Sr. Principal Business Manager – Data Center & AI Infrastructure

 

Role Overview

Are you passionate about driving business growth for next-generation data infrastructure, working hand-in-hand with hyperscalers and AI platform providers? Do you thrive at the intersection of customer engagement, commercial strategy, and cutting-edge technologies like Open Rack, rack-scale systems, and PCIe scale-up architectures? At Astera Labs, you'll help shape how the world's largest AI platforms are connected — translating complex infrastructure trends into successful business outcomes.

As a Sr. Principal Business Manager, you will partner closely with customers, sales, product marketing, and engineering to accelerate revenue growth and execute strategic deals in the rapidly evolving AI and cloud infrastructure market. This is a high-visibility role for a hyper-growth, purpose-built connectivity company enabling rack-scale AI — requiring strong leadership, deep commercial acumen, and the ability to convert design wins into durable revenue.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive Strategic Deal Pipeline

• • Lead engagement with hyperscale and AI customers to secure design wins and drive conversion to contracts and purchase orders
  • Focus on opportunities involving Open Rack deployments, rack-scale architectures, and PCIe-based scale-up systems
  • Partner with sales to accelerate pipeline execution for critical, high-impact deals

• Own Commercial Strategy & Pricing

• • Define and approve pricing frameworks and commercial terms across key accounts
  • Align pricing strategies with market dynamics in AI infrastructure, rack-scale compute, and interconnect technologies
  • Collaborate with product marketing to ensure consistency across the product portfolio

• Enable Customer & Segment Strategies

• • Develop playbooks for hyperscalers, AI cloud providers, and OEM segments
  • Incorporate insights across Open Compute / Open Rack ecosystems, rack-scale system design trends, and PCIe scale-up and high-speed interconnect adoption
  • Support negotiation strategy, solution positioning, and competitive differentiation

• Support Business Scaling & Operations

• • Drive process improvements to support rapid growth in AI and data center markets
  • Partner cross-functionally to improve operational efficiency, tools, and organizational clarity

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Business, or a related field
• 12+ years of experience in product marketing, business management, sales, operations, or related roles in the semiconductor or data center ecosystem
• Strong track record of leading complex deal negotiations and securing strategic customer agreements with hyperscalers, cloud providers, or OEMs
• Deep understanding of PCIe and familiarity with Ethernet, UALink, UCIe, and system-level architectures
• Demonstrated experience with AI / cloud infrastructure platforms, rack-scale system architectures, and scale-up vs. scale-out compute models
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to translate customer needs into compelling business and technical solutions

Preferred Qualifications

• MBA or advanced degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or Business
• Direct experience supporting Open Compute / Open Rack ecosystems and engaging with hyperscale procurement and engineering teams
• Familiarity with high-speed connectivity technologies (PCIe Gen 6/Gen 7, retimers, switches) and emerging AI fabric standards
• Experience defining pricing frameworks and commercial models for high-growth semiconductor or systems products
• Proven ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, hyper-growth environment and influence executive stakeholders