Senior Optical Engineer

Vultr; United States; Remote; USD 125,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

401(k) matching

Professional development reimbursement

Holidays & PTO + birthday off

Sabbatical and anniversary bonuses

Job summary

Vultr seeks a Senior Optical Network Engineer to design, implement, test, and optimize advanced optical transport networks across global data centers. The role requires deep DWDM, ROADM, OTN, and Ethernet mastery, with leadership for deployments, upgrades, and customer support.

You will guide technical standards and document engineering practices. You will lead TW/NTC activities, collaborate with vendors, and mentor junior engineers while ensuring high-availability services and scalable network

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience supporting optical transport and fiber networks.
• Deep knowledge of DWDM/CWDM, ROADM, OTN switching, Carrier Ethernet, TCP/IP networking, MPLS fundamentals, and SONET/SDH.
• Hands-on experience with optical test equipment including OTDRs, optical power meters, fiber microscopes, optical spectrum analyzers, and BER testers.
• Experience performing fiber cleaning, connector inspection, and troubleshooting optical loss issues.
• Ability to read and interpret fiber route diagrams, KMZ files, schematics, and optical engineering documentation.
• Strong understanding of optical impairments, amplification, dispersion, and wavelength management.
• Experience with coherent optics and 100G/400G/800G transmission systems.
• Experience with major optical platforms (Ciena 6500/Waveserver, Nokia, XKL, Smart Optics, Infinera, ADVA, Tejas).
• Coordinate with third‑party providers and facility operators to manage LOA submissions, cross‑connect implementation, and activations verification.
• Familiarity with Linux, scripting, or network automation tools.
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications, Computer Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• Willingness to travel and support after‑hours maintenance windows when required.

Responsibilities

• Design and engineer optical transport solutions using DWDM, ROADM, OTN, and Carrier Ethernet technologies.
• Configure, commission, and troubleshoot optical networking platforms from vendors such as Ciena, ADVA, Nokia, XKL, Smart Optics, and Tejas.
• Perform optical power analysis, span engineering, and link budget calculations.
• Support installation and turn-up of optical circuits including 100G, 400G, 800G and beyond.
• Conduct network acceptance testing and service validation using OTDRs, optical spectrum analyzers, BER testers, power meters, and fiber inspection scopes.
• Troubleshoot fiber impairments including attenuation, dispersion, reflection, dirty connectors, and signal degradation.
• Lead network maintenance activities, software upgrades, migrations, and outage recovery efforts.
• Provide Tier III technical support for NOC, field operations, and customer escalations.
• Develop MOPs (Methods of Procedure), engineering standards, and technical documentation.
• Train junior engineers and field technicians on optical networking technologies and best practices.

Skills

DWDM/CWDM knowledge

ROADM architecture

OTN switching

Carrier Ethernet

TCP/IP networking

MPLS fundamentals

SONET/SDH

Travel willingness

Linux scripting

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field

Tools

OTDRs

Power meters

Fiber microscopes

BER testers

Spectral/Optical analyzers

Job description

Who We Are

Vultr is on a mission to make high-performance cloud infrastructure easy to use, affordable, and locally accessible for enterprises and AI innovators around the world. With 33 global cloud data center locations, Vultr is trusted by hundreds of thousands of active customers across 185 countries for its flexible, scalable, global Cloud Compute, Cloud GPU, Bare Metal, and Cloud Storage solutions. In December 2024 Vultr announced an equity financing at a $3.5 billion valuation. Founded by David Aninowsky and self-funded for over a decade, Vultr has grown to become the world’s largest privately‑held cloud infrastructure company.

Vultr Cares

• Excellent Medical Benefits w/ 100% company-paid premiums for employee only plan + 100% company-paid dental & vision premiums
• 401(k) plan that matches 100% up to 4% with immediate vesting
• Professional Development Reimbursement of $2,500 each year
• 11 Holidays + Paid Time Off Accrual + Rollover Plan + take your birthday off
• Commitment matters to Vultr! Increased PTO at 3 year & 10 year anniversary + 1 month paid sabbatical every 5 years + Anniversary Bonus each year
• $500 first year remote office setup + $400 each following year for new equipment
• Internet reimbursement up to $75 per month
• Gym membership reimbursement up to $50 per month
• Company-paid Wellable subscription

Join Vultr

Vultr is seeking a Senior Optical Network Engineer responsible for the design, implementation, testing, optimization, troubleshooting, and support of advanced optical transport networks. The ideal candidate brings deep technical expertise in DWDM, ROADM, OTN, Ethernet, and fiber optic transmission systems within carrier, data center, and long‑haul network environments. This engineer will serve as a technical lead for network deployments, upgrades, customer support, and operational excellence initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and engineer optical transport solutions using DWDM, ROADM, OTN, and Carrier Ethernet technologies
• Configure, commission, and troubleshoot optical networking platforms from vendors such as Ciena, ADVA, Nokia, XKL, Smart Optics, and Tejas
• Perform optical power analysis, span engineering, and link budget calculations
• Support installation and turn-up of optical circuits including 100G, 400G, 800G and beyond
• Conduct network acceptance testing and service validation using OTDRs, optical spectrum analyzers, BER testers, power meters, and fiber inspection scopes
• Troubleshoot fiber impairments including attenuation, dispersion, reflection, dirty connectors, and signal degradation
• Lead network maintenance activities, software upgrades, migrations, and outage recovery efforts
• Provide Tier III technical support for NOC, field operations, and customer escalations
• Develop MOPs (Methods of Procedure), engineering standards, and technical documentation
• Train junior engineers and field technicians on optical networking technologies and best practices

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience supporting optical transport and fiber optic networks
• Strong knowledge of DWDM/CWDM systems, ROADM architecture, OTN switching, Carrier Ethernet, TCP/IP networking, MPLS fundamentals, and SONET/SDH
• Hands‑on experience with optical test equipment including OTDRs, optical power meters, fiber microscopes, optical spectrum analyzers, and BER testers
• Experience performing fiber cleaning, connector inspection, and troubleshooting optical loss issues
• Ability to read and interpret fiber route diagrams, KMZ files, schematics, and optical engineering documentation
• Strong understanding of optical impairments, amplification, dispersion, and wavelength management
• Experience with coherent optics and 100G/400G/800G transmission systems
• Experience with major optical platforms (Ciena 6500/Waveserver, Nokia, XKL, Smart Optics, Infinera, ADVA, Tejas)
• Coordinate with third‑party providers and facility operators like Lumen or Digital Realty to manage LOA submissions, cross‑connect implementation, and the verification of new service activations
• Familiarity with Linux, scripting, or network automation tools
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications, Computer Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• Willingness to travel and support after‑hours maintenance windows when required

Compensation

$125,000 - $135,000

Final compensation will vary depending on years of experience, background/skill set, location, and applicable laws.

Inclusion & Privacy

We are an equal opportunity employer and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and experiences, and we prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable laws. Vultr will consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records in accordance with applicable laws and will not conduct a background check until after an offer of employment has been extended and accepted.

We also take your privacy seriously. We handle personal information responsibly and follow applicable laws, including U.S. privacy rules and India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. Your data is used only for legitimate business purposes and is protected with proper security measures.

Where allowed by law, applicants may request details about the data we collect, access or delete their information, withdraw consent for its use, and opt out of nonessential communications. For more details, please see our Privacy Policy.