Principal Engineer, Solutions Architecture

Dell; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 143,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

Dell Technologies in the United States seeks a Principal Engineer, Solutions Architecture - Networking to lead AI-ready networking engagements for data centers and enterprise systems. You will design high‑performance Ethernet fabrics, GPU interconnects, and scalable data center architectures that enable AI workloads and accelerated computing.

You’ll act as a trusted advisor, guiding customers through architecture workshops, implementations, and migrations while collaborating with engineering and

Qualifications

• Minimum 7 years in enterprise networking or similar roles.
• Experience designing large-scale data center networks.
• Experience supporting AI, HPC, GPU, or accelerated computing environments.
• Experience leading customer-facing architecture engagements.
• Experience with network automation and IaC preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead customer engagements on AI-ready infrastructure planning and architecture.
• Design scalable AI networking solutions for GPU clusters and AI factories.
• Advise on designs for accelerated computing environments.
• Lead network deployments and migration projects.
• Provide remote design, configuration, validation, and on-site deployment support.
• Travel as required to workshops, assessments, and deployments.

Skills

AI infrastructure planning

GPU cluster networking

High-performance Ethernet fabrics

AI factory infrastructures

Network performance optimization forAI

Data center architecture design

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

NVIDIA Spectrum

RoCE

GPUDirect

Job description

Principal Engineer, Solutions Architecture - Networking

Dell Services is growing, and we are seeking seasoned network professionals with expertise in AI infrastructure planning, high-performance networking, data center fabrics, and enterprise network transformation. Dell provides a complete end-to-end suite of products, services, and support for modern IT environments, including AI factories, accelerated computing platforms, HPC environments, data center networks, campus networks, and cloud-integrated architectures.

The Global Professional Services Network team provides assessment, architecture, design, implementation, and consulting services for Dell's networking and AI infrastructure solutions. This Network Planning Engineer will develop and maintain deep expertise in AI-ready network architectures, including high-speed Ethernet fabrics, GPU interconnect technologies, data center networking, campus networking, security, and network automation.

Whatyou’llachieve:

The primary purpose of this role is to work directly with customers to assess, design, plan, migrate, integrate, and optimize networking infrastructures that support AI workloads, accelerated computing platforms, and modern enterprise environments. The engineer will act as a trusted technical advisor for customers building or expanding AI capabilities, ensuring that networking architectures deliver the performance, scalability, resiliency, and operational simplicity required for next-generation AI and data-intensive workloads.

Join us to do the best work of your career and make a profound social impact as aPrincipal Engineer, Solutions Architecture - Networkingon ourSolutions Architectureteam.

RESPONSIBILITIES

You will:

AI Infrastructure Planning & Consulting

• Lead customer engagements focused on AI-ready infrastructure planning and network architecture.
• Design scalable AI networking solutions supporting GPU clusters, AI factories, machine learning platforms, and large-scale training/inference environments.
• Develop network architectures supporting high-performance east-west traffic patterns common in AI and HPC environments.
• Advise customers on network designs for accelerated computing environments utilizing Dell and NVIDIA technologies.
• Identify infrastructure bottlenecks and recommend improvements to maximize GPU utilization and AI workload performance.
• Serve as the networking lead during AI infrastructure assessments, workshops, proofs-of-concept, and production deployments.

Pre-Sales Support – as needed

• Support Solution Architects and account teams as the technical Services SME for networking and AI infrastructure opportunities.
• Participate in customer discovery sessions, architecture workshops, and executive technical briefings.
• Contribute to services statements of work, project scope definitions, implementation strategies, and risk assessments.
• Provide technical guidance regarding AI networking best practices

Implementation Planning, Migration, and Deployment

• Analyze customer environments and gather technical requirements.
• Understand, design, propose, and communicate architecture requirements to all stakeholders.
• Provide remote design, configuration, validation, and on-site deployment support.
• Develop deployment workbooks, migration plans, validation procedures, and implementation documentation.
• Ensure delivery resources fully understand customer-specific implementation and migration requirements.
• Act as the first line of technical escalation for assigned customer engagements.
• Lead major network deployments, AI fabric implementations, and migration projects.
• Design and validate high-speed Ethernet fabrics supporting GPU-accelerated workloads.
• Create network validation plans, performance testing procedures, and scalability assessments.
• Travel as required to conduct workshops, assessments, architecture reviews, and deployment activities.

Operational Responsibilities

• Execute engagements according to established delivery methodologies and project governance processes.
• Serve as a technical leader on complex enterprise and AI infrastructure projects.
• Coordinate activities across architecture, implementation, and support teams.
• Assume project leadership responsibilities as needed, maintaining accountability for successful customer outcomes.
• Support operational handoff activities to customer and Dell support organizations.

Teamwork and Knowledge Management

• Collaborate closely with Dell engineering, product management, support teams, and strategic technology partners.
• Provide mentorship and technical leadership to team members.
• Develop reusable best practices, deployment methodologies, reference architectures, and technical collateral.
• Maintain expert-level knowledge of Dell networking, AI infrastructure, and ecosystem technologies.
• Participate in internal enablement initiatives and knowledge-sharing programs.

QUALIFICATIONS

Take the first step towards your dream career

Every Dell Technologies team member brings something unique to the table.Here’swhat we are looking for with this role:

Essential Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field preferred. Equivalent experience will be considered.

• Work Experience Minimum of 7 years of experience in enterprise networking, consulting services, professional services, or infrastructure deployment.
• Experience designing and implementing large-scale data center networks.
• Experience supporting AI, HPC, GPU, or accelerated computing environments strongly preferred.Experience leading customer-facing architecture, planning, and consulting engagements.
• Experience with network automation, observability, and infrastructure-as-code methodologies preferred.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, consulting, and executive communication skills as well as ability to lead customer workshops and architecture discussions and strong documentation and technical writing capabilities

AI Networking Skills & Knowledge

Required

• AI infrastructure architecture and planning.
• GPU cluster networking concepts.
• High-performance Ethernet fabrics.
• AI factory and accelerated computing infrastructure design.
• Network performance optimization for AI workloads.
• Scalable data center architecture design.

Preferred

• NVIDIA Spectrum networking platforms.
• NVIDIA AI Factory architectures.
• RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE).
• GPUDirect technologies.
• HPC networking architectures.
• Large-scale AI training cluster deployments.
• Network observability for AI environments.

Work Schedule

Dependable attendance is required. Must be flexible with planned and emergency travel requirements, including occasional after-hours and weekend activities. Must possess a valid passport or be able to obtain one within 60 days of hire.

Travel

Up to 50%

Compensation
Dell is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The Toral Compensation range for this position is:

Texas, Illinois, Georgia, Nevada, Virginia: USD 142,800 - USD 184,800
Washington: Total Compensation Range: USD 157,000 - USD 203,300

Benefits and Perks of working at Dell Technologies

Your life. Your health. Supported by your benefits. You can explore the overall benefits experience that
awaits you as a Dell Technologies team member — right now at MyWellatDell.com

ABOUT US

Who We Are

We believe that each of us has the power to make an impact. That’s why we put our team members at the center of everything we do. If you’re looking for an opportunity to grow your career with some of the best minds and most advanced tech in the industry, we’re looking for you.

Dell Technologies is a unique family of businesses that helps individuals and organizations transform how they work, live and play. Join us to build a future that works for everyone because Progress Takes All of Us.
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