Director, Energy Innovation and Commercialization
Crusoe, San Francisco, California, United States, 94199
Crusoe's mission is to accelerate the abundance of energy and intelligence. We’re crafting the engine that powers a world where people can create ambitiously with AI — without sacrificing scale, speed, or sustainability.
Be a part of the AI revolution with sustainable technology at Crusoe. Here, you'll drive meaningful innovation, make a tangible impact, and join a team that’s setting the pace for responsible, transformative cloud infrastructure.
About the Role:
The Director, Energy Innovation and Commercialization will create strategic advantage for Crusoe by scouting, vetting and adopting new technologies and techniques to generate or access electricity for AI computing infrastructure. This position will create and drive an incubation engine that converts new technology into scalable deployment and durable strategic advantage for Crusoe. The Director role is designed to put Crusoe at the forefront of energy‑first AI infrastructure development by turning frontier energy technologies and market mechanisms into real, deployable electrical power that is contractable, financeable, and deliverable on schedule and with bounded risk.
You will work directly with the Chief Strategy Officer in an environment of high intensity and requiring high trust. This is not a research‑only role. This is not a deals‑only role. It is a multidisciplinary role that spans strategy, technical vetting and incubation, market evaluation, public affairs influence, and venture capital‑style commercial thinking across frontier technologies and early stage teams.
The ideal candidate is a commercially‑minded engineer with the ability to evaluate energy technologies on the basis of design, operations, economics and strategic value. Candidates must display compelling interpersonal skills and a capability to build relationships, develop partnerships, persuade and drive negotiations. The role requires strong leadership, communication and presentation skills. Candidates must possess extremely strong critical thinking and problem solving skills, a high degree of agency, a bias towards action, comfort operating independently, and an ability to think creatively about evolving markets, technologies and competitive dynamics.
The ideal candidate wants an environment defined by extremely hard work, high ambiguity, high impact, and real‑world constraints. Expect late nights, weekends, heavy cross‑functional coordination, and significant travel. Candidates should bring elite skills in technical analysis, communicating complex concepts simply, stakeholder influence, and commercial judgment. The role requires a strong grasp of power markets, energy project development, and what it means to have power that is financeable with bounded risk. Technical depth is important.
This position offers exposure to the most influential participants in industry and government around the world across energy, infrastructure, capital markets, technology, and policy. The Director will shape the future of how the Artificial Intelligence industry is powered, and will leverage Crusoe’s many billions of dollars of purchasing power to advance new energy solutions to the forefront of the AI industrial revolution. This role has the ability to change the world in the case of success.
What You'll Be Working On:
Reporting to the Co‑Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, the Director will collaborate with cross‑functional partners to develop and execute energy technology strategies. This role is pivotal in driving Crusoe’s competitive edge through cost efficiencies, operational excellence, supply chain optimization, and the cultivation of new revenue streams and business models.
Work will range across identification of promising energy technologies, definition and negotiation of new commercial structures and associated agreements, running pilot projects often in tandem with Crusoe Spark modular data center deployments, and producing research or thought leadership that shapes the industry and positions Crusoe at the forefront of energy innovation in the AI industry.
