Hardware Lab Manager

About the role

Anthropic is building safe, reliable AI systems and needs a dedicated professional to run its Bay Area hardware labs. As the first lab manager, you will ensure the labs are fully functional, well‑stocked, and ready to support a growing number of research and engineering teams.

Key responsibilities

• Operate the physical lab across both sites: receiving, staging, rack‑and‑stack, cabling, power distribution, load planning, cooling, and floor layout.
• Bring up new server and accelerator platforms from crate to a machine ready for SSH access, handling firmware, BIOS/UEFI, out‑of‑band management, OS installation, and network provisioning.
• Own hardware procurement for the lab, coordinating with teams, ordering ahead, managing quotes, and maintaining inventory.
• Manage end‑to‑end RMA processes: triage, swap, ship, track, close, and drive vendor escalations.
• Build custom setups for engineers, including JTAG/SWD/UART debugging, remote power switching, console/KVM access, and ad‑hoc hardware fixes.
• Oversee contractors and smarthands (electricians, cabling crews, riggers, OEM field engineers), defining scope and dispatching work.

Required profile

• Strong ownership and initiative to anticipate and fulfill lab needs before they become blockers.
• Ability to collaborate closely with multiple partner teams and translate their requirements into lab resources.
• Broad knowledge of hardware infrastructure, servers, and accelerator systems.
• Comfort with shaping a new function and scaling it as the organization grows.

Required skills

• Rack‑and‑stack and cabling expertise
• Power distribution planning and cooling system management
• Firmware, BIOS/UEFI configuration
• Out‑of‑band management, OS installation, network provisioning
• Hardware procurement and inventory control
• RMA process management and vendor escalation
• JTAG, SWD, UART debugging
• Remote power switching, console and KVM access
• Contractor coordination and scope definition