Principal Network Engineer - Deployments

Nscale; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Flexible PTO

Parental leave

Retirement plan

Job summary

Nscale in San Francisco is seeking a Principal Network Engineer to lead the architecture, design, and operation of large-scale data center and cloud networking.

You will establish engineering standards, guide cross-functional strategy, mentor senior engineers, and drive critical architectural decisions across the organization. Travel about 50% to data centers and partner locations is expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
• 10+ years of experience designing and operating large-scale network infrastructure in cloud, hyperscale, ISP, or enterprise environments.
• Deep expertise in network architecture, operations, and production support at scale.
• Expert-level understanding of networking protocols and technologies, including BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, MPLS, TCP/IP, and IPv4/IPv6.
• Proven experience architecting and operating mission-critical network infrastructure.
• Demonstrated technical leadership across complex, cross-functional engineering initiatives.
• Strong troubleshooting, systems-thinking, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence technical direction across organizations.
• Ability and willingness to travel approximately 50%, including travel to data centers and other infrastructure sites.
• Willingness to participate in on-call rotations supporting production infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture, design, deployment, and operation of large-scale network infrastructure across data center and cloud environments.
• Define and drive technical strategy for core networking systems and infrastructure platforms.
• Own architectural decisions across routing, switching, transport, and overlay networking technologies (e.g., VXLAN, EVPN).
• Design highly available, scalable, and resilient network systems supporting mission-critical services.
• Diagnose and resolve complex, cross-layer networking issues spanning hardware, software, systems, and infrastructure domains.
• Drive network automation, observability, and operational tooling initiatives to improve reliability and efficiency.
• Establish and evolve network architecture standards, operational best practices, and engineering processes.
• Partner cross-functionally with platform, systems, hardware, and operations teams to deliver end-to-end infrastructure solutions.
• Lead technical reviews and guide long-term network infrastructure roadmap planning.
• Mentor senior and staff-level engineers while elevating technical standards across the organization.
• Drive operational excellence and reliability initiatives, including continuous improvement of production support processes.
• Travel approximately 50% to support infrastructure deployments, site assessments, technical reviews, incident response, and collaboration with internal and external partners.

Skills

Network architecture

Leadership

Troubleshooting

Cross-functional collaboration

Network automation

Communication

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

VXLAN

EVPN

BGP/OSPF/IS-IS

Python scripting

NETCONF/YANG/OpenConfig

Job description

About The Role

We are seeking a Principal Network Engineer to lead the architecture, design, and operation of high-performance network infrastructure across large-scale data center and cloud environments. This is a highly strategic technical leadership role focused on defining network architecture, driving long-term infrastructure direction, and ensuring the reliability, scalability, and efficiency of mission-critical networking systems at significant scale.

You will serve as a senior technical authority across networking domains, partnering closely with infrastructure, platform, systems, and hardware teams to solve complex networking challenges and influence the future evolution of our infrastructure platforms.

As a Principal Engineer, you will establish engineering standards, guide cross-functional technical strategy, mentor senior engineers, and lead critical architectural decisions across the organization.

This role requires approximately 50% travel to data centers, offices, partner locations, and other sites based on business and project needs.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the architecture, design, deployment, and operation of large-scale network infrastructure across data center and cloud environments


• Define and drive technical strategy for core networking systems and infrastructure platforms


• Own architectural decisions across routing, switching, transport, and overlay networking technologies (e.g., VXLAN, EVPN)


• Design highly available, scalable, and resilient network systems supporting mission-critical services


• Diagnose and resolve complex, cross-layer networking issues spanning hardware, software, systems, and infrastructure domains


• Drive network automation, observability, and operational tooling initiatives to improve reliability and efficiency


• Establish and evolve network architecture standards, operational best practices, and engineering processes


• Partner cross-functionally with platform, systems, hardware, and operations teams to deliver end-to-end infrastructure solutions


• Lead technical reviews and guide long-term network infrastructure roadmap planning


• Mentor senior and staff-level engineers while elevating technical standards across the organization


• Drive operational excellence and reliability initiatives, including continuous improvement of production support processes


• Travel approximately 50% to support infrastructure deployments, site assessments, technical reviews, incident response, and collaboration with internal and external partners

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience)


• 10+ years of experience designing and operating large-scale network infrastructure in cloud, hyperscale, ISP, or enterprise environments


• Deep expertise in network architecture, operations, and production support at scale


• Expert-level understanding of networking protocols and technologies, including BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, MPLS, TCP/IP, and IPv4/IPv6


• Proven experience architecting and operating mission-critical network infrastructure


• Demonstrated technical leadership across complex, cross-functional engineering initiatives


• Strong troubleshooting, systems-thinking, and problem-solving skills


• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence technical direction across organizations


• Ability and willingness to travel approximately 50%, including travel to data centers and other infrastructure sites


• Willingness to participate in on-call rotations supporting production infrastructure

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with high-performance networking technologies such as InfiniBand and RoCE


• Deep knowledge of VXLAN, EVPN, and modern data center networking architectures


• Experience with network automation and scripting using Python or similar technologies


• Familiarity with network observability, telemetry, and monitoring platforms


• Experience with network modeling and programmability frameworks such as YANG, OpenConfig, and NETCONF


• Experience with cloud networking and hybrid infrastructure environments


• Familiarity with GPU cluster networking and AI/HPC infrastructure environments


• Experience designing low-latency, highly resilient networking systems at hyperscale

What We’re Looking For

• A highly technical networking leader who can define architecture and strategy for complex infrastructure environments


• A systems thinker who understands the interaction between networking, compute, storage, and distributed applications


• Someone who takes ownership of critical infrastructure systems and proactively drives continuous improvement


• A pragmatic engineer who balances reliability, scalability, performance, and operational simplicity


• A mentor and technical multiplier who raises the engineering bar across teams


• A collaborative leader capable of influencing cross-functional organizations and driving alignment on key technical decisions

The range below reflects the base salary for the position. Actual compensation may vary based on job-related factors such as skill set, experience, education, and location. In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for bonus, equity, and/or commission programs. Nscale may offer a competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, flexible paid time off, parental leave, and retirement plan participation.

Salary Range: $220,000 USD - $280,000 USD

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