Senior Network Engineer

Lightning AI; United States; On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage

Generous paid time off

Paid parental leave

Wellness and work-from-home stipends

Job summary

Lightning AI is hiring a Senior Network Engineer to design and scale the network backbone for AI infrastructure. This role is remote within the continental U.S. and seeks candidates with expertise in Cumulus Linux and large-scale networking.

You'll work on creating resilient data center networks that cater to demanding AI workloads. Enjoy benefits like comprehensive medical coverage and generous paid time off while being part of an inclusive culture where diversity is embraced.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in large-scale data center networking.
• Hands-on experience with Cumulus Linux.
• Experience operating in high-performance computing environments.

Responsibilities

• Design and deploy scalable network architectures for AI data centers.
• Engineer high-performance Ethernet fabrics.
• Collaborate with teams to deliver integrated infrastructure solutions.

Skills

Cumulus NOS

Large-scale data center networking

Spine-leaf architectures

BGP

EVPN

VXLAN

Automation with Python

Network observability

Strong documentation skills

Tools

Ansible

Terraform

Job description

About Lightning AI

Lightning AI is the company behind PyTorch Lightning. Founded in 2019, we build an end‑to‑end platform for developing, training, and deploying AI systems—designed to take ideas from research to production with less friction. Through our merger with Voltage Park, a neocloud and AI Factory, Lightning AI combines developer‑first software with cost‑efficient, large‑scale compute. Teams get the tools they need for experimentation, training, and production inference, with security, observability, and control built in. We serve solo researchers, startups, and large enterprises. Lightning AI operates globally with offices in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and London, and is backed by Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Firstminute.

What We're Looking For

Lightning AI is seeking a Senior Network Engineer with hands‑on Cumulus Linux expertise to build and scale the network backbone behind our AI infrastructure platform. You’ll play a critical role in designing highly reliable, automated data center networks that support some of the most demanding AI workloads in the world.

This role is fully remote out of the continental U.S. with occasional team and company offsites. We do not provide visa sponsorship for this role at this time.

What You’ll Do

• Design and deploy scalable spine/leaf network architectures for AI data centers
• Engineer high‑performance Ethernet fabrics supporting GPU clusters and AI workloads
• Build and maintain EVPN/VXLAN, BGP, and high‑speed routing environments
• Optimize east‑west traffic flows for AI training and inference operations
• Support RoCE/RDMA networking and low‑latency transport technologies
• Support backbone, DCI, WAN, and edge connectivity solutions
• Collaborate with compute, storage, AI platform, and operations teams to deliver integrated infrastructure solutions
• Develop automation and Infrastructure­a­s‑Code (IaC) solutions for network provisioning and operations
• Troubleshoot complex network, performance, and congestion issues across distributed environments
• Improve network observability, telemetry, and operational visibility
• You have hands‑on experience working with SONiC and Junos
• Experience with cloud networking technologies including VPC’s, NFV, Direct Connect, Cloud Connect
• You enjoy working with a small group of friendly, highly motivated, high‑execution colleagues
• You’re comfortable with a high degree of autonomy, can independently prioritize your work and understand how it maps to the overall needs and goals of the company
• You’re knowledgeable in your domain but also enjoy wearing multiple hats and venturing outside of your comfort zone when the need arises
• You value the ability to write well and understand the importance of good documentation

Required Qualifications

• Experience with Cumulus NOS
• 5+ years of experience in large‑scale data center networking
• Experience in spine‑leaf architectures and L3 fabrics
• Experience with BGP, EVPN, VXLAN
• Experience operating high‑performance computing (HPC) or GPU‑dense environments
• Experience designing networks for hyperscalers, neoclouds, or high‑scale SaaS infrastructure
• Experience in automation with Python, Ansible, Terraform, or similar
• Experience with network observability tooling and telemetry pipelines; proven ability to design systems that scale to thousands of nodes
• Strong documentation and communication skills

Ideal Experience

• Familiarity with NVIDIA networking (Spectrum, Quantum, BlueField, etc.)
• Familiarity with RDMA, RoCE, or InfiniBand fabrics
• Experience with multi‑region backbone design
• Exposure to bare‑metal provisioning systems
• Experience working in high‑growth infrastructure startups

Benefits and Perks

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage (U.S.); Private medical and dental insurance (U.K.)
• Retirement and financial wellness support (U.S.); Pension contribution (U.K.)
• Generous paid time off, plus holidays
• Paid parental leave
• Professional development support
• Wellness and work‑from‑home stipends
• Flexible work environment

The anticipated annual base salary range for this role is $150,000 – $190,000 USD.

At Lightning AI, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe that diverse teams drive innovation and create better products. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We are dedicated to building a culture where everyone can thrive and contribute to their fullest potential.