Customer Reliability Engineer (North America)

About Phaidra

Phaidra builds AI agents for AI factories.

As demand for AI grows, data centers need to get more out of the power and infrastructure they already have. Power, cooling, and compute are closely connected, and making them work efficiently is one of the biggest challenges in scaling AI.

Phaidra builds AI agents that help data center operators understand their infrastructure, troubleshoot issues, and optimize how their facilities run. Our agents connect data across IT and OT systems, helping teams find problems faster and use existing resources more effectively. Operators use Phaidra to optimize performance, reliability, and efficiency. From helping technicians get to the root cause of an issue to optimize cooling and power allocation, our work helps data centers maximize tokens per watt.

Phaidra was founded in 2019 by former Google, DeepMind, and Trane engineers. Our team brings deep experience in AI, cybersecurity, mission-critical cooling, data centers, and industrial controls. We believe deploying AI in production demands deep domain expertise. We work closely with our partners to tackle challenges around real-world infrastructure at gigawatt-scale.

Our team has a track record of applying AI to the toughest problems. We achieved superhuman performance with DeepMind’s AlphaGo and cut the energy needed to cool Google’s data centers by 40%. We know AI deeply, and we know how to apply it in production for massive impact.

Phaidra can only achieve its mission if we work well together. Our core values define how we do that: Agency, Velocity, Craft, and Truth. We look for people who embody these values. They help our team deliver excellence consistently and build an engaging, supportive culture.

Phaidra is headquartered in the USA, but we are 100% remote with no physical office. We hire internationally with support from our partner, OysterHR. Our team is spread across the USA, Canada, the UK, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Singapore, Australia, and India.

Who You Are

You are the technical relationship owner for Phaidra's deployed sites. As a Customer Reliability Engineer, you manage a portfolio of named accounts in post-implementation support — you are the first line of triage, the person who monitors Prism Insights and diagnoses facility anomalies, and the one who closes the loop with the customer when something needs to be addressed. You operate as an extension of the customer's operations team, working closely with Technical Program Managers, Solutions Engineers, Data Scientists, and Account Executives to keep sites healthy, drive Prism adoption, and surface patterns across your accounts that make Phaidra smarter at scale.

**We are seeking teammates who are based in the United States or Canada.

Responsibilities

• You will work closely with the Solutions Engineers, Technical Program Managers (TPMs), Data Scientists, and Account Executives, as the technical experts for Phaidra's customers. Your role is to use Phaidra's platform and tools to support our projects post implementation.

• This is a heavy customer facing role and you will maintain stellar lines of communication with our customers

• As the subject matter expert, (SME), you will use Phaidra’s products, and your knowledge of the customers' needs, to support the systems. This will require working closely with Phaidra's customers to help them get the most out of our technologies, and drive adaption.

• You will monitor Prism’s Insights and continue to analyze, triage, and diagnose issues in the facility.

• Operating as an extension of the customer’s facility operations team, you will communicate issues and anomalies found.

• You will review customer usage of Prism, and support them in adaption.

• You will manage your own accounts and track and document your findings each week.

• You will understand the technology's capabilities and limitations, identify opportunities for value creation, and support solutions using Phaidra's platform and tools.

• Working closely with our product team, you will identify and define product requirements based upon each customer’s specification and needs.

• You will working closely with other Customer Reliability Engineers and the Product team to ensure our automated tools enable Phaidra to scale across thousands of customers.

• Should it be warranted, you may travel to the site for additional customer training.

*This role can include 25% travel

Key Qualifications

• Knowledge of chiller plant fundamentals, configurations, and sequence of operations.

• Understanding of electrical power distribution systems.

• Understanding of applied thermodynamics for cooling systems, refrigeration systems, and hydronics.

• Experience designing, programming, or strong working knowledge of industrial and commercial control systems and protocols such as BACnet and Modbus.

• Deep understanding of data center specific controls and cooling methodologies.

• Understanding the applications and control strategies of air side chilled water and direct expansion cooling systems.

• Strong proficiency in working with data center operations teams and contributing to solving field operations related problems and challenges.

• Passion for problem solving and using scalable solutions to solve repeat problems.

• Ability to translate a combination of customer-stated and customer-implied needs into coherent needs documentation for use by the software development team.

• Good educational background in one or more related disciplines pertinent to your area of expertise. Example disciplines include Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Control Theory, Applied Mathematics and other various engineering and applied science fields.

• Ability to read and write Python scripts (in collaboration with the software engineering team) to implement Prism key features.

• Excellent communication skills. Ability to explain complex domain specific concepts to non-domain experts and also explain complex AI and ML specific concepts to non-AI/ML specific customers.

• Shares our company values: Agency, Velocity, Craft, and Truth

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Experience using scrum and agile methodologies.

