentions GPU, Infiniband and program management among its tools and skills.
- Level classes it as a senior role.
- Nscale has 299 other open roles on Level.
AI in this role
Drive complex operational programs and infrastructure scaling for high-performance AI and GPU compute environments.
Role Overview
As a Technical Program Manager (TPM) for AI Infrastructure Operations, you will be the operational backbone of our high-scale, high-performance AI and High-Performance Computing (HPC) environment. You will be responsible for driving complex, cross-functional programs that ensure the stability, availability, and growth of our cutting-edge GPU fleet and Infiniband network fabrics. This role requires a blend of deep technical understanding, rigorous program management, and a relentless focus on delivering against key operational metrics (SLAs, Uptime, Availability). You will bridge the gap between engineering execution and strategic business goals, directly impacting our ability to serve customer workloads at scale.
Key Responsibilities
- Program Leadership: Own the planning, execution, and delivery of strategic operational programs, including new data center AI infrastructure build-outs, large-scale fleet software/firmware rollouts, and the implementation of new operational tooling (in partnership with SRE).
- Metrics and Reporting: Establish, track, and drive accountability against critical infrastructure KPIs, specifically focusing on Availability (Target 97.5%) and Uptime (Target 99%). Develop clear dashboards and communication rhythms to provide leadership with real-time visibility into operational health, program status, and risk.
- Process Engineering: Analyze and optimize operational workflows across Fleet Operations, Network Operations, and SRE teams. Drive the standardization of incident management, change management, and postmortem processes to reduce toil and improve Mean Time to Recovery (MTTR).
- Cross-Functional Coordination: Serve as the primary liaison between engineering teams (Hardware, Compute Platform, Network), Data Center Operations, and external vendors (GPU, Network hardware). Proactively identify and resolve dependencies, risks, and roadblocks.
- Capacity and Readiness: Partner with Data Science/Operation Programs to translate capacity planning models into actionable infrastructure delivery and readiness roadmaps. Ensure that new hardware (GPUs, NICs, switches) is successfully integrated into the operational control plane and meets go-live criteria.
- Risk Management: Proactively identify technical, schedule, and resource risks related to AI infrastructure scaling and stability. Develop mitigation strategies and communicate impacts clearly to stakeholders.
Required Qualifications
- Experience: 5+ years of experience in a Technical Program Management role, successfully driving large-scale, complex infrastructure or software engineering programs.
- Technical Domain Knowledge: Strong foundational understanding of data center infrastructure, distributed systems, Linux, and networking concepts.
- Program Management Rigor: Proven expertise in modern program management methodologies (Agile, Scrum, PMP certification preferred). Exceptional organizational, communication, and presentation skills.
- Metrics-Driven Approach: Demonstrable experience in defining, tracking, and improving system performance based on operational metrics (e.g., Uptime, Availability, MTTR, SLOs/SLIs).
- Execution in Ambiguity: Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth environment, managing multiple priorities and adapting to evolving technical requirements.
Preferred Qualifications
- Direct experience managing programs related to data center infrastructure build-outs and hardware commissioning processes.
- Specific domain knowledge of AI/HPC infrastructure, including NVIDIA GPUs, InfiniBand/RDMA networks, and the challenges of tightly-coupled systems.
- Experience in a hyperscale or public cloud environment supporting 24/7 mission-critical services.
- Familiarity with SRE principles, automation tooling, and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines for infrastructure.
- A Bachelor's or Master's degree in a technical field (Computer Science, Engineering, etc.) or equivalent practical experience.
What We Can Offer You
At Nscale, you'll find a collaborative, supportive, and innovative environment where your contributions spark real impact. We're building something extraordinary, and we want you at the core.
- Highly competitive package (base + equity) with reviews every 12 months.
- Join the fastest-growing tech startup, your chance to push boundaries, collaborate with brilliant minds, and make your mark on cutting-edge AI.
- Expect a dynamic progression plan tailored to your ambitions. Grow by trying new things, leading, challenging the status quo, and owning your impact, always with our full support.
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Nscale does not accept unsolicited candidate submissions from recruitment agencies.
How we rate this
Principal Technical Program Manager (TPM) - AI Infrastructure Operations at Nscale rates 65 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Works on AI (AI Level 3 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Works on AI. The daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
- ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
- ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
- ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a project where program management was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where infrastructure operations was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where incident management was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where capacity planning was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where risk management was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: Program Management, Infrastructure Operations, Incident Management, Capacity Planning, and Risk Management. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
- Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
- Show where AI is part of your daily process, not a one-off project. This role expects it to be a running habit.
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