Group Program Manager - Technical Programs
Volta · Palo Alto, CA ·
- Work mode
- Hybrid
- Employment
- Contract
- Category
- Project management
- Experience
- 5+ years
Volta · Palo Alto, CA ·
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Leads a team of program managers to deliver large-scale GPU cluster and data-center infrastructure programs, coordinating hardware, networking, power, and cooling while aligning cross-functional teams and executives.
Volta is the category-defining, fully vertically integrated AI infrastructure platform – from capital to clusters to software, under a founder-led enterprise. Our mission is The Utility of Compute™: AI infrastructure as dependable and available as electricity, for every organization that needs it. Launched with a $10B strategic partnership with one of the leading frontier AI labs, a Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, and a $5B AI Infrastructure Fund, Volta is building the infrastructure layer of the AI era from the ground up. We are 100+ people across London, Palo Alto, and New York, with rapid growth expectations to hundreds.
The Group Program Manager, Technical Programs, owns the portfolio of technical programs across Volta — leading a team of program managers and giving company leadership a single, reliable view of how major technical initiatives are progressing.
You will set the standards for how programs are run at Volta, resolve competing priorities across the portfolio, and coach the program managers who report to you.
Program Delivery & Execution
Own end-to-end delivery of GPU cluster activations and data center infrastructure programs, from initial strategic planning through operational handoff.
Drive multi-threaded bring-up programs spanning hardware, networking, power, and cooling — owning plans, dependencies, and critical paths.
Coordinate cross-functional teams responsible for construction, infrastructure, network, hardware, ICT, commissioning, and operations, including vendor and contractor partners.
Anticipate downstream impacts of technical sequencing decisions on capacity, schedule, and cluster performance; identify and resolve blockers before they surface.
Manage and hold accountable vendors, integration contractors, and third-party service providers across the full deployment lifecycle.
Partner with engineering to improve cluster turn-up reliability, repeatability, and automation — reducing time-to-serve for new capacity.
Support network operations and end-to-end physical and logical bring-up, including on-site deployment, rack cabling, and coordination with engineering teams.
Maintain momentum through changing requirements, tight timelines, and cross-time-zone execution.
Stakeholder & Executive Communication
Influence senior executive and c-suite strategic approaches.
Deliver crisp executive-level program status briefings covering schedule health, risks, key decisions, and escalation paths across a broad portfolio of concurrent programs.
Translate complex technical requirements — from highly detailed customer RFPs, integration specs, and architecture documents — into actionable plans for engineering, finance, and marketing stakeholders.
Serve as the primary cross-functional point of contact between engineering, operations, customers, and leadership; code-switch fluently between deeply technical and business-facing audiences.
Interface with chip and hardware providers to derisk onboarding to new platforms across compute, networking, and cooling stacks.
Facilitate alignment across stakeholders at all levels — from network engineers to C-suite — with confidence, clarity, and no ego.
Program Infrastructure & Process
Build and operationalize program mechanisms — roadmaps, milestones, risk registers, RACI matrices, decision logs, and deployment runbooks — that make delivery predictable at scale.
Establish and maintain a single source of truth for all active programs using tools such as Smartsheet, Confluence, Jira, and Notion.
Identify bottlenecks and systemic gaps, then drive durable fixes across tooling, process, and partner interfaces.
Develop scalable playbooks and governance frameworks that create accountability without creating overhead as Volta's deployment footprint grows rapidly.
Champion automation and digital workflows to eliminate manual effort across the program lifecycle.
WHAT YOU'LL BRING
Required
5+ years of experience delivering complex data center physical infrastructure programs or large-scale GPU/AI cluster deployments in fast-moving environments.
Demonstrated experience bridging construction handover and cluster deployment — candidates who are network-only or construction-only will not be a fit.
Hands-on GPU deployment experience, including:
GPU cluster deployment and activation (NVIDIA infrastructure preferred)
Full-stack secure AI factory deployment across compute, networking, storage, and security layers
Ability to read, interpret, and operationalize highly technical customer and vendor specifications
Strong understanding of AI/GPU infrastructure including power density, cooling (CDU/DLC), networking, and deployment sequencing.
