Principal Network Architect (San Francisco)

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.About This Role:Crusoe is looking for a Principal Network Architect to define and own the network architecture strategy across our entire infrastructure stack, spanning bare-metal data center switching fabrics and RDMA interconnects to SDN control planes, Kubernetes networking, and cloud-layer overlays. As the industry's first vertically integrated AI infrastructure provider, Crusoe operates at a scale that few companies can match, including a 1.2 GW hyperscale campus in Abilene, TX powering the Stargate project. This is a high-impact, principal-level individual contributor role reporting directly to the Director of Networking, with broad technical authority and cross-organizational influence.In this role, you'll do more than solve today's problems; you'll build the architecture that runs the AI infrastructure of tomorrow. You'll introduce and institutionalize modern networking paradigms like intent-based networking, declarative configuration management, and network source of truth, transforming how Crusoe designs, provisions, and operates its network at hyperscale.What You'll Be Working On:Hyperscale Data Center Architecture: Own end-to-end network architecture for Crusoe's AI data centers, including spine-leaf fabrics, out-of-band management, RDMA (RoCEv2/InfiniBand), and inter-campus WAN design.SDN Control Plane Design: Design and evolve SDN control plane architectures for programmable underlay and overlay networking across multi-vendor hardware environments.Kubernetes Networking: Define CNI selection, network policies, multi-cluster service mesh, and BGP peering architecture across Crusoe's Managed Kubernetes platform.Intent-Based Networking: Architect IBN frameworks that translate high-level business and operational goals into validated, auto-generated device configurations.Declarative Networking and GitOps: Establish infrastructure-as-code practices, GitOps-driven network provisioning, and continuous validation pipelines for network state.Network Source of Truth: Build and own Crusoe's SoT strategy, defining authoritative data models (IPAM, DCIM, CMDB) and ensuring all devices, links, and policies are version-controlled and consistently sourced.Automation Workflows: Design day-0/1/2 automation using tools like Ansible, Nornir, or Terraform, driven by the network source of truth.Observability and Telemetry: Define streaming telemetry architecture (gNMI/gRPC), intent verification, and closed-loop remediation pipelines.Standards and Cross-Functional Leadership: Establish engineering standards and reference architectures, lead architecture reviews, author design documents, and present proposals to senior leadership.Team Mentorship: Mentor senior and staff network engineers, growing the technical depth and breadth of the broader network engineering team.What You'll Bring to the Team:12+ years of progressive network engineering and architecture experience, with at least 5 years in leadership role.Large-scale data center expertise with a proven track record designing networks at 500+ switches across multi-campus environments.Expert-level routing knowledge including deep proficiency in BGP, EVPN/VXLAN, OSPF, ECMP, BFD, and modern data center routing design.SDN and programmability experience with production-level work using an SDN controller (OpenDaylight, ONOS, Apstra, Contrail, or equivalent) and network programmability via NETCONF/YANG, RESTCONF, or gNMI.Kubernetes networking proficiency with hands-on experience in CNI selection (Calico, Cilium, Flannel, Multus), network policies, and BGP integration.RDMA and HPC networking understanding including familiarity with RoCEv2, InfiniBand, PFC, ECN, and lossless fabric design for AI/ML workloads.Software engineering fundamentals including strong command of Git, CI/CD, code review, and infrastructure-as-code tooling (Terraform, Ansible, Nornir).Communication and influence with exceptional written and verbal skills and the ability to write crisp design documents and drive alignment across engineering and product leadership.Bonus Points:Experience at a hyperscaler, AI cloud provider, HPC center, or large-scale co-location operator.Hands-on experience with SONiC OS, P4 programmable data planes, SRv6, or silicon-level knowledge of Broadcom Tomahawk/Trident.Open source contributions to networking projects such as SONiC, NetBox, FRR, or Cilium.Familiarity with formal network verification tools like Batfish or Minesweeper, or eBPF-based networking and observability.Relevant certifications including CCIE (DC/SP), JNCIE, or vendor-specific SDN/cloud certifications.Benefits:Competitive compensation and equity packagesRestricted Stock UnitsPaid time off, paid holidays & leave of absence programsComprehensive health, dental & vision insuranceEmployer contributions to HSA accountPaid parental leavePaid life insurance, short-term and long-term disabilityProfessional development & tuition reimbursementMental health & wellness supportCommuter benefits (parking & transit)Cell phone stipend401(k) Retirement plan with company match up to 4% of salaryVolunteer time offGlobal travel insurance & emergency assistanceDaily meals allowanceAdditional perks & programs specific to locationCompensation RangeCompensation will be paid in the range of up to $265,000 -$310,000 + Bonus. Restricted Stock Units are included in all offers. Compensation to be determined by the applicant's knowledge, education, and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.Crusoe is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, citizenship, marital status, sex/gender, sexual preference/ orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, national origin, or any other status protected by law or regulation.LocationSan Francisco, CA - US; Bellevue, WA - US; Sunnyvale, CA - USEmployment TypeFull timeLocation TypeOn-siteDepartmentCloud Engineering