About the role

Aplyr's Quick Take

This role is about managing the procurement of GPU and CPU resources for Modal, ensuring the company has the infrastructure it needs to support its AI services. You'll negotiate contracts and build supplier relationships, working closely with engineering to align technical needs with procurement strategies. It's primarily an individual contributor role focused on strategy and operations.

Good fit

Ideal candidates will have experience in tech procurement, particularly in AI infrastructure, and a solid understanding of GPU architectures and networking. Strong negotiation skills and the ability to work cross-functionally are essential, making this a good fit for someone with a few years of relevant experience who thrives in a fast-paced environment.

Worth noting

The role is critical to the company's growth, directly impacting what Modal can offer its customers. The emphasis on both technical knowledge and commercial acumen is unique, suggesting a blend of skills not commonly found in traditional procurement roles.

About Us:

AI needs a new infrastructure layer. We're building it at Modal.

Every era of computing brought new workloads that previous infrastructure couldn't support: mainframes, databases, and the cloud. Each time, the company that rebuilt the layer underneath defined the decade. AI is no different, except it touches everything instead of one slice, and the window to build the layer underneath it is open right now.

Our customers include category-defining companies like Lovable, Ramp, Cognition, DoorDash, and Suno. They rely on Modal for instant GPU access, sub-second container starts, and native storage, so it's simple to serve low-latency inference, fine-tune models, and access production-ready sandboxes at scale.

We recently raised a $355M Series C at a $4.65B valuation, led by General Catalyst and Redpoint Ventures. We've crossed $300M+ ARR and grown fivefold since September.

Our team includes creators of popular open-source projects (e.g.,Seaborn,Luigi), academic researchers, international olympiad medalists, and experienced engineering and product leaders with decades of experience.

The Role:

We're hiring a Compute Strategy and Operations lead to own how Modal plans for and acquires GPU and CPU capacity. You'll size our infrastructure needs ahead of demand, source supply across hyperscalers, neoclouds, and datacenter operators, and negotiate and close the contracts to secure it. The compute you secure directly determines what Modal can sell and build.

In this role, you will:

Own end-to-end procurement of GPU and CPU capacity across hyperscalers, neoclouds, and datacenter operators
Build and maintain a strong pipeline of supplier relationships
Evaluate supply options on price, availability, hardware specs, networking capabilities, and SLA terms
Negotiate and close contracts: reserved capacity agreements, spot arrangements, MSAs, DPAs, and order forms
Work closely with our engineering teams to translate technical requirements into procurement specs
Track market pricing, availability trends, and supplier dynamics, and serve as a trusted advisor to leadership on infrastructure procurement decisions

Requirements:

Fluency in the AI infrastructure landscape: hyperscalers, neoclouds, and the broader GPU supply market
Technical understanding of what you're buying: GPU architectures (NVIDIA H100/H200/B200, etc.), networking (InfiniBand vs. RoCE, fabric topology), and SLA structures
Strong commercial instincts. You know how to find leverage, structure a deal, and close it
Ability to work cross-functionally with finance and engineering teams on commercial terms and technical requirements

Skills & Tags

go rust ai data product

Aplyr's read

Modal Labs is a developer-focused tech company that enhances software productivity and collaboration, attracting engineers and specialists in security, ML, and systems.
Synthesized from recent postings & public sources

What's promising

•Modal Labs offers cutting-edge tools that significantly boost developer productivity.
•The company is expanding rapidly, hiring across diverse technical and strategic roles.
•Focus on collaboration tools positions Modal well in the evolving software development landscape.

What to watch

•High competition in developer tools could challenge market differentiation.
•Rapid expansion may strain company culture and integration processes.
•Limited public information about financial health and long-term sustainability.

Why Modal

•Modal Labs specializes in enhancing productivity for developers, a niche focus.
•The company hires for highly specialized roles, indicating a commitment to technical excellence.
•Emphasis on collaboration tools makes it unique in the software development space.

Aplyr’s read is generated by AI from public sources. Was it useful?

About Modal

Modal

modal.com

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Modal Labs is a technology company that focuses on building tools and platforms for developers, enhancing productivity and collaboration in software development.