[Hiring] Mining Operations and Deployment Manager @Block

Role Description

Proto is accelerating the world's transition to an open economy with products that increase access and independence for everyone. We're building Bitkey, a simple and safe self-custody bitcoin wallet that will put customers in control, as well as hardware and software that will help decentralize bitcoin mining and enable new and innovative use cases for bitcoin mining.

The Role

Engineering, Conception & Facility Planning

• Help lead and coordinate engineering and conceptual planning for new mining facility deployments — from initial site evaluation through infrastructure design, electrical architecture, and layout planning.
• Review and interpret single-line diagrams, site plans, and electrical schematics; identify gaps, risks, and remediation requirements before capital is committed.
• Conduct on-site audits of prospective and active mining facilities, evaluating electrical infrastructure, cooling systems (immersion and air-cooled), network connectivity, security systems, and environmental conditions.
• Produce detailed audit reports including findings, photos, measurements, go/no-go recommendations, and remediation roadmaps.
• Evaluate site-level electrical capacity; coordinate with facility operators on power availability, redundancy, and distribution architecture.
• Identify and flag risks related to power quality, grid interconnection, transformer sizing, and facility limitations before they become operational problems.

Hardware Deployment & Commissioning

• Lead end-to-end deployment of Proto Rig hardware at and partner sites — from logistics and staging through racking, powering, networking, commissioning, and energization.
• Manage commissioning and energization activities, ensuring hardware is racked, powered, networked, and hashing on schedule.
• Establish and enforce post-deployment validation protocols: firmware verification, hashrate benchmarking, uptime monitoring, and performance validation against manufacturer specifications.
• Support the Proto Operations team on warranty and RMA processes; serve as the primary escalation point for field hardware issues.
• Support planning for site expansions, phased rollouts, and load balancing across the deployment portfolio.

Fleet Operations & Real-Time Bitcoin Economics

• Oversee live fleet operations across all active Proto deployments in close coordination with finance — monitoring hashrate, uptime, efficiency, and fleet health in real time.
• Drive operational efficiency with a shared focus on minimizing cost-per-coin-mined — optimizing power pricing, fleet performance, and overhead costs across all active sites.
• Coordinate and execute curtailment decisions tied to real-time power market dynamics, hashprice fluctuations, and network difficulty adjustments.
• Integrate Bitcoin mining economics — hashprice, network hashrate, block reward halvings, and transaction fee dynamics — into operational decision-making, deployment timing, and capacity planning.
• Maintain fleet management tooling stack; oversee monitoring, alerting, and performance reporting across all deployed hardware.
• Diagnose and resolve hardware and firmware issues in the field; escalate bugs and coordinate fix validation with Proto's engineering team.
• Produce regular fleet performance reporting for Proto and Block leadership, including uptime, hashrate efficiency, power utilization, and economic performance per site.

Energy Strategy & Infrastructure Management

• Identify, evaluate, and secure reliable, low-cost power sources for new and existing deployments — including renewable energy, behind-the-meter, and curtailment-based opportunities.
• Manage energy procurement strategy across power markets, optimizing for blended power cost, grid stability, and long-term availability.
• Oversee infrastructure that maintains equipment performance and thermal stability across immersion-cooled and air-cooled environments.
• Monitor and respond to power market signals to protect fleet economics, including demand response participation and real-time load management.

Strategic Growth & Partnerships

• Identify and evaluate new mining site opportunities — assessing power availability, infrastructure readiness, jurisdiction risk, and economics.
• Lead site pipeline development from initial prospecting through audit, negotiation, and deployment readiness.
• Form and manage strategic partnerships with hosting providers, facility operators, and infrastructure partners to support fleet expansion.
• Develop fleet expansion plans aligned with Bitcoin market cycles, hashprice trends, and Proto's hardware roadmap.
• Provide operational input into Proto's hardware product development — translating field experience into actionable feedback for engineering and product teams.

Risk Management & Market Cycle Strategy

• Work with Finance to develop and maintain operational risk frameworks covering mining volatility, hashprice downturns, hardware deployment timing, and power market disruptions.
• Define and execute fleet management strategies for adverse conditions — including low hashprice environments, post-halving margin compression, and demand response events.
• Manage hardware deployment timing against Bitcoin market cycles, network difficulty trends, and halving schedules to protect capital efficiency.
• Maintain contingency plans for site-level power disruptions, hardware failures, and logistics delays that could impact fleet uptime.

Compliance, Safety & Regulatory Oversight

• Ensure all Proto deployments adhere to applicable safety standards, electrical codes, and environmental regulations across all operating jurisdictions.
• Manage regulatory compliance related to high-energy-consumption operations, including environmental reporting and utility interconnection requirements.
• Enforce site-level safety protocols for field operations personnel, contractors, and subcontractors working on Proto deployments.
• Stay current on regulatory developments affecting Bitcoin mining operations, including energy policy, zoning, and environmental requirements.

Vendor, Contractor & OEM Management

• Serve as Proto's senior on-site representative across all deployments, coordinating third-party electrical contractors, facility operators, and logistics vendors.
• Oversee subcontractor quality, manage site-level issues in real time, and enforce Proto's operational standards across all engagements.
• Manage hosted client relationships and facility operator partnerships; ensure Proto hardware performs to SLA commitments.

Team Building & Organizational Leadership

• Build Proto's mining operations function from scratch — design the organizational structure, define roles, recruit field ops personnel, and establish the playbooks and standards the team executes against.
• Build and manage an external operations team; train and direct field ops personnel to execute deployments and site operations independently.
• Own the transition from founder-led ops to a scalable, repeatable function capable of supporting multi-site, multi-jurisdiction deployments.
• Support cross-functional planning between operations, strategy, and finance to align deployment activity with business objectives and Bitcoin market conditions.

Qualifications

• Experience in engineering, facility planning, or related fields.
• Strong understanding of electrical systems and infrastructure.
• Proven track record in hardware deployment and commissioning.
• Knowledge of Bitcoin mining economics and market dynamics.
• Experience in risk management and compliance.
• Strong leadership and team-building skills.

Requirements

• Ability to travel to various mining sites as needed.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Benefits

• Remote work options.
• Medical insurance.
• Flexible time off.
• Retirement savings plans.
• Modern family planning support.

Company Description

Block, Inc. (NYSE: XYZ) builds technology to increase access to the global economy. Each of our brands unlocks different aspects of the economy for more people.

• Square makes commerce and financial services accessible to sellers.
• Cash App is the easy way to spend, send, and store money.
• Afterpay is transforming the way customers manage their spending over time.
• TIDAL is a music platform that empowers artists to thrive as entrepreneurs.
• Bitkey is a simple self-custody wallet built for bitcoin.
• Proto is a suite of bitcoin mining products and services.