Familiarity with how construction, low-voltage, and commissioning activities affect deployment readiness and sequencing.
Proven ability to lead through influence — you don't own the execution teams, but you are accountable for delivery outcomes.
Proven ability to manage vendor and contractor relationships, including understanding schedule and reputational risks.
Ability to develop and present executive-level program status, risk summaries, and key decisions to senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
Excellent communication and stakeholder alignment skills — able to ensure teams at all levels understand priorities and dependencies.
Relentlessly resourceful: you thrive in ambiguous, fast-paced environments and drive execution beyond your defined scope without being directed to do so.
Startup or scale-up experience alongside enterprise pedigree is strongly preferred — candidates who have operated at both ends of that spectrum understand the range of environments this role will demand.
Preferred
Degree in a hard science, engineering, or a demonstrated track record of technical depth in comparable work.
Experience delivering programs across multiple concurrent sites or regions, including EMEA, with staggered milestones.
Experience managing long-lead procurement processes and hardware supply chain constraints that affect deployment timelines.
Background at a Fortune 100 infrastructure company (NVIDIA, Intel, Dell, Cisco, Verizon, AT&T) combined with startup or scale-up experience.
Experience managing BPO or contract labor pools during large-scale hardware deployment phases.
Automation-first mindset with experience identifying and implementing process improvements at scale.
DCD, PMP, CDCPM, CDCMP, CDCP, or comparable certification(s).
WHO YOU ARE
You have operated in highly ambiguous, fast-moving environments and know how to prioritize ruthlessly without losing sight of the long-term picture.
You have startup instincts — you fill gaps, take initiative, and drive execution beyond your defined scope before anyone asks you to.
You have enough confidence to hold the room and none of the ego that slows the work down.
You are not a 9-to-5 operator. Global infrastructure programs run across time zones — you know how to chase the sun.
You have built the business case, secured buy-in from technical stakeholders, and presented to executive decision-makers who pushed back hard.
You bring a strong execution mindset with the ability to balance speed, quality, and risk — and you make decisions with data, not assumptions.
You are interested in and thoughtful about the impact of AI infrastructure on the world.
REQ-132
At Volta, we believe people do their best work when they feel supported, trusted and able to grow. We're building a company where you can make an impact, keep a healthy balance between work and life, and build a career you're proud of.
As a global team, we do our best to provide great benefits wherever you're based. While some benefits vary by country due to local regulations, we believe looking after our people is simply the right thing to do.
Competitive salary based on the work you do here, not your previous salary
Equity in Volta, giving you the opportunity to share in the company's long-term success
Retirement/pension contributions
Comprehensive health, wellbeing and insurance benefits
Generous number of vacation days each year
Background Checks
All offers of employment at Volta are conditional on the satisfactory completion of pre-employment screening, which includes confirmation of your right to work, verification of your employment history and a criminal record check, where this is permitted by local law. Screening is carried out by Zinc, an accredited third-party provider, after an offer is made and all information is handled confidentially and in accordance with applicable data protection law.
Volta is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and make employment decisions based on skills, qualifications, experience and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected characteristic.
Volta is committed to providing an accessible recruitment experience for all candidates. If you require accommodations or adjustments at any stage of the application or interview process, please contact us at [email protected]. We will work with you to identify reasonable accommodations that enable you to participate fully in the hiring process.
By applying, you consent to the processing of your personal data for recruitment purposes in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the UK GDPR, EU GDPR and relevant US state privacy regulations. Your data will be shared only with those involved in the hiring process and will not be used for unrelated purposes. For details, see our Recruitment & Candidate Privacy Notice.
Volta does not accept unsolicited CVs or candidate profiles from recruitment agencies. Any unsolicited submissions, including those sent directly to hiring managers or employees, will be treated as the property of Volta. No agency fees will be payable unless a valid, signed recruitment agreement is in place, and the agency has been specifically engaged for the relevant vacancy.
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