DNS SRE Engineer: Automate, Secure & Scale

Altice USA; Plano (TX); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Optimum in Plano, TX is seeking a DNS Engineer - SRE to own global DNS architectures, focusing on automation, observability, and self-healing systems to support millions of users. The role collaborates with Product, Security, and Service Assurance to deliver a carrier-grade DNS ecosystem balancing privacy (DoH/DoT) with high availability.

Candidates should have 5+ years in networking/SRE, experience with BIND/Unbound/PowerDNS, DNSSEC, and automation/tools like Python, Ansible, Terraform, and

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Telecommunications, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience in networking and security)
• Experience: 5+ years in a networking or systems engineering role, with a focus on SRE principles (automation, reliability, and monitoring) in production environments
• DNS Fundamentals: Hands-on experience configuring and maintaining at least two of the following: BIND, Unbound, PowerDNS, AWS Route 53, or Azure DNS
• Networking Protocols: Functional understanding of TCP/IP (IPv4/v6) and DNS-specific protocols including DNSSEC and encrypted transport (DoH/DoT)
• Systems & Automation: Strong Linux/Unix administration skills and proficiency in at least one scripting language (Python, Bash, or Go) for task automation
• Observability: Experience using Grafana and OpenTelemetry (or similar tools) to monitor service health and performance

Responsibilities

• Architectural Ownership: Lead the design and evolution of global DNS architectures, ensuring high availability through Anycast routing, multi-provider redundancy, and automated failover mechanisms.
• Strategic Vendor Relations: Act as the primary technical authority in engagements with DNS and infrastructure vendors, driving roadmaps that align with our long-term reliability and security goals.
• Lifecycle & Capacity Management: Oversee the full lifecycle of DNS platforms - including automated software deployments, hardware refreshes, and proactive capacity planning - to stay ahead of traffic growth.
• Standardization & Policy: Optimize, Define and enforce organization-wide standards for DNS record management, security protocols (DNSSEC), and traffic steering policies to optimize user latency.
• Reliability Engineering: Convert \"Strategic Design\" into \"Operational Reality\" by defining Service Level Objectives (SLOs) and Error Budgets for all core name services.
• Protocol Management: Manage the nuances of UDP/TCP port 53, recursion vs. iteration, and complex record types (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, SRV).
• Security & Mitigation: Implement and manage DNSSEC to prevent cache poisoning; act as a subject matter expert in mitigating DDoS and DNS amplification attacks.
• Automation (Eliminating Toil): Replace manual updates and \"pool\" management with automated workflows using Python, Go, Ansible, or Terraform.
• Performance Tuning: Perform Linux kernel tuning for high-performance network throughput and conduct deep-dive log analysis on systems like BIND, Unbound, or PowerDNS.
• Observability: Utilize Prometheus, Grafana, and dnstap to monitor query rates and latency, providing actionable insights into error codes (NXDOMAIN, SERVFAIL).

Skills

SRE Principles

Automation

Observability

Linux/Unix

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

BIND

Unbound

PowerDNS

AWS Route 53

Azure DNS

Job description

Optimum in Plano, TX is seeking a DNS Engineer - SRE to own global DNS architectures, focusing on automation, observability, and self-healing systems to support millions of users. The role collaborates with Product, Security, and Service Assurance to deliver a carrier-grade DNS ecosystem balancing privacy (DoH/DoT) with high availability.

Candidates should have 5+ years in networking/SRE, experience with BIND/Unbound/PowerDNS, DNSSEC, and automation/tools like Python, Ansible, Terraform, and