• Experience with rapidly prototyping new technologies and converting into commercially viable products.

• Experience building, owning, and operating your own engineered and programmed systems.

• Experience working with services within cloud platforms.

• Experience applying AI, ML, and LLMs in controls applications.

• Experience with statistics, analytics, etc.

• Experience with domain relevant optimization problems and solutions.

Onboarding

In your first 30 days…

• Familiarize yourself with the company handbook and commissioning playbooks.

• Learn Prism end to end: Insights, alarms, and the views your customers use daily.

• Review site documentation and sequences of operation for your assigned accounts.

• Shadow CREs and TPMs on customer calls and weekly account reviews.

In your first 60 days…

• Take over Prism Insights triage for part of your portfolio, with peer review.

• Start delivering weekly findings reports for your accounts.

• Share anomalies directly with customer operations teams, with support as needed.

• Partner with a Data Scientist on at least one issue needing deeper root cause work.

In your first 90 days…

• Own your full account portfolio independently.

• Take at least one customer issue from detection through confirmed resolution.

• Turn a customer need into a written product requirement and hand it to Product.

• Find a pattern that repeats across accounts. Propose a scalable fix, like an automated check or a Python script.

General Interview Process

All of our interviews are held via Google Meet, and an active camera connection is required.

1. Meeting with People Operations team member (30 minutes)

2. Meeting with Hiring Manager (60 minutes)

3. Data Science Interview (30 minutes)

4. Meeting with Customer Reliability Engineer (30 minutes)

5. Culture fit interview with one of Phaidra’s co-founders (30 minutes)

We use Kula as our hiring platform. During your interview, Kula's AI Notetaker will record a transcript of the meeting to allow the interviewer to focus on the interview, not the note taking.

Base Salary

US Residents:

• Tier 1 (Largest highest-cost metros): 97,446 USD - 155,913 USD

• Tier 2 (Other major metros): 92,573 USD - 148,117 USD

• Tier 3 (Mid-sized metro areas): 87,701 USD - 140,322 USD

• Tier 4 (All other locations): 82,829 USD - 132,526 USD

Canada Residents:

• Tier 1 (Vancouver, Toronto): 100,125 CAD - 160,201 CAD

• Tier 2 (Montreal): 93,450 CAD - 149,521 CAD

• Tier 3 (Waterloo, Ottawa, Calgary): 93,450 CAD - 149,521 CAD

• Tier 4 (Smaller cities / rural areas): 73,425 CAD - 117,480 CAD

In addition to base salary, this position is eligible for equity. Final salary will be determined based on several factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, experience, expertise, education and location. In some cases, final compensation may fall outside the posted range. Salary ranges are regularly reviewed and may be adjusted in response to market trends.

Benefits & Perks

• Fast-paced, team-oriented environment where your work directly shapes the company’s direction.

• We are a 100% remote company.

• Competitive compensation & meaningful equity.

• Outsized responsibilities & professional development.

• Training is foundational; functional, customer immersion, and development training.

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance (exact benefits vary by region).

• Unlimited paid time off, with a required minimum of 20 days per year.

• Paid parental leave (exact benefits vary by region).

• Flexible stipends to support your workspace, well-being, and continued professional development.

• Company MacBook.

Please note: Not all of Phaidra’s benefits and perks listed above apply to temporary employees such as interns.

On being Remote

We take a thoughtful and intentional approach to remote collaboration. Inspired by pioneers like GitLab, we embrace proven best practices to foster an exceptional remote work environment. Our culture is documentation-first, and we prioritize asynchronous communication to support focus and flexibility across time zones. While we value independence, we stay closely connected through tools like Slack and video conferencing. Weekly all-hands meetings help us align and build strong relationships, and we regularly host virtual team-building activities and social events to maintain a sense of camaraderie.

Equal Opportunity Employment

Phaidra is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Phaidra is governed on the basis of merit, competence, and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status. We welcome diversity and strive to maintain an inclusive environment for all employees. If you need assistance with completing the application process, please contact us at [email protected].

E-Verify Notice

Phaidra participates in E-Verify, an employment authorization database provided through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA). As required by law, we will provide the SSA and, if necessary, the DHS, with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization for those residing in the United States.

Additional information about E-Verify can be found here.

#LI-Remote

To be considered for any position at Phaidra, you must submit an online application. This role will remain open until it is filled.

Phaidra only hires individuals who are legally authorized to work in the specified location(s) above. We do not provide employment sponsorship. Candidates requiring visa sponsorship, either now or in the future, are not eligible for hire.

Candidates who advance beyond the initial screening stage will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in order to continue through the interview process.

All employment offers are contingent upon successful completion of employment authorization verification and applicable background checks, in accordance with local laws and company policies.

WE DO NOT ACCEPT APPLICATIONS FROM RECRUITERS.