Member of Technical Staff - Production Engineer

About Unconventional

Since 2022, AI has entered the mainstream, reshaping entire industries from education and software development to fundamental consumer behaviors. This revolution has created an unprecedented demand for computation - a demand that is now fundamentally limited by energy, not just in the datacenter, but at a global scale.

At Unconventional, our mission is to solve this. We are rethinking computing from the ground up to build a new foundation for AI that is 1000x more efficient. We're doing this by exploiting the rich physics of semiconductors, mapping neural networks directly to the device physics rather than relying on layers of inefficient abstraction.

The Role

As a foundational Member of Technical Staff - Production Engineer, you will build and own the entire computing, network, and data infrastructure that powers our multi-disciplinary R&D team. This isn't a role for maintaining legacy systems; it's a "green field" opportunity to build a high-performance, secure, and scalable environment from the ground up.

We are seeking a highly motivated Infrastructure Engineer excited to build and scale the critical systems that power our R&D efforts. You will design, implement, and maintain the technology backbone - from high-performance computing clusters and CI/CD pipelines to essential IT services and robust data security - enabling our researchers and engineers to focus on innovation.

Your work will be fluid and will span the full stack of infrastructure:

• Core Infrastructure: Design and manage our hybrid cloud/on-premise compute, storage, and networking.
• DevOps & MLOps: Build robust, automated CI/CD pipelines for our simulation software, ML models, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing.
• HPC/Research Support: Deploy and manage computing clusters (e.g., Kubernetes) and data pipelines for large-scale simulation and modeling.
• Security & IT: Implement and own our security posture (network, data, access control) and foundational IT systems (e.g., identity management, device management) for a growing team.

Responsibilities

• Proven Experience: A demonstrated history of building and managing infrastructure in a DevOps, SRE, or senior systems administration role.
• A "0-to-1" Builder: You have a track record of building complex systems from scratch. You thrive on the ambiguity of a blank slate and can design for both immediate needs and future scale.
• Technical Breadth & Depth: You are a "full-stack" infrastructure expert. You are fluent in:
• Linux and MacOS systems administration and scripting (e.g., Python, Bash, MDM).
• Infrastructure as Code (e.g., Terraform, Ansible).
• CI/CD tools (e.g., GitHub Actions, Jenkins).
• Cloud platforms (OCI, AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Networking fundamentals and security best practices.
• High Agency & Ownership: You thrive in a fast-paced, fluid environment. You don't wait for tickets; you identify problems, design solutions, and drive them to completion.
• Customer-First Mindset: You are passionate about building tools and systems that make your "customers" - the R&D team - more productive and successful.

Preferred Qualifications (Nice to Have)

• Experience supporting high-performance computing (HPC) or ML-heavy workloads (e.g., managing GPU clusters, large datasets, or schedulers like Kubernetes).
• Familiarity with the MLOps ecosystem (e.g., supporting PyTorch or JAX environments).
• Experience in a high-security R&D or production hardware environment (e.g., managing custom IC EDA tools, or HIL test benches).
• Background in building and scaling infrastructure for a fast-growing startup.

Why Join Us?

• The Mission: Tackle a fundamental problem that could redefine computing for the next 50 years.
• The Impact: Be a foundational member of a world-class team with an outsized opportunity for ownership and impact.
• The Challenge: Work on deeply challenging, intellectually stimulating problems that sit at the cutting edge of multiple fields.
• The Perks: A comprehensive package including best-in-class health benefits, 401k matching, truly unlimited PTO, and complimentary meals in our Palo Alto office.