A site is nearing go-live
Commissioning and operations seats have to be filled against a fixed turnover date, and the schedule will not wait for a requisition queue.
Site Launch Workforce MapAI Infrastructure and Data Center Recruiting
Recruiting for the teams that bring compute online.
Critical Path Hiring is a founder-led recruiting practice for AI infrastructure and data center companies across the United States. GPU and platform engineers, controls software, DCIM and commissioning. One search partner for the full stack, including the software roles inside physical facilities.
- Years in recruiting
- 15+
- United States coverage
- National
- One search partner
- Physical + software
How we work
- Founder-led search
- Human-reviewed research
- Fixed-fee and fixed-monthly engagements
- Weekly written reporting
- Client-owned research and pipeline
- United States coverage
Physical capacity and software infrastructure are not separate hiring problems. Power, facilities, networking, distributed systems, platform engineering and MLOps together decide whether compute becomes a reliable product.
Specialties
Roles we recruit across the stack.
Three connected talent markets, searched with the vocabulary each one actually uses.
AI Infrastructure
- GPU and HPC infrastructure
- Distributed systems
- Network and fabric
- Cloud and platform engineering
- SRE and observability
- MLOps and model serving
- Data platform
- Forward-deployed and solutions engineering
The Bridge Layer
- Controls and BMS software
- DCIM
- GPU fleet telemetry and observability
- Capacity and power-aware scheduling
- Commissioning validation software
Data Center Build and Run
- Commissioning (CxA, QCxP)
- Critical facilities
- Electrical and mechanical engineering
- Controls and EPMS
- Project controls
- Power
- Construction and project management
The infrastructure lifecycle
From power to production AI.
Every stage has its own talent market, its own vocabulary and its own failure mode. Hiring plans break when a single recruiter treats them as one pool.
01
Power
- Substation and utility engineers
- Electrical design leads
- Energy managers
Utility interconnect timelines slip when no one owns the power schedule.
Power and project controls recruiting02
Build
- Construction managers
- MEP superintendents
- Project controls
Local workforce constraints often become visible only after competing projects have absorbed much of the available bench.
Data center recruiting03
Commission
- CxA and QCxP agents
- Controls and BMS engineers
- Startup technicians
Commissioning talent is scarce and booked against fixed IST windows.
Commissioning recruiting04
Operate
- Critical facilities managers
- Chief engineers
- Shift technicians
Operations hiring is often sequenced too late, leaving teams exposed to competing offers and changing compensation expectations.
Critical facilities recruiting05
Compute
- GPU and HPC cluster engineering
- Network fabric and InfiniBand
- Distributed systems and storage
- Hardware deployment and fleet operations
GPU fabric and cluster networking are a different talent pool from enterprise network engineering. Sourcing them the same way returns candidates who cannot operate at scale.
GPU and HPC recruiting06
Deploy AI
- Platform engineering and SRE
- MLOps, LLMOps and model serving
- Inference, latency and cost engineering
- Forward-deployed and solutions engineering
Platform, reliability, deployment and customer-facing engineering are separate talent markets with separate evidence to check.
Platform, SRE and observability recruitingOne requisition often contains four different talent markets.
Platform, reliability, deployment and customer-facing engineering are separate talent markets. Combining them into one job description is one of the reasons AI infrastructure searches stall.
Triggers
Built for moments like these.
If one of these describes your quarter, a short diagnostic will tell you whether a search, a market map or a scope change is the right next move.
Internal recruiters lack niche coverage
Your talent team is strong on volume roles but has no map of commissioning agents, controls engineers or GPU platform talent.
Embedded Search SprintFunding or a customer commitment created a hiring plan
A raise or a signed commitment turned into headcount. Role definition and a talent map come before anything is posted.
Talent Intelligence SprintCritical roles have been repeatedly reposted or remain open
The blockage is often role scope, compensation, geography or an interview process that cannot move at market speed. It needs naming before more sourcing.
Search Recovery SprintA new CTO, COO or Head of People is rebuilding the plan
New leadership inherits open roles, an untested interview loop and compensation bands that were set in a different market.
Leadership and Team BuildAn infrastructure vendor just won a large customer
Deployment, solutions and support coverage has to exist before the first customer milestone, without adding a permanent talent function yet.
Fractional Talent PartnerEngagements
Productized scopes, clear time boxes.
Each engagement states what you receive, how long it runs, what it costs and what completion means. Every commitment is a delivery standard, never a guaranteed hire.
Talent Intelligence Sprint
When it fits: You need to know whether the role is fillable, at what compensation and in which market, before committing to a search.
- Named target universe by company and discipline
- Supply and density read by metro
- Compensation expectations observed in live conversations
- Written brief and a working session to review it
- Time box
- Two to three weeks
- Commercial structure
- Fixed-fee research engagement, no placement obligation
- Investment
- $5,000 to $8,000, fixed fee
- Complete when
- The agreed research deliverables are delivered and reviewed with your hiring team.
Embedded Search Sprint
When it fits: You have a defined set of hard roles and want a dedicated recruiter operating inside your process.
- Calibrated scorecards per role
- Direct outreach with weekly written reporting
- Written candidate cases including risks
- Interview coordination and compensation feedback
- Time box
- Two-month minimum term
- Commercial structure
- Fixed monthly engagement fee, capacity-based
- Investment
- $9,500 to $12,500 per month
- Complete when
- Complete when the agreed engagement period, search deliverables, reporting cadence and handoff requirements have been fulfilled, or the scope is extended by mutual agreement.
Fractional Talent Partner
When it fits: You need recruiting leadership, process and compensation intelligence without adding a full-time talent hire.