Building and maintaining a Crusoe‑specific market map of energy technologies, market structures, and regulatory pathways that can unlock speed and advantage
Sourcing and conducting due diligence of opportunities aligned to Crusoe’s power and infrastructure roadmap, including shadowing strategic finance partners’ deal pipeline meetings
Converting frontier insights into actionable bets with clear diligence plans, decision memos, pilot project designs, and scale pathways
Incubating technologies and partnerships from concept to deployable projects
Partnering with Crusoe’s commercial, operational and legal teams to structure and negotiate agreements that create long‑term strategic advantages for Crusoe
Driving cross‑functional projects across engineering, business development, finance, legal, data center execution, and public affairs
Creating energy technology‑focused partnerships with academic institutions, government labs or similar research institutions
Publishing high‑signal thought leadership pieces that reinforce Crusoe’s positioning as a market leader
What You'll Bring to the Team:
Position Crusoe at the forefront of energy‑first AI infrastructure development
Define and continuously refine Crusoe’s energy innovation and commercialization thesis tied to the company’s compute roadmap and siting strategies
Translate strategy into execution by establishing clear priorities, decision criteria, and “kill/scale” gates
Produce board‑ and exec‑ready materials that drive decision velocity
Map the frontier of energy technologies and develop campus‑level technoeconomic models incorporating future technologies
Maintain an active view across generation, storage, fuels, grid‑edge solutions, interconnection enablers, and enabling software
Evaluate options with execution realism: technological feasibility, supply chain, permitting, safety, operability, reliability, cost, timeline, and bankability
Build a living “Frontier Map” and keep it operationally relevant to Crusoe’s near‑term and medium‑term project pipeline
Develop campus‑level technoeconomic models to stress‑test future generation designs across technologies, electrical architecture, and build‑out timing. The model will translate design choices into $/kW‑month, delivered $/MWh, uptime risk, and time‑to‑energize
Incubate and de‑risk new technologies into deployable pathways
Stand up a repeatable incubation motion: source → diligence → partner → pilot → scale or terminate
Design pilots tied to real sites and real constraints, with measurable outcomes and clear ownership
Build partner ecosystems across developers, OEMs, EPCs, utilities, ISOs/RTOs, financiers, and key suppliers
Recommend build vs. buy vs. partner vs. invest with clear rationale and quantified tradeoffs
Drive deal flow for Crusoe’s Corporate Development team
Source early‑stage opportunities aligned to Crusoe’s roadmap and competitive advantage.
Join Crusoe’s strategic finance partners’ (VCs, etc.) to vet their deal pipelines for possible fit with Crusoe
Lead diligence across technical, market, regulatory, and commercial dimensions
Produce investment memos and recommendations; support term negotiation alongside legal and the investment committee
Where value‑add is high, partner with portfolio companies to accelerate deployment pathways relevant to Crusoe
Negotiate and close high‑impact commercial agreements
Lead or co‑lead negotiation and execution of:
Technology pilots and scale frameworks
Strategic partnerships and joint development structures
Procurement and supply arrangements critical to energy delivery
Structured commercial agreements that support accelerated power access
Coordinate internal alignment across engineering, finance, operations, legal, and business development to close and execute on opportunities
Develop novel market structures that create differentiated access to power
Design and implement commercial structures that unlock speed, certainty, and advantage, including:
Power products combining capacity, energy, and flexibility
Flexible load constructs that monetize compute elasticity and improve project economics
Behind‑the‑meter and private‑wire arrangements where advantageous
Development frameworks that reduce interconnection and schedule risk
Convert successful one‑off structures into repeatable templates and playbooks.
Thought leadership and original research
Publish crisp, technical, and commercially grounded content that strengthens Crusoe’s credibility with partners, regulators, and talent
Build relationships with leading academic and research institutions to produce original research directly relevant to Crusoe’s strategy and execution
Use research outputs to influence markets and unlock partnerships, not as an academic exercise
Work with Public Affairs to influence outcomes that expand feasibility
Partner with Public Affairs to shape enabling conditions across permitting, interconnection, market rules, incentives, and reliability constructs
Engage stakeholders and coalitions when it materially improves time‑to‑power, certainty, or project viability
Drive clear objectives and measurable outcomes from external engagement
Required
12+ years in energy development, power markets, energy‑tech commercialization, infrastructure strategy, or closely related fields
Demonstrated experience closing complex deals involving technical, commercial, and regulatory dimensions
Strong understanding of what makes energy solutions deployable and financeable (permitting, interconnection, reliability, operations, bankability)
Exceptional written and verbal communication. Ability to produce decision‑grade memos and materials quickly
Advanced degree in a technical field
Preferred
Experience spanning both innovation (pilots, new tech, venture) and execution (projects, contracts, delivery)
Familiarity with large flexible loads (data centers, industrial loads, compute) and their interaction with power markets
Network across developers, OEMs, EPCs, utilities, ISOs/RTOs, financiers, and research institutions
Benefits:
Industry competitive pay
Restricted Stock Units in a fast growing, well‑funded technology company
Health insurance package options that include HDHP and PPO, vision, and dental for you and your dependents
Employer contributions to HSA accounts
Paid Parental Leave
Paid life insurance, short‑term and long‑term disability
Teladoc
401(k) with a 100% match up to 4% of salary
Generous paid time off and holiday schedule
Cell phone reimbursement
Tuition reimbursement
Subscription to the Calm app
MetLife Legal
Company paid commuter benefit; $300/month
Compensation Range
Compensation will be paid in the range of up to $215,000 - $270,000 + Bonus. Restricted Stock Units are included in all offers. Compensation to be determined by the applicants 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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Be a part of the AI revolution with sustainable technology at Crusoe. Here, you'll drive meaningful innovation, make a tangible impact, and join a team that’s setting the pace for responsible, transformative cloud infrastructure.
