Principal AI and HPC Infrastructure Architect

About The Role

• As enterprises race to deploy AI at scale, infrastructure bottlenecks often appear well before a single server ships. This role sits at the frontlines—assessing and shaping the physical environments that must support high-density AI workloads.
• As a Principal AI Infrastructure Readiness Architect, you’ll act as a domain expert across power, cooling, rack layout, MEP systems, and construction feasibility.
• You’ll lead readiness assessments across brownfield sites and greenfield builds—often influencing some of the largest capital decisions our customers will make.
• Operating across the EU, UK, and Middle East, you’ll work with global service providers, OEMs (like NVIDIA and Dell), and construction partners to validate whether facilities can support the scale, density, and uptime that AI demands.
• You’ll also contribute to PE/VC board materials and strategy decks, helping customers secure funding and align multi-year roadmaps.
• This is a hands-on, field-facing role within a worldclass organization, one that blends engineering depth with the ability to shape strategic outcomes.
• Your input will shape reference architectures, modular design strategies, and global facility planning guidance. You’re not just checking boxes—you’re making sure the foundation is real, stable, and AI-ready.

Key Responsibilities

• Evaluate data center readiness for high-density AI deployments, including power capacity, cooling strategy, physical layout, and facility compliance.
• Lead greenfield and brownfield technical assessments to determine “build vs. retrofit” strategy and recommend best-fit design approaches.
• Collaborate with OEMs, facility owners, and build partners to ensure designs align with AI workload demands, construction feasibility, and site limitations.
• Guide and review data center designs with attention to MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing) and construction permitting requirements across global regions.
• Shape and validate modular data center designs and pod configurations that support scalable AI growth.
• Develop and maintain reference architectures, playbooks, and BOM templates for site readiness and modular deployments.
• Conduct site audits and “dirt to doorknob” readiness reviews to determine infrastructure capability, cost implications, and project timeline risk.
• Stay current on international building codes, energy efficiency mandates, and construction best practices.

You Should Have

• 10+ years in data center engineering, infrastructure architecture, or technical facility planning roles.
• Proven experience with data center buildouts or retrofits, ideally involving AI infrastructure, HPC, or modular designs.
• Strong working knowledge of MEP systems, utility coordination, and regional construction permitting.
• Deep understanding of power delivery, cooling systems (liquid, air), rack layouts, and high-density compute environments.
• Experience with AI infrastructure (e.g., NVIDIA H100/H200, AMD Instinct, DGX pods) or equivalent.
• Familiarity with building codes and data center regulations across global regions (e.g., EU sustainability directives, Middle East permitting cycles).
• Experience collaborating with construction partners, colocation providers, or modular DC vendors (e.g., Vertiv, Schneider, Compass).
• Ability to lead “dirt to doorknob” infrastructure evaluations, guiding customers from concept through handoff.
• Confidence in the field: on-site, with customers, facility engineers, or CxOs—you can guide the room.
• Familiarity with site audit tooling, Digital Twins, Visio/CAD, and BOM estimation is a plus.

Why This Role Matters

• Every AI win starts with a place to run it. This role ensures that place is real—and ready.