- Hiring plan and sequencing across the portfolio
- Interview process and scorecard design
- Compensation bands maintained against live market evidence
- Recruiter enablement and research library handover
- Time box
- Three-month initial term
- Commercial structure
- Fixed monthly retainer, defined weekly capacity
- Investment
- $14,000 to $18,000 per month
- Complete when
- Complete when the agreed operating period and recruiting-system deliverables have been completed, with extension available by mutual agreement.
Site Launch or Team Build
When it fits: A new site, region or platform team has to be staffed against a milestone schedule.
- Hiring sequence tied to construction and commissioning dates
- Workforce risk register by discipline and market
- Relocation and local supply strategy
- Milestone reporting and full pipeline handover
- Time box
- Custom milestone schedule
- Commercial structure
- Fixed monthly engagement fee against the milestone plan
- Investment
- $22,000 to $35,000 per month
- Complete when
- Complete when the agreed milestone deliverables, workforce plan, active-search work and pipeline handoff have been completed.
Selective Executive Search
When it fits: A leadership seat carries the plan: head of infrastructure, head of platform, director of critical facilities or VP of engineering.
- Stakeholder calibration and a written success profile
- Confidential market mapping across named target organizations
- Structured assessment against the agreed profile
- Compensation and offer strategy through the start date
- Time box
- Scoped per search
- Commercial structure
- Fixed fee, invoiced in stages
- Investment
- $35,000 to $75,000, fixed fee
- Complete when
- Complete when the agreed research, assessment and process deliverables for the search have been fulfilled, or the scope is revised by mutual agreement.
Method
Calibrate, Map, Engage, Validate, Close, Transfer.
Six steps, each with a defined output you receive. Transfer is not optional. The research and pipeline are yours.
- Step 01
Calibrate
A written role brief, an agreed scorecard, and a market reality check on scope, comp and location before outreach starts.
- Step 02
Map
AI-assisted mapping across AI infrastructure companies, operators, EPCs and OEMs, layered on a network built one conversation at a time.
- Step 03
Engage
Direct, human outreach with weekly reporting on volume, response quality and the objections we are hearing.
- Step 04
Validate
Structured screens against the scorecard, written candidate cases including risks, and comp expectations on the record.
- Step 05
Close
Offer strategy, counteroffer exposure assessment, and resignation and relocation support through the start date.
- Step 06
Transfer
Your team keeps the pipeline, research files, messaging and comp data. The work stays with you when the engagement ends.
The full explanation of each step lives on the embedded recruiting for infrastructure teams page. AI assists. People decide.
Reporting
You see the search, not just the shortlist.
This is the reporting structure used every week of an engagement: how large the market actually is, what it said, and where the risk sits.
Example weekly search report
Example weekly search-report structure. No client or candidate information shown.
| Report field | What it records each week |
|---|---|
| Target companies mapped | Named organizations in scope this week and why each one is in the universe. |
| Relevant professionals identified | People profiled against the scorecard, by discipline and market. |
| Outreach status | Contacted, in conversation, declined, or holding for a later stage. |
| Response themes | What the market is saying about the role, the team and the technology. |
| Compensation feedback | Expectations heard in live conversations against your approved band. |
| Location and relocation constraints | Onsite cadence, commute limits and relocation appetite by candidate group. |
| Qualified conversations | Screens completed against the scorecard, with written assessment notes. |
| Interview status | Stage position for each active candidate and where the process is waiting. |
| Market objections | The reasons candidates give for passing, grouped so they can be acted on. |
| Role-definition risks | Scope, level or requirement combinations the market is not returning. |
| Recommended changes | The specific adjustment to scope, band, geography or process we advise. |
| Next actions | What we will do next week and what we need from your team to do it. |
Deliverables
What every engagement leaves behind.
- Role calibration and a market read before sourcing starts
- A talent map of source companies and adjacent pools
- Compensation evidence
- A weekly pipeline report
- Every candidate and map stays with you.
Who runs your search
Your search is run by the person who scoped it.
Czarina Tabayoyong, founder of Critical Path Hiring.
Czarina Tabayoyong has more than 15 years of recruiting experience across software engineering, cloud infrastructure, platform, AI and ML, data center architecture, PMO and project delivery. Her background includes recruiting cloud and data center architecture talent for AWS Professional Services, supporting complex recruiting portfolios at Amazon and building recruiting programs for hyperscale data center projects. She personally leads calibration, market mapping, outreach strategy, candidate assessment, stakeholder management and close.
Software and infrastructure role calibration
Distinguishes platform engineering from MLOps, SRE from ML infrastructure, and GPU systems talent from conventional cloud engineering, then connects each role to the capacity and reliability constraints underneath it.
Cross-market infrastructure sourcing
Maps candidates across hyperscalers, cloud platforms, operators, EPCs, OEMs, integrators and adjacent technical markets including utilities, semiconductor and industrial automation.
AI-assisted, human-reviewed research
Mapping and organization are automated. Assessment and decisions stay human and documented. AI assists. People decide.
About Critical Path Hiring
Background, method, and what we will and will not claim.
Who we serve
AI infrastructure companies, GPU cloud platforms, operators, EPCs and vendors.
How we use AI in screening
The methodology, governance and human accountability behind the research.
Insights
Written analysis of infrastructure talent markets and role design.
An AI engineer is not an AI infrastructure engineer. One requisition often holds four separate talent markets.
Tell us what you need to build. We will show you where the talent is.
A short hiring diagnostic covers scope, market reality and compensation. You leave with a recommendation even if it is not a search.