Director, Energy Innovation and Commercialization

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: The Director, Energy Innovation and Commercialization will create strategic advantages 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: - Competitive compensation - Restricted Stock Units - Paid time off & paid holidays - 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 Compensation Range Compensation will be paid in the range of up to $204,000 - $255,000 + 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.