Network Operations Engineer - Network Activation

Slope; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI in San Francisco is seeking a hands-on network operations engineer to own optical transport and circuit bring-up across data centers and interconnects. You will partner with carriers, CSPs, colocation teams, and data-center staff to move connections from order to verified, ready-for-hand-off, with emphasis on reliability and safety.

Responsibilities include Layer 1 activation, diagnostics, and automated workflows that translate LLMS-assisted analysis into actionable technician steps,

Qualifications

• 3+ years of hands-on network operations, carrier activation, data-center network deployment, field engineering, optical transport, or related infrastructure experience.
• Trace end-to-end circuit across cross-connects, fiber pairs, patch panels, carrier demarcations, optics, and A-side/Z-side device ports.
• Troubleshoot optical faults using inspection/ cleaning tools, optical power meters, VFL/OLTS/OTDR evidence, DOM/DDM, interface status, and provider test results.
• Understand single-mode/multimode fiber, LC and MPO/MTP connectors, duplex polarity, TX/RX paths, wavelength and power budgets, and 100G/400G/800G optics.
• Have worked with carriers, colocation providers, remote hands, AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute, or Google Cloud Interconnect, and persist through multi-party ownership gaps.
• Can build practical automation with scripts, APIs, and structured data, and translate LLMS-generated analysis into validated actions for data-center technicians.

Responsibilities

• Own Layer 1 activation and restoration for carrier circuits, dark fiber, wavelengths, Ethernet handoffs, and dedicated cloud interconnects across data centers and points of presence.
• Reconcile complete A-side/Z-side as-builts: circuit IDs, LOAs/CFAs, carrier demarcations, MMR/ODF/MDF and patch-panel positions, fiber pairs, cross-connects, optics, and device ports.
• Investigate no-light, low-light, wrong-port, link-flap, and error-rate issues across providers and CSPs; isolate continuity, dirty connectors, polarity, incorrect patching, incompatible optics or media, wavelength/power-budget problems.
• Guide remote hands, carrier technicians, CSP operations, and colocation teams through targeted inspection/cleaning, VFL, optical power, OTDR/OLTS, approved loopback, and per-lane DOM/DDM tests.
• Verify service acceptance on both sides: correct circuit and port, admin/operational state, compatible optics, light levels, speed/FEC, clean counters, stable link, and Layer 2/3 handoff readiness.
• Own tickets and troubleshooting bridges through resolution; identify the blocker and A-side/Z-side owner, drive follow-ups, elevate with evidence, and prevent premature closure.
• Execute smart-hands and change work safely: name the exact circuit, port, and fiber pair; protect adjacent live services; get approval before intrusive tests, repatches, shutdowns, or loopbacks; maintain rollback.
• Deliver complete production handoffs with verified mappings, provider/CSP references, test results, interface evidence, incident history, risks, and clear ownership; improve runbooks and prevent repeat faults.
• Automate the full circuit-bring-up lifecycle: structure circuit, port, and patch-panel data; ingest telemetry and provider tickets; generate LLM-assisted diagnostics and technician-ready instructions; track ownership and evidence.

Skills

Network operations

Optical transport

Automation scripting

Carrier coordination

Cross-connects

Tools

VFL

OLTS

OTDR

Job description

About the Team

The compute infrastructure team runs the GPU fleet and large-scale compute clusters that serve the models backing ChatGPT and the API, while also supporting training workloads for our next generation models. We operate a large, modern GPU fleet and provide a unified platform for other OpenAI teams to seamlessly run production Applied AI and Research training workloads.

We seek to learn from deployment and distribute the benefits of AI, while ensuring that this powerful tool is used responsibly and safely. Safety is more important to us than unfettered growth.

About the Role

You'll own the hands-on and automation work that brings WAN, fiber, carrier, and cloud-interconnect circuits into service. Partner with network engineers, fiber providers, cloud service providers, colocation teams, and data-center technicians to move each connection from ordered and patched to verified, stable, and ready for handoff.

You'll own Layer 1 troubleshooting and circuit bring-up while building workflows that translate reliable system or model output into precise, approved technician actions, capture field feedback, and drive each connection to a green-port handoff.

The right person combines strong physical-networking judgment with practical automation skills: patch-panel and port mappings, optics and light levels, provider coordination, structured operational data, API or scripting workflows, and human-in-the-loop LLM tooling.

Responsibilities

• Own Layer 1 activation and restoration for carrier circuits, dark fiber, wavelengths, Ethernet handoffs, and dedicated cloud interconnects across data centers and points of presence.
• Reconcile complete A-side/Z-side as-builts: circuit IDs, LOAs/CFAs, carrier demarcations, MMR/ODF/MDF and patch-panel positions, fiber pairs, cross-connects, optics, and device ports.
• Investigate no-light, low-light, wrong-port, link-flap, and error-rate issues across providers and CSPs; isolate continuity, dirty connectors, polarity, incorrect patching, incompatible optics or media, wavelength/power-budget problems, breakout, speed, and FEC/PCS mismatches.
• Guide remote hands, carrier technicians, CSP operations, and colocation teams through targeted inspection/cleaning, VFL, optical power, OTDR/OLTS, approved loopback, and per-lane DOM/DDM tests.
• Verify service acceptance on both sides: correct circuit and port, admin/operational state, compatible optics, light levels, speed/FEC, clean counters, stable link, and Layer 2/3 handoff readiness.
• Own tickets and troubleshooting bridges through resolution; identify the blocker and A-side/Z-side owner, drive follow-ups, elevate with evidence, and prevent premature closure.
• Execute smart-hands and change work safely: name the exact circuit, port, and fiber pair; protect adjacent live services; get approval before intrusive tests, repatches, shutdowns, or loopbacks; and maintain rollback.
• Deliver complete production handoffs with verified mappings, provider/CSP references, test results, interface evidence, incident history, risks, and clear ownership; improve runbooks and prevent repeat faults.
• Automate the full circuit-bring-up lifecycle: structure circuit, port, and patch-panel data; ingest telemetry and provider tickets; generate LLM-assisted diagnostics and technician-ready instructions; track ownership and evidence; and preserve explicit human approval for intrusive work.

Qualifications

• Have 3+ years of hands-on network operations, carrier activation, data-center network deployment, field engineering, optical transport, or related infrastructure experience; equivalent practical experience is valued.
• Can trace an end-to-end circuit across cross-connects, fiber pairs, patch panels, carrier demarcations, optics, and both A-side and Z-side device ports.
• Troubleshoot optical faults using inspection/cleaning tools, optical power meters, VFL, OLTS/OTDR evidence, DOM/DDM, interface status, and provider test results.
• Understand single-mode/multimode fiber, LC and MPO/MTP connectors, duplex polarity, TX/RX paths, wavelength and power budgets, and 100G/400G/800G optics.
• Have worked with carriers, colocation providers, remote hands, AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute, or Google Cloud Interconnect, and persist through multi-party ownership gaps.
• Can build practical automation with scripts, APIs, and structured data, and safely translate LLM-generated analysis into validated actions for data-center technicians.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.

For additional information, please see OpenAI's Affline Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement.

Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.

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