About the Role:
The Director, Energy Innovation and Commercialization will create strategic advantage for Crusoe by scouting, vetting and adopting new technologies and techniques to generate or access electricity for AI computing infrastructure. This position will create and drive an incubation engine that converts new technology into scalable deployment and durable strategic advantage for Crusoe. The Director role is designed to put Crusoe at the forefront of energy‑first AI infrastructure development by turning frontier energy technologies and market mechanisms into real, deployable electrical power that is contractable, financeable, and deliverable on schedule and with bounded risk.
You will work directly with the Chief Strategy Officer in an environment of high intensity and requiring high trust. This is not a research‑only role. This is not a deals‑only role. It is a multidisciplinary role that spans strategy, technical vetting and incubation, market evaluation, public affairs influence, and venture capital‑style commercial thinking across frontier technologies and early stage teams.
The ideal candidate is a commercially‑minded engineer with the ability to evaluate energy technologies on the basis of design, operations, economics and strategic value. Candidates must display compelling interpersonal skills and a capability to build relationships, develop partnerships, persuade and drive negotiations. The role requires strong leadership, communication and presentation skills. Candidates must possess extremely strong critical thinking and problem solving skills, a high degree of agency, a bias towards action, comfort operating independently, and an ability to think creatively about evolving markets, technologies and competitive dynamics.
The ideal candidate wants an environment defined by extremely hard work, high ambiguity, high impact, and real‑world constraints. Expect late nights, weekends, heavy cross‑functional coordination, and significant travel. Candidates should bring elite skills in technical analysis, communicating complex concepts simply, stakeholder influence, and commercial judgment. The role requires a strong grasp of power markets, energy project development, and what it means to have power that is financeable with bounded risk. Technical depth is important.
This position offers exposure to the most influential participants in industry and government around the world across energy, infrastructure, capital markets, technology, and policy. The Director will shape the future of how the Artificial Intelligence industry is powered, and will leverage Crusoe’s many billions of dollars of purchasing power to advance new energy solutions to the forefront of the AI industrial revolution. This role has the ability to change the world in the case of success.
What You'll Be Working On:
Reporting to the Co‑Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, the Director will collaborate with cross‑functional partners to develop and execute energy technology strategies. This role is pivotal in driving Crusoe’s competitive edge through cost efficiencies, operational excellence, supply chain optimization, and the cultivation of new revenue streams and business models.
Work will range across identification of promising energy technologies, definition and negotiation of new commercial structures and associated agreements, running pilot projects often in tandem with Crusoe Spark modular data center deployments, and producing research or thought leadership that shapes the industry and positions Crusoe at the forefront of energy innovation in the AI industry.
Building and maintaining a Crusoe‑specific market map of energy technologies, market structures, and regulatory pathways that can unlock speed and advantage
Sourcing and conducting due diligence of opportunities aligned to Crusoe’s power and infrastructure roadmap, including shadowing strategic finance partners’ deal pipeline meetings
Converting frontier insights into actionable bets with clear diligence plans, decision memos, pilot project designs, and scale pathways
Incubating technologies and partnerships from concept to deployable projects
Partnering with Crusoe’s commercial, operational and legal teams to structure and negotiate agreements that create long‑term strategic advantages for Crusoe
Driving cross‑functional projects across engineering, business development, finance, legal, data center execution, and public affairs
Creating energy technology‑focused partnerships with academic institutions, government labs or similar research institutions
Publishing high‑signal thought leadership pieces that reinforce Crusoe’s positioning as a market leader
What You'll Bring to the Team:
Position Crusoe at the forefront of energy‑first AI infrastructure development
Define and continuously refine Crusoe’s energy innovation and commercialization thesis tied to the company’s compute roadmap and siting strategies
Translate strategy into execution by establishing clear priorities, decision criteria, and “kill/scale” gates
Produce board‑ and exec‑ready materials that drive decision velocity
Map the frontier of energy technologies and develop campus‑level technoeconomic models incorporating future technologies
Maintain an active view across generation, storage, fuels, grid‑edge solutions, interconnection enablers, and enabling software
Evaluate options with execution realism: technological feasibility, supply chain, permitting, safety, operability, reliability, cost, timeline, and bankability
Build a living “Frontier Map” and keep it operationally relevant to Crusoe’s near‑term and medium‑term project pipeline
Develop campus‑level technoeconomic models to stress‑test future generation designs across technologies, electrical architecture, and build‑out timing. The model will translate design choices into $/kW‑month, delivered $/MWh, uptime risk, and time‑to‑energize
Incubate and de‑risk new technologies into deployable pathways
Stand up a repeatable incubation motion: source → diligence → partner → pilot → scale or terminate
Design pilots tied to real sites and real constraints, with measurable outcomes and clear ownership
Build partner ecosystems across developers, OEMs, EPCs, utilities, ISOs/RTOs, financiers, and key suppliers
Recommend build vs. buy vs. partner vs. invest with clear rationale and quantified tradeoffs
Drive deal flow for Crusoe’s Corporate Development team
Source early‑stage opportunities aligned to Crusoe’s roadmap and competitive advantage.
