Head of Compute

The role At Applied Compute, securing the right compute on the right terms is what makes our post-training and agent infrastructure possible. As Head of Compute Partnerships, you'll own the sourcing, economics, and strategic positioning of the GPU capacity that powers everything we train, serve, and deploy for enterprise customers. This is one of the highest-leverage roles at the company. Compute is both our core input and our binding constrain. Your job is to make sure Applied Compute has a leading seat at the table structuring the commercial relationships that define our cost structure for years, getting early access to new hardware generations as they come online, and turning a fragmented global supply market into a durable advantage. You'll work directly with our founders, our GTM function, and the leadership teams at providers reshaping global compute, and you'll partner closely with our research and engineering teams to decide what we train, on what hardware, where, and at what cost. What you’ll do Own the unit economics of compute end-to-end, from the structure of individual contracts to the margin architecture across training and inference products to the long-term P&L consequences of today's supply commitments Run global procurement of GPU capacity across hyperscalers, tier‑one neoclouds, regional operators, and emerging providers Negotiate and close reserved capacity agreements, spot and burst arrangements, MSAs, DPAs, and order forms Secure early access to the latest accelerator generations in the quantities we need Partner with finance and leadership on capital strategy: how much to commit, to whom, over what term, on which hardware, and with what balance sheet exposure Build the frameworks that translate supply decisions into clear financial outcomes and let the company make large bets with conviction under uncertainty Work with research to translate training roadmaps and RL workloads into concrete compute requirements, and feed back what's achievable Partner with engineering on acceptance testing, goodput validation, and technical qualification of new providers and hardware What we’re looking for Strong business and financial instincts, with native fluency in unit economics, margin structure, and capital allocation, and the ability to model the long‑term P&L consequences of complex supply decisions Deep knowledge of the global AI compute market, including the providers, the hardware generations and their real tradeoffs, pricing dynamics, and where the market is heading over the next 12 to 24 months A track record of negotiating and closing contracts at meaningful scale, finding and using leverage, and structuring deals that drive downstream economics Comfort operating across finance, commercial, product, and engineering, and translating fluently between all of them High ownership, with a habit of seeing gaps and building the fix before anyone asks Strong candidates also have Experience structuring large infrastructure or capacity agreements Existing senior relationships across hyperscalers, neoclouds, or regional compute providers Background spanning both finance or capital allocation and hands‑on commercial negotiation Experience sourcing compute or hardware in a high‑growth environment where supply was the primary constraint An AI‑native way of working, using LLMs, automation, and programmatic tools to move faster Benefits & Logistics This role is based in San Francisco. We work from our office in the Mission. We offer: Competitive compensation and equity Generous health benefits Unlimited PTO Paid parental leave Daily lunches and dinners Transportation and relocation support Retirement plans We sponsor visas. While we can't guarantee success for every candidate or role, if you're the right fit, we're committed to working through the process with you. As set forth in Applied Compute’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law. #J-18808-Ljbffr