Director, New Product Introduction - Spark

About the job

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 the Role:

Crusoe is a vertically integrated AI Factory company with a mission to accelerate the abundance of energy and intelligence. Our competitive advantage, "Speed is the only moat," is directly tied to our ability to rapidly design, manufacture, and deploy our own modular power and compute infrastructure.

We are seeking a New Product Introduction (NPI) Leader to prime the entire Crusoe system for Spark. The Group Product Manager defines what the Spark product must be and on what timeline. You make Crusoe Industries, Supply Chain, Quality, and every other function ready to deliver it, through a phase gate framework you own and release decisions you hold.

You do not design the product and you do not own the factory. You do own the program, and you run it. You set the sequence, drive the builds, define what readiness means at each gate, verify it against evidence, and hold the gate closed when the system is not ready, under schedule pressure, to people who outrank you. You will start as the single-threaded owner of this function and build the team as volume scales.

What You'll Be Working On:

I. Gate Framework & Release Authority

• Framework Ownership: Own the five phase Spark NPI framework: Concept and Feasibility, Design and Development, Prototype and Verification, Pilot and Pre-Production, and Launch and Scale. Set entry and exit criteria and run every gate review. Product Management and Technical Project Management are standing participants.

• Release Authority: Hold the design freeze and production release decisions. Gates 2 and 4 clear only when the product acceptance criteria set by Product Management and the manufacturing readiness criteria you define are both met.

• Gate Discipline: No unverified risk passes a gate without explicit sign-off and an action plan with an owner and a date. A flaw caught in Phase 2 costs a fraction of the same flaw in Phase 4.

• Readiness Assessment: Maintain a readiness scorecard modeled on Manufacturing Readiness Level and Production Readiness Review practice. Make readiness measured, not asserted.

• Design Baseline & Change Control: Freeze the baseline at the close of Phase 2 and chair the change control board from there, managing ECO and ECN flow through PLM. Product Management sets cut-in intent; you set cut-in timing.

• Package Completeness: Verify each release package is complete and buildable before it leaves engineering: drawings, specifications, indented BOM, interface control documents, test procedures, and compliance documentation.

II. Program Execution Across the Crusoe System

• Demand Definition: Translate the product roadmap into dated, specific readiness demands on Crusoe Industries, Supply Chain, Quality, and Field Operations. Every function knows what it owes, and by when, before the phase begins.

• Program Execution: Run the NPI program day to day. Own the integrated schedule, the risk register, and the action log, and drive every open item to closure rather than reporting on it.

• Validation Campaigns: Plan and execute the EVT, DVT, and PVT builds with Crusoe Industries and contract manufacturing partners. Be on the floor for the builds, and convert every finding into a tracked action with an owner and a date.

• Manufacturing Readiness: Crusoe Industries owns the line, the process, and the yield. You define the readiness bar they must clear at each gate, verify it against evidence, and work the gap with them until it closes.

• Supply Chain Sequencing: Supply Chain owns sourcing and supplier qualification. You surface long lead items, tooling commitments, and single source exposure early enough to protect the schedule, and drive the recovery plan when one slips.

• Rack-Scale Compute Integration: Ensure the compute and rack-scale infrastructure in each module, including power delivery, liquid cooling interfaces, networking, and cabling, is integrated, validated, and released with the module package rather than added late.

• Downstream Handoff: Ensure the released package is consumable by preconstruction, construction, site engineering, deployment, and field service.

III. Launch & Learning

• Ramp Accountability: Hold Crusoe Industries and contract manufacturing partners to the yield, quality, and cost targets committed at prior gates. Report variance early and drive the corrective plan.

• Program Communication: Maintain a single current view of gate position, open risks, and launch readiness for the Spark GM and executive stakeholders.

• Post-Launch Review: Run a formal review after every ramp on execution performance, and fold the findings into the next cycle's gate criteria.

What You'll Bring to the Team:

Education

• Required: Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, or Manufacturing Engineering, or a closely related discipline.

Experience

• 10 to 15 years in new product introduction, manufacturing engineering, or hardware program management, including one generation carried from concept through ramp under a formal phase gate framework.

• Demonstrated ownership of gate and release decisions, including holding a gate closed under schedule pressure and what it cost.

• Hands-on execution of validation and pilot builds, not just program reporting on them.

• Experience priming both an internal factory and an external contract manufacturer for the same product.

• Track record driving readiness across organizations you do not control, with credibility in engineering and manufacturing alike.

Technical Depth

• NPI Methodology: Phase gate frameworks, gate entry and exit criteria, readiness assessment, and EVT, DVT, and PVT execution.

• Configuration & Change Management: PLM, indented BOM, revision control, ECO and ECN workflow, and change control board leadership.

• Design for Excellence: DFM, DFA, and DFT applied before design freeze.

• Quality & Risk: Design FMEA, first article inspection, non-conformance and corrective action, and factory acceptance testing.

• Supply Chain: Long lead and single source risk, supplier qualification timing, and tooling commitments.

• Product Fluency: Enough command of electrical, mechanical, and thermal systems to judge whether a modular power and compute package is releasable.

Additional Qualifications

• Experience with modular, containerized, or prefabricated infrastructure products.

• Familiarity with liquid cooled data center hardware, including CDU and rack level cooling interfaces.

• Mountaineer Spirit: The discipline to hold a gate closed when the schedule says otherwise, and the judgment to know when the risk is worth taking anyway.

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 $225,000 - $255,000 + 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.