Director, Data Center Strategy and Site Selection

About the Role As Together AI's first Data Center Strategy hire, you'll own how and where we scale the physical backbone of our AI cloud. This role blends technical depth (power, cooling, redundancy) with commercial negotiation and strategic planning: you'll evaluate sites, structure deals, and shape our infrastructure decisions across regions. You'll help decide what we build, where we build, and who we build it with. Responsibilities Develop Together's global data center strategy. Define where we invest and lease data center space and who we partner with. Balance cost, risk, and speed across regions to support product and customer demand Own site selection and vendor relationships: evaluate new locations, negotiate large colocation and power contracts, manage vendor performance on cost, delivery, and SLAs Define and source site connectivity from various network providers Lead technical site diligence process: assess power, cooling, redundancy, grid, and expansion capacity. You'll partner with engineers and consultants but are expected to engage technically, not just be a “project manager” Negotiate and interface with executive and senior level management Drive high-impact commercial and strategic transactions by engaging with supplier and internal executive leadership Support sovereign and large-scale customer deals with custom infrastructure scoping Collaborate cross-functionally with Infra, Finance, Product, and GTM to tie site investments to demand and product roadmap Requirements 8+ years in data center strategy, site selection, or infrastructure planning at a hyperscaler, AI infra company, or large colocation provider Strong technical grasp of DC fundamentals: power architecture, cooling (including liquid), redundancy schemes, and rack density Experience leading large complex multi-party negotiations, structuring colo/power contracts, and managing RFP processes Knowledge of standard data center, power, and real estate contractual and legal frameworks Financial fluency: TCO modeling, lease vs. own analysis, and cost drivers across power and colocation Clear communicator: able to translate technical trade-offs into business decisions for non-technical stakeholders Nice to Have Familiarity with power markets, energy procurement, or behind-the-meter strategies Background in hyperscale or sovereign AI projects Familiarity with ISPs and network service providers About Together AI Together AI is a research-driven artificial intelligence company. We believe open and transparent AI systems will drive innovation and create the best outcomes for society, and together we are on a mission to significantly lower the cost of modern AI systems by co-designing software, hardware, algorithms, and models. We have contributed to leading open-source research, models, and datasets to advance the frontier of AI, and our team has been behind technological advancement such as FlashAttention, Hyena, FlexGen, and RedPajama. We invite you to join a passionate group of researchers in our journey in building the next generation AI infrastructure. Compensation We offer competitive compensation, startup equity, health insurance, and other benefits, as well as flexibility in terms of remote work. The US base salary range for this full-time position is: $230,000 - $275,000K + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by location, level and role. Individual compensation will be determined by experience, skills, and job-related knowledge. Equal Opportunity Together AI is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is proud to offer equal employment opportunity to everyone regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, veteran status, and more. Please see our Privacy Policy at https://www.together.ai/privacy