Backbone and Peering Architect

NorthMark Strategies; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Lunch stipend (GrubHub)

Employer-paid medical, dental, vision

16 weeks paid parental leave

Life insurance & disability

401(k) matching 100% up to 6%

Optional PPO, HSA, FSA benefits

25 days Paid Time Off + 12 holidays

Job summary

NorthMark Strategies LLC is seeking an experienced Backbone & Peering Network Architect to own the design and reference architecture of our HPC data center backbone, WAN connectivity, and cloud interconnects. You will define standards, ensure security, scalability, and observability across multi-tenant environments.

The ideal candidate has 7+ years in large-scale data center networking, expertise in leaf-spine and EVPN/VXLAN, and a track record of delivering reliable, high-performance

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in CS, EE, or equivalent.
• Expertise in data center fabrics (leaf-spine, Clos) and EVPN/VXLAN.
• Experience with HPC workloads and high-bandwidth, low-latency requirements.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture of the data center backbone interconnect (DCI) for scalability and redundancy.
• Publish reference architectures for WAN connectivity and cloud interconnects.
• Define routing, traffic engineering, failover, and telemetry standards.
• Align backbone design with capacity forecasts and growth.
• Collaborate with Solutions Architects to align network design with workloads.
• Ensure security, compliance, and observability in architecture.
• Develop multi-tenant secure networking patterns for isolation and SLA.
• Contribute to digital twin models with capacity and topology simulations.

Skills

Data center networking

Leaf-spine architecture

EVPN VXLAN

WAN peering & interconnects

HPC workloads

Technical documentation

Leadership & project management

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in CS/EE

Job description

The Company

NorthMark Compute & Cloud (NMC²) is backed by dedicated leadership and investment, with a clear mission as it operates at the bleeding edge of technology. Its goal is to scale and enhance the high-performance computing (HPC) and cloud infrastructure that supports its clients' research, production, and delivery, enabling breakthroughs that shape the industries of tomorrow. Its engineers build critical infrastructure to eliminate friction in scientific research, simulations, analysis, and decision-making, accelerating discovery and driving faster innovation.

The Position

We are seeking an experienced Backbone & Peering Network Architect to own the design and reference architecture of our HPC data center backbone, WAN connectivity, cloud service provider on-ramps, and customer peering. This role is critical to ensuring that our HPC facility delivers secure, scalable, and reliable connectivity at scale.

The ideal candidate will bring expertise in carrier networking, peering ecosystems, and multi-tenant network security, and will be responsible for defining the standards and architectures that ensure our backbone supports business growth, customer demand, and evolving digital services.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture of the data center backbone interconnect (DCI), ensuring scalability, redundancy, and performance
• Design and publish reference architectures for WAN connectivity, cloud service provider interconnects, and backbone extensions
• Define architectural standards for routing, traffic engineering, failover, and telemetry across backbone networks
• Align backbone design with capacity planning forecasts and long-term business growth
• Collaborate with Solutions Architects to align network design with workload patterns.
• Ensure network security, compliance, and observability are embedded in architecture.
• Develop multi-tenant secure networking patterns to support customer isolation and SLA adherence
• Contribute to digital twin models with network capacity and topology simulations.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent.
• 7+ years of experience in large-scale data center network design or architecture.
• Deep expertise in data center fabrics (leaf-spine, Clos, EVPN, VXLAN).
• Experience with WAN, peering, and interconnect strategies.
• Familiarity with HPC workloads and high-bandwidth, low-latency requirements.
• Strong documentation and stakeholder communication skills.
• Experience with hyperscale or GPU-accelerated environments, supporting AI/ML workloads, infrastructure monitoring, or simulation models.
• Strong communicator with leadership and project management experience.

It is impossible to list every requirement for, or responsibility of, any position. Similarly, we cannot identify all the skills a position may require since job responsibilities and the Company’s needs may change over time. Therefore, the above job description is not comprehensive or exhaustive. The Company reserves the right to adjust, add to or eliminate any aspect of the above description. The Company also retains the right to require all employees to undertake additional or different job responsibilities when necessary to meet business needs.

Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future.

Benefits & Perks

• Company-Paid Lunch Stipend: Lunch is provided via GrubHub
• Company-Paid Benefits: 100% Employer-Paid Medical in our High Deductible Health Plan, Dental and Vision benefits for employees and their families, 16 weeks of Paid Parental Leave, Employee Assistance Program, Life insurance, Short-Term Disability and Long-Term Disability
• 401(k): Company will match 100% of your contributions up to 6%
• Optional Employee-Paid Benefits: Medical insurance in our PPO plan and a variety of other benefits such as Health Savings Accounts (with Company Contribution!), Flexible Spending Accounts, Supplemental Life Insurance, Wellhub and more.
• Time Off: 25 days of Paid Time Off plus 12 company holidays

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

NORTHMARK STRATEGIES LLC IS AN EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER. THE COMPANY'S POLICY IS NOT TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ANY APPLICANT OR EMPLOYEE BASED ON RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, AGE, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY OR EXPRESSION, MARITAL STATUS, MENTAL OR PHYSICAL DISABILITY, AND GENETIC INFORMATION, OR ANY OTHER BASIS PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. THE FIRM ALSO PROHIBITS HARASSMENT OF APPLICANTS OR EMPLOYEES BASED ON ANY OF THESE PROTECTED CATEGORIES.