File · SRX-2616 / Singapore · UAE (APAC–GCC) · Open

Senior AI Systems Architect — Chip to Datacentre

AI compute infrastructure · Silicon, systems and datacentre design

A systems architect, not a component owner. This mandate is for the hardware architect who holds the whole stack — silicon, board, rack, row, datacentre — and can defend the performance, power and cost trade-offs in front of customers.

Discipline
Cloud & AI Infrastructure
Seniority
Senior · 8+ years
Stage
Open
Work mode
Hybrid — Singapore and/or UAE
Employment
Full-time · Permanent
Listed
19 Aug 2026

How to approach this mandate

No application form. No CV portal. Read the position brief, then speak with Peter directly, under confidence.

The client is not named here. On an engaged mandate the client's hiring intent is commercially sensitive — particularly in a compute build-out where competitors track hiring signals closely — so the organisation is identified to you under confidence in the first partner conversation.

The remit

Why this role exists now. And what it carries.

For the first time, system architecture — not chip supply — is the decisive variable in AI compute. Organisations that get the silicon-to-datacentre design right see faster time-to-train, lower energy cost per inference, and infrastructure that scales without being rearchitected two years later. Those that do not spend the difference in power, in retrofits, and in stranded capacity.

That has created a narrow profile. Component specialists are available; architects who can hold mechanical, thermal and power delivery together with board design, rack integration and hyperscale deployment operations are not. Add the presence to sit with customers and supply-chain partners, and the pool thins further — across Singapore, the wider APAC corridor and the Gulf build-out alike.

The client designs and deploys AI compute systems at scale and needs the architect who owns direction for a product scope end to end: from concept and trade-off analysis through large-scale production deployment.

What the role carries

  • Drive architecture for complete datacentre systems from the chip outward — analysing performance, power and cost trade-offs across mechanical, thermal and power delivery subsystems at scale.
  • Guide product teams with architectural direction, integrating lessons from prior generations with first-principles analysis of new solutions.
  • Work with counterparts across silicon, software, networking and operations to define and deliver cutting-edge products.
  • Engage key customers and system development partners across the product development cycle, translating architecture into commercial confidence.
  • Work with suppliers and procurement to align industry component roadmaps to product and system requirements.
  • Monitor competitive solutions and industry trends so architectural decisions stay ahead of the market.
  • Take systems from concept through commissioning and large-scale production deployment alongside engineering and operations.

The brief

The challenge, the mandate, and the impact.

The challenge

The client is scaling AI compute faster than its architecture can be re-decided. Performance, power and cost trade-offs are currently resolved subsystem by subsystem, which shows up later as thermal ceilings, power delivery rework and capacity that cannot be added without redesign. The constraint is one architect trusted to hold the whole system and say no.

The mandate

Owns architectural direction for an assigned system or subsystem scope: trade-off analysis, design documentation, competitive analysis and integration review across the hardware and software stack. Specification authority over in-scope architecture, with customer and supplier engagement carried personally. Influence rather than line management.

The impact

30–90 days
Product architecture landscape and current system designs mapped; stakeholders across silicon, software, networking and operations established; at least one performance, power and cost analysis documented and shared; architectural direction defined for the assigned scope with competitive analysis feeding product decisions.
6 months
Recognised as the architectural authority for the assigned product scope — guidance adopted by product teams, validated in customer engagement, and ready to lead the next phase of system definition from concept through production.

35

Median days to shortlist

Category norm: 84–120 days

8 in 10

12-month retention

Category norm: ~60% at 18 months

90 days

Replacement guarantee

With backfill

1

Partner, start to close

Never delegated

Index reading

The market reading behind the brief.

This mandate is not written from a job description. It is written from our own quarterly reading of how these roles are being eliminated, redefined and created in this corridor.

Where this mandate sits in the market

Current Q3 displacement intensity in the sectors that frame this search. Higher intensity means more leadership turnover and sharper talent scarcity.

  • Data CentreDisplaced · 9/9
  • AI EngineeringDisplaced · 9/9
  • SaaS & CloudDisplaced · 9/9

Read the full Displacement Index — 7 sectors across APAC, EMEA and the GCC.

The profile

Who closes this. And on what terms.

Critical

  • Chip-to-datacentre systems view

    Board, rack, row and datacentre-level integration held as one system rather than a set of components.

  • Power and thermal authority

    Mechanical, thermal and power delivery design proven under at-scale deployment constraints, not on paper.

  • Cross-stack problem solving

    As comfortable in firmware debug as in an architecture review with engineering leadership.

  • Customer and supplier presence

    Trade-offs defended directly with hyperscale customers, development partners and component suppliers.

Differentiators

  • Co-development of custom processors or accelerators alongside systems and software.
  • Hyperscale commissioning experience across multiple regions.
  • Liquid cooling and high-density rack deployment at production scale.
  • Experience inside sovereign or national-programme compute build-outs.

What the client offers

  • Architectural authority over a defined product scope, from concept through production deployment.
  • Work at the infrastructure layer of AI compute, alongside silicon, software and networking specialists of the same grade.
  • Direct exposure to hyperscale customers and system development partners.
  • Compensation benchmarked to senior systems architecture in the Singapore and UAE markets.
  • Hybrid working from Singapore and/or the UAE, with a build-programme travel rhythm.
Scope
Chip to datacentre — mechanical, thermal, power, board, rack, row
Interfaces
Silicon · software · networking · operations · customers · suppliers
Engagement
Permanent · hybrid, Singapore and/or UAE
Reports to
Lead Systems Architect / engineering leadership

The approach

How this mandate runs. Partner-led, end to end.

01 · Day 0–1

Approach

You reach out — through this page, the Singapore or Dubai line, or a confidential booking. No application form, no CV upload to a portal. The first conversation is about fit, not paperwork.

02 · Days 2–7

Partner conversation

Peter Post, the partner who signed this mandate, speaks with you directly. Systems architecture does not read from a CV, so the conversation goes straight to the platforms you designed, the trade-offs you defended, and what shipped at scale.

03 · Days 8–21

Client introduction

If the fit holds, Peter introduces you to the hiring client under confidence. You meet engineering leadership, test the architecture scope, and see the silicon-to-datacentre remit for what it actually is.

04 · Days 22–35

Decision

The client decides. On a yes, Peter works the package, relocation and counter-offer defence with both sides. On a no, you get a direct debrief, not silence.

Your partner on this mandate

Peter Post
Peter Post

Partner · Digital Talent Sourcing · Amsterdam

Old-school recruiting instinct, modern stack, engineer's discipline — pipelines built before the brief is signed.

Book a confidential call

Where this mandate connects

The full register