Software Engineer Network Automation, Data Center Fabrics

Mistral; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Mistral is seeking a Software Engineer, Network Automation – Data Center Fabrics to design and build scalable systems for operating large‑scale networks in data centers. You will apply deep networking expertise to leaf‑spine fabrics, automation, testing, and production troubleshooting across Ethernet switching, IP routing, BGP, EVPN/VXLAN, and VRFs.

Go and Kubernetes experience are helpful but not required.

Qualifications

• Hands‑on experience with leaf‑spine fabrics and EVPN/VXLAN.
• Strong knowledge of underlay/overlay design, scale and fail‑safety.
• Experience in production network automation with desired state concepts.
• Proficiency in Go or willingness to become productive in Go.

Responsibilities

• Design and evolve leaf‑spine underlays, EVPN/VXLAN overlays, and tenant connectivity.
• Translate fabric requirements into APIs, data models, validation, and automation.
• Build reliable control‑plane software to reconcile desired and observed state.
• Design safe change workflows with validation, dry runs, and atomic updates.
• Integrate with data‑center switch OS and manage APIs with vendor‑neutral abstractions.
• Participate in on‑call rotation, troubleshoot incidents, and drive improvements.
• Review designs and code, explain trade‑offs, raise network engineering quality.
• Develop lab and production tests; turn operational lessons into better software.

Skills

Ethernet switching

IP routing

BGP‑based leaf‑spine fabrics

EVPN/VXLAN

VRF‑based multitenancy

Go programming

REST/gNMI/OpenConfig

Network automation

Tools

Cumulus Linux

Arista EOS

SONiC

Junos

NX‑OS

Job description

About Mistral

Mistral provides full‑stack AI solutions: from frontier models to developer tools, applications, and compute. We partner with enterprises tackling the hardest problems—across high‑stakes industries like finance, manufacturing, defense, healthcare, and the public sector—co‑creating customized AI systems that they can run on their terms. We are a dynamic, collaborative team passionate about AI and its potential to transform society. Our diverse workforce thrives in competitive environments and is committed to driving innovation. Our teams are distributed between Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. We are creative, low‑ego and team‑spirited.

The Role

As a Software Engineer, Network Automation – Data Center Fabrics, you will design and build systems for operating large‑scale networks within our data centers.

Apply deep networking expertise to leaf‑spine architecture, automation, testing, and production troubleshooting across Ethernet switching, IP routing, BGP, EVPN/VXLAN, and VRFs. This is a hands‑on role for a networking expert who is also comfortable building production software. Go and Kubernetes experience are helpful but not required; strong engineering fundamentals and network automation experience matter more.

What You Will Do

• Design and evolve leaf‑spine underlays, EVPN/VXLAN overlays, and tenant connectivity for multi‑tenant AI infrastructure.
• Translate data‑center fabric requirements and safety properties into clear APIs, data models, validation, and automation.
• Build reliable control‑plane software that reconciles desired and observed network state.
• Design safe change workflows with validation, dry runs, atomic updates, observability, and failure recovery.
• Integrate with data‑center switch operating systems and management APIs while maintaining vendor‑neutral abstractions where practical.
• Participate in the on‑call rotation, troubleshoot active data‑center network incidents, restore service, and turn root causes into lasting improvements.
• Review designs and code, explain networking trade‑offs, and help raise network engineering quality across the organization.
• Develop lab and production tests and turn operational lessons into better software and architecture.

What We’re Looking For

• Deep hands‑on experience with Ethernet switching, IP routing, BGP‑based leaf‑spine fabrics, EVPN/VXLAN, and VRF‑based multitenancy.
• Strong judgment around fabric underlay and overlay design, scale, convergence, isolation, and failure modes.
• Experience building or operating production network automation, including desired state, idempotency, concurrency, observability, and recovery.
• Strong software‑engineering fundamentals in a general‑purpose language. You can design, test, debug, and review production systems and are willing to become productive in Go.
• Experience with southbound network APIs and structured configuration, such as REST, gNMI/OpenConfig, or NETCONF.
• Hands‑on experience with major data‑center network operating systems, such as Cumulus Linux, Arista EOS, SONiC, Junos, or NX‑OS.
• Strong diagnostic skills using routing and EVPN state, packet captures, counters, telemetry, and logs.
• Clear, pragmatic communication and a collaborative approach to technical leadership.

Nice to Have

• Experience reading, reviewing, or contributing to Go code.
• Familiarity with Kubernetes controllers, operators, CRDs, reconciliation, or Kubebuilder.
• Experience with physical or simulated network labs such as containerlab, NVIDIA Air, EVE‑NG, GNS3, or similar environments.
• Experience with high‑performance Ethernet, RoCE, InfiniBand, HPC, or large‑scale GPU infrastructure.

What we offer

We offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your well‑being, growth, and work‑life balance. Benefits vary by country and may include healthcare coverage, parental leave, retirement plans, relocation support, wellness programs, meal and transportation allowances, and other location‑specific perks. For the most up‑to‑date details on benefits available in your location, please refer to our Benefits page.

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