Senior Staff Optics Engineer, Network Qualification & Strategy
Crusoe · San Francisco · $250,000–$300,000 (stated in the posting)
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 building the physical and software backbone that powers the world's most demanding AI workloads. Our networking team designs and operates the fabrics that connect thousands of GPUs into unified compute clusters, and increasingly the optical transport that connects those clusters to each other, to our PoPs, and to our customers. As Sr. Staff Optical Network Architect, you will define and build Crusoe's optical network strategy and architecture from the ground up, spanning data center interconnect (DCI), metro and long-haul DWDM, and the backbone that carries scale-across AI training and inference traffic between campuses. This is the first dedicated optical architecture role at Crusoe, with direct influence on how we acquire fiber, select platforms, and scale backbone capacity from tens to hundreds of terabits per second.
The ideal candidate is a hands-on optical architect who has designed and operated production DWDM networks at scale and can turn that experience into an architecture, a roadmap, and a team. You are fluent in Ciena and Nokia optical platforms, comfortable working through an OSNR budget or a fiber characterization report, and equally comfortable defending a multi-year capacity plan to executives. This is a full-time position reporting into Network Engineering, with the mandate to set optical strategy and grow the function as Crusoe scales its global footprint.
What You'll Be Working On:
Optical Network Strategy & Architecture: Define Crusoe's multi-year optical strategy and reference architecture across campus DCI, metro, regional, and long-haul segments, including line system design, ROADM topology, protection and restoration model, and failure domains.
Backbone & Scale-Across Capacity: Architect the transport layer for inter-campus and backbone growth from multi-Tbps today toward hundreds of Tbps, evaluating 400ZR/ZR+, 800ZR, and embedded coherent transponders (Ciena WaveLogic, Nokia PSE) against reach, density, power, and cost per bit.
Platform & Vendor Selection: Lead technical evaluation and selection of optical line systems and transponders. Drive RFPs, lab validation, multi-vendor interoperability testing, and second-source strategy.
Fiber & Route Strategy: Partner with infrastructure, real estate, and procurement on dark fiber, IRU, and wavelength acquisition, including route diversity, fiber characterization (OTDR, CD, PMD), and build-versus-buy decisions for new PoPs and campuses.
Optical Automation & Observability: Define how the optical layer is modeled in source of truth, provisioned, and monitored through open interfaces (OpenConfig, gNMI, TAPI, OpenROADM) and vendor controllers (Ciena MCP/Navigator, Nokia WaveSuite), so optical state is observable and reconciled rather than managed by hand.
Reliability & Failure Analysis: Own optical-layer failure modes end to end, including fiber cuts, amplifier and transponder failures, and gradual performance degradation. Lead RCA for optical incidents and drive design changes that reduce blast radius and time to restore.
Cross-Functional Partnership: Work closely with Network Engineering, SDN, data center design, NetOps, finance, and supply chain to align optical capacity with GPU cluster deployments, the backbone roadmap, and construction timelines.
Technical Leadership: Establish optical design standards, engineering documentation, and operational runbooks. Mentor engineers and help build out the optical engineering function as the network grows.
What You'll Bring to the Team:
Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field (Master's preferred).
12+ years of experience in optical transport networking, including 5+ years as an architect or senior technical lead designing production DWDM networks at service provider, hyperscaler, or cloud scale.
Deep hands-on expertise with optical platforms, covering design, commissioning, and operational troubleshooting.
Strong command of optical fundamentals: OSNR and power budgets, EDFA and Raman amplification, chromatic and polarization mode dispersion, nonlinear impairments, flex-grid spectrum planning, and C+L band systems.
Experience with coherent technologies across pluggable (400ZR/ZR+, 800ZR) and embedded transponders, and a clear view of the tradeoffs between IP-over-DWDM and traditional transponder-based architectures.
Proven track record defining the architecture and roadmap for an optical network from early stage through scale, including capacity planning and cost-per-bit modeling.
Experience leading vendor evaluations, RFPs, and technical negotiations with optical platform vendors and fiber providers.
Clear written and verbal communication, with the ability to make and defend architectural decisions with engineering, procurement, and executive stakeholders.
Bonus Points:
Experience building DCI or backbone networks for AI/ML or hyperscale data center environments, including scale-across training traffic between campuses.
Experience with open and disaggregated optical systems (open line systems, OpenROADM, TIP OOPT) and alien wavelength or multi-vendor interoperability.
Experience automating optical networks with NETCONF/YANG, OpenConfig, gNMI, or TAPI, and integrating optical telemetry into fleet-wide observability.
Experience with dark fiber acquisition, IRU negotiations, long-haul route engineering, or subsea systems.
Vendor certifications (Ciena OC-P or OC-C, Nokia Optical Network Professional) or participation in OIF, IEEE 802.3, or the OpenROADM MSA.
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 $250,000 - $300,000 + 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.
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