Senior Network Automation Engineer

Vast; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 131,000 - 186,000; Full time

Job summary

Vast in Long Beach, CA, seeks a Senior Network Automation Engineer to modernize our data center and campus networks, championing a vendor-agnostic approach and designing robust EVPN‑VXLAN underlay/overlay fabrics. You will lead automation initiatives, implement CI/CD pipelines, and shape data models for NetBox or Nautobot to map intent to live states.

This role emphasizes AI-assisted engineering, GitOps workflows, and secure, scalable infrastructure code across Arista EOS and Juniper Junos, with

Qualifications

• 7–10 years of network engineering with 4+ years in deep automation and NetDevOps.
• EVPN and fabric design across large data centers and campus networks.
• Programmatic management of Arista EOS and Juniper Junos systems.
• Senior-level Python or Go development for internal APIs (Nornir, Asyncio, NAPALM).
• Experience with AI-assisted tooling for automation, and declarative tooling (Terraform/Ansible).
• GitOps workflows and production-grade automation patterns.

Responsibilities

• Architect multi-vendor fabric automation across Arista and Juniper environments.
• Integrate AI engineering tools to accelerate automation workflows.
• Maintain vendor-agnostic standards and data models (YAML/JSON/YANG).
• Own schema configuration for NetBox/Nautobot to map intent to live states.
• Build CI/CD with validation and dry-run tests (Batfish, pyATS) in GitLab/GitHub Actions.
• Provide leadership, code governance, and mentor junior engineers.

Skills

7–10 years network engineering

NetDevOps

EVPN-VXLAN mastery

Arista EOS and Juniper Junos programmt

Python / Go programming

AI tooling in automation

Terraform / Ansible / GitOps

Tools

Arista EOS

Juniper Junos

Python

Go

Nornir

Asyncio

NAPALM

Terraform

Ansible

GitOps

Batfish

pyATS

NetBox / Nautobot

Job description

Vast is developing next-generation space stations and space infrastructure using an incremental, hardware-rich, and low-cost approach. Vast is rapidly developing its multi-module Haven Station to ensure a continuous human presence in space for America and its allies, enabling advanced microgravity research and manufacturing, and unlocking a new space economy for government, corporate, and private customers. Haven Demo’s 2025 success made Vast the only operational commercial space station company to fly and operate its own spacecraft. Next, Haven-1 is expected to become the world’s first commercial space station when it launches in 2027, followed by additional Haven modules. Additionally, the company recently announced Vast Satellite, a high-power satellite product line leveraging its space station components and the heritage of Haven Demo.

Headquartered inLong Beach, California, and with more than 1,000 employees and over a billion dollars in private capital, Vast has built the facilities required to manufacture and operate America’s next space station. The company plans to develop future habitats and systems for the Moon and Mars, dedicated space stations for government partners, and other crewed systems that will unlock the expanding long-term space economy.

Vast is looking for a Senior Network Automation Engineer, reporting to the Senior Manager, Network Infrastructure, to drive the modernization of our data center and campus network infrastructure. In this role, you will champion a vendor-agnostic approach, designing robust automation systems to deploy, scale, and lifecycle-manage complex EVPN-VXLAN underlay/overlay fabrics.

This position embraces modern software engineering practices, specifically integrating AI-assisted engineering tools (such as AI code copilots, agentic code generation, and Model Context Protocol interfaces) to accelerate script creation, automate validation workflows, and streamline troubleshooting. You will build deterministic, resilient systems while utilizing the latest AI-driven workflows to eliminate operational toil.

This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.

Responsibilities

• Architect Multi-Vendor Fabric Automation: Develop end-to-end automation pipelines to provision and manage EVPN-VXLAN fabrics (Symmetric/Asymmetric IRB, Multi-Homing, Anycast Gateways) operating across Arista (EOS/AVD) and Juniper (Junos/Apstra) environments
• Integrate AI Engineering Tools: Maximize team velocity by identifying and integrating AI-accelerated workflows—such as agentic automation testing, AI-assisted playbook generation, and natural-language telemetry querying
• Maintain Vendor-Agnostic Standards: Enforce a strict "Network as Code" framework by translating platform-specific tasks into open, reusable data models (YAML/JSON/YANG) to prevent vendor lock-in
• Govern Data Models & SSoT: Own the schema configuration and data definitions for enterprise Single Source of Truth (SSoT) platforms (e.g., NetBox or Nautobot) to map fabric intent to live states
• Build Continuous Network CI/CD: Incorporate comprehensive validation and dry-run testing suites (e.g., Batfish, pyATS) into GitLab CI/GitHub Actions workflows to review network states automatically prior to deployment
• Leadership & Code Governance: Act as the primary authority on automation patterns, defining coding standards, establishing guardrails for AI-generated logic, and mentoring junior network developers

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience: 7–10 years of network engineering experience, with at least 4+ years dedicated to deep network automation and NetDevOps practices
• EVPN & Fabric Mastery: Deep technical expertise in underlay routing (eBGP, OSPF) and overlay design (EVPN-VXLAN) across enterprise scale data centers and campus networks
• Deep Platform Familiarity: Engineering experience managing Arista EOS and Juniper Junos systems programmatically
• Advanced Code Development: Senior-level proficiency in software engineering patterns using Python (utilizing Nornir, Asyncio, NAPALM) or Go to build reliable, internal infrastructure APIs
• Modern Workflow & AI Tooling: Practical experience using AI code assistants, prompt engineering patterns, or agentic frameworks to safely generate, refactor, and test automation code
• Declarative Tooling: Expert production-tested experience using Terraform, Ansible, and standard GitOps workflows

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Advanced Engineering Certifications: High-tier milestones such as Arista ACE, Juniper JNCIE, Cisco CCIE, or DevNet Professional/Expert certifications
• Telemetry & Programmability: Experience utilizing open streaming telemetry standards (gNMI, gRPC) to monitor and parse real-time fabric state
• Containerization: Experience containerizing internal networking scripts or microservices via Docker or Kubernetes

Additional Requirements

• Ability to travel up to 20% of the time
• Willingness to work overtime, or weekends to support critical mission milestones
• Ability to lift up to 25lbs unassisted

Pay Range: California

$131,000 - $186,000 USD

We calibrate level and compensation to the selected candidate's experience and demonstrated capability. We welcome applicants across a range of experience levels to apply.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Base salary will vary depending on job-related knowledge, education, skills, experience, business needs, and market demand. Salary is just one component of our comprehensive compensation package. Full-time employees also receive company equity, as well as access to a full suite of compelling benefits and perks, including: medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents, generous paid time off; up to 20+ days of vacation for exempt staff and up to 10+ days of vacation for non-exempt staff with the ability to cash-out unused vacation annually, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, ClassPass credits, personalized mental healthcare through Spring Health, and other discounts and perks. We also take pride in offering exceptional food perks, with snacks, drip coffee & onsite barista, cold drinks, and dinner meals remaining free of charge, and lunch subsidized as part of Vast’s ongoing commitment to providing high-quality meals for employees.

U.S. EXPORT CONTROL COMPLIANCE STATUS

The person hired will have access to information and items subject to U.S. export controls, and therefore, must either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.62 or otherwise eligible for deemed export licensing. This status includes U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), and asylees and refugees with such status granted, not pending.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

Vast is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Vast is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Vast’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.