Join Crusoe’s strategic finance partners’ (VCs, etc.) to vet their deal pipelines for possible fit with Crusoe
Lead diligence across technical, market, regulatory, and commercial dimensions
Produce investment memos and recommendations; support term negotiation alongside legal and the investment committee
Where value‑add is high, partner with portfolio companies to accelerate deployment pathways relevant to Crusoe
Negotiate and close high‑impact commercial agreements
Lead or co‑lead negotiation and execution of:
Technology pilots and scale frameworks
Strategic partnerships and joint development structures
Procurement and supply arrangements critical to energy delivery
Structured commercial agreements that support accelerated power access
Coordinate internal alignment across engineering, finance, operations, legal, and business development to close and execute on opportunities
Develop novel market structures that create differentiated access to power
Design and implement commercial structures that unlock speed, certainty, and advantage, including:
Power products combining capacity, energy, and flexibility
Flexible load constructs that monetize compute elasticity and improve project economics
Behind‑the‑meter and private‑wire arrangements where advantageous
Development frameworks that reduce interconnection and schedule risk
Convert successful one‑off structures into repeatable templates and playbooks.
Thought leadership and original research
Publish crisp, technical, and commercially grounded content that strengthens Crusoe’s credibility with partners, regulators, and talent
Build relationships with leading academic and research institutions to produce original research directly relevant to Crusoe’s strategy and execution
Use research outputs to influence markets and unlock partnerships, not as an academic exercise
Work with Public Affairs to influence outcomes that expand feasibility
Partner with Public Affairs to shape enabling conditions across permitting, interconnection, market rules, incentives, and reliability constructs
Engage stakeholders and coalitions when it materially improves time‑to‑power, certainty, or project viability
Drive clear objectives and measurable outcomes from external engagement
Required
12+ years in energy development, power markets, energy‑tech commercialization, infrastructure strategy, or closely related fields
Demonstrated experience closing complex deals involving technical, commercial, and regulatory dimensions
Strong understanding of what makes energy solutions deployable and financeable (permitting, interconnection, reliability, operations, bankability)
Exceptional written and verbal communication. Ability to produce decision‑grade memos and materials quickly
Advanced degree in a technical field
Preferred
Experience spanning both innovation (pilots, new tech, venture) and execution (projects, contracts, delivery)
Familiarity with large flexible loads (data centers, industrial loads, compute) and their interaction with power markets
Network across developers, OEMs, EPCs, utilities, ISOs/RTOs, financiers, and research institutions
Benefits:
Industry competitive pay
Restricted Stock Units in a fast growing, well‑funded technology company
Health insurance package options that include HDHP and PPO, vision, and dental for you and your dependents
Employer contributions to HSA accounts
Paid Parental Leave
Paid life insurance, short‑term and long‑term disability
Teladoc
401(k) with a 100% match up to 4% of salary
Generous paid time off and holiday schedule
Cell phone reimbursement
Tuition reimbursement
Subscription to the Calm app
MetLife Legal
Company paid commuter benefit; $300/month
Compensation Range
Compensation will be paid in the range of up to $215,000 - $270,000 + Bonus. Restricted Stock Units are included in all offers. Compensation to be determined by the applicants 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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