About this opportunity
Crux AI lists this VP Energy & Site Selection opportunity in palo alto, California. Review the employer’s description below for duties, qualifications and application requirements.
Job description
Built to set the gold standard for integrated AI infrastructure
Crux AI is a newly formed, U.S.-based integrated AI infrastructure company created to remove the physical and operational constraints on consequential AI ambitions. Crux brings together power, high-density data centers, TPU silicon, networking, orchestration software, and ongoing operations as one integrated system.
Crux is being capitalized to plan every layer together, develop each one to demanding standards, and operate the whole system with efficiency and reliability. That gives hyperscalers, frontier AI labs, sovereign customers, enterprises, and AI-native companies greater freedom to pursue the AI they are here to create.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, you will build Crux AI's powered campus pipeline, leading the origination, structuring, acquisition, and development of the sites that carry the platform to roughly 2 GW of annual delivery. You will own each opportunity from origination through infrastructure hold point, handing over campuses that are ready for vertical construction.
Power is the binding constraint, so you will lead power origination and capacity planning while coordinating the wider infrastructure ecosystem around it, driving procurement and delivery for substations, transformers, switchgear, transmission and distribution upgrades, broadband, and the other long-lead assets that determine energization dates. You will build and hold the relationships this depends on across utilities, ISOs and RTOs, municipalities, and infrastructure partners, and structure development and acquisition strategies that preserve expansion optionality without sacrificing near-term capacity.
You will convert opportunities into executable, bankable projects with clear accountability for schedule, feasibility, and site readiness - orchestrating utilities, municipalities, permitting authorities, infrastructure providers, and communities while identifying and mitigating risks across infrastructure delivery. That means installing governance and diligence rigorous enough that development assumptions reflect real infrastructure availability, procurement timelines, and execution constraints rather than optimistic scheduling. And you will build a lean development organization using AI, automation, and modern diligence tools to qualify opportunities faster, and building the operating processes that let a small team run a rapidly expanding portfolio.
SIGNALS OF SUCCESS
After 60 days in this role:
You will understand the capacity plan and have a candid view of which committed sites will hold their energization dates.
You will have pressure-tested the power position on every site in the current portfolio: queue position and study status, what the utility has actually executed versus indicated, and where bridging power is required to hit commissioning.
You will have built the sourcing pipeline and the screening framework that goes with it, covering brokers, developers, utilities, and economic development agencies, with power-first criteria and an honest kill threshold.
Your relationships with the utilities, ISOs, and municipalities are established and personal, not delegated.
After 6 months:
The long-lead equipment position is secured or ordered (transformers, switchgear, substation scope, and T&D upgrades) with delivery dates that support the build schedule rather than trailing it.
Incremental capacity for the Q4 2028 target is under control: sites identified, land secured or optioned, power contracted, and entitlement paths mapped.
Your diligence and governance process is running, and IC-ready approval packages carry honest schedule ranges with named risks rather than single-point dates.
The development team is hired and productive, with the AI-enabled diligence and pipeline tooling in daily use rather than in pilot.
After 1 year:
The pipeline runs ahead of the build plan. Campuses reach infrastructure hold point ready for vertical construction, and construction is never waiting on land, power, or fiber.
You have a repeatable origination machine, a lean team executing against a portfolio far larger than its headcount would suggest.
Crux is a counterparty utilities want to work with. You are getting shown opportunities before they hit the market.
EXPERIENCES, ATTRIBUTES AND MINDSET THAT INDICATE A GOOD MATCH
Experiences
Origination through campus readiness. Senior experience in data center, digital infrastructure, power, or infrastructure development, with personal ownership of advancing large-scale projects from origination all the way to campus readiness.
Power markets and utility engagement. Strong command of power markets, interconnection, utility engagement, and grid dynamics — specifically in constrained or competitive environments where capacity is contested.
Securing infrastructure, not procuring inputs. Proven ability to secure and coordinate the full set of critical infrastructure required to enable development, rather than sourcing individual components in isolation.
Complex deal structuring. Track record identifying, structuring, and executing development opportunities that deliver scalable capacity, with fluency across land, permitting, entitlements, and stakeholder engagement.
Long-lead dependency management. Experience managing long-lead infrastructure requirements and multiple interlocking dependencies inside complex development programs.
Attributes
Hands-on and credible. Engages utilities, developers, and infrastructure partners at real depth.
Creative and resourceful in sourcing. Finds and acts on opportunities others overlook, and is comfortable with deals that are imperfect and time-sensitive.
Decisive and pragmatic. Assess risk quickly and moves in competitive markets without waiting for perfect information.
Commercially minded. Balances speed, cost, scalability, and long-term flexibility in every development and infrastructure decision.
Mindset
Technology-enabled operator. Uses AI, automation, and modern diligence tools to qualify opportunities and accelerate decisions, and builds scalable process so a lean team can carry a large portfolio.
Honest about schedule. Builds development assumptions that reflect real procurement timelines and execution constraints, and would rather deliver a hard date than an appealing one.
Salary Range Information
The annual salary range for this position has been estimated based on market data and other factors. However, a salary higher or lower than this range may be appropriate for a candidate whose qualifications differ meaningfully from those listed in the job description.
About Crux
We offer generous base, bonus and additional incentive based compensation
Health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents
Company-paid life insurance and disability
Full suite of other optional benefits
401(k) Plan with 4% company match
Hybrid schedule offering four days in-office collaboration paired with one remote workday for focused, individual work
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Worksite address
palo alto, CA, 94306, US
Who can apply
Review the original listing for work authorization, qualifications and employer requirements.