Sr. Data Center Operations

Nscale; Madison (NC); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Flexible PTO

Parental leave

Retirement plan

Job summary

Nscale is hiring a senior Network Operator to keep our global network available, fast, and secure. You will monitor health, triage incidents, implement changes, and mentor junior operators while partnering with engineering and vendors to restore services quickly.

Ideal candidates have 3–5 years in network operations, strong TCP/IP and routing knowledge, hands-on CLI skills across major platforms, and ITIL‑aligned incident handling. On‑call rotations apply.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years in network operations or similar infrastructure support.
• Solid understanding of TCP/IP, subnetting, VLANs, DNS, DHCP and NAT.
• Hands-on experience with BGP/OSPF and STP/LACP/trunking.
• Familiarity with firewalls and VPNs (Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco ASA).
• Experience configuring enterprise devices via CLI (Cisco/Juniper/Arista).
• Proficiency with monitoring and diagnostic tools (ping, traceroute, Wireshark, SNMP, NetFlow).
• ITIL-style incident/change processes with ServiceNow or Jira.
• CCNA/JNCIA or equivalent certification, or hands-on experience.
• Strong communication; able to provide clear incident updates.
• Willingness to rotate night shifts and on-call rotations.

Responsibilities

• Monitor LAN, WAN, data center and cloud network infrastructure 24/7.
• Triage, troubleshoot and resolve Tier 1–2 incidents across routing, switching, firewalls, VPNs, load balancers and wireless.
• Escalate complex issues to network engineering with clear diagnostics.
• Lead response to outages during shifts, coordinate with teams and carriers.
• Follow SLAs for incident acknowledgment, response and resolution.
• Implement approved changes during maintenance windows with rollback plans.
• Maintain backups and inventories; document RCAs and handovers.
• Create runbooks and diagrams; tune alerts to reduce noise.
• Mentor junior operators; collaborate with ISPs, vendors and security teams.

Skills

TCP/IP

Subnetting

VLANs

DNS

DHCP

NAT

BGP

OSPF

STP

LACP

Routing protocols

Firewalls

VPNs

Cisco/Juniper/Arista CLI

Wireshark

SNMP

NetFlow

ITIL processes

ServiceNow/Jira

Incident management

Night shifts/on-call

Communication

Automation basics

Education

CCNA

JNCIA

Network+

CCNP

JNCIS

PCNSA/NSE

Bachelor's degree in CS/IT/Networking

Python/Automation scripting

Tools

SolarWinds

PRTG

Zabbix

Nagios

Datadog

Wireshark

ServiceNow

Jira

Job description

Nscale is the GPU cloud engineered for AI. We provide cost-effective, high-performance infrastructure for AI start-ups and large enterprise customers. Nscale simplifies AI development while enabling superior results, supporting strategic business outcomes such as cost management, rapid innovation, and environmental responsibility.

We thrive on a culture of relentless innovation, ownership, and accountability, where every team member takes pride in their work and drives it with excellence and urgency. As an Nscaler, you’ll build trust through openness and transparency while contributing to the technology that powers the future.

About the role

The Network Operator keeps Nscale's network available, fast and secure around the clock. You will monitor network health, resolve incidents before they affect customers, and carry out planned changes safely. As a senior operator, you work independently on most issues, act as the escalation point for junior operators, and partner with network engineering on complex problems. You are the kind of technician focused on moving fast, staying humble, and taking full ownership of any issues that arise to ensure we achieve the best outcome.

Key responsibilities

Monitoring and incident response

• Monitor LAN, WAN, data center and cloud network infrastructure 24/7 using tools such as SolarWinds, PRTG, Zabbix, Nagios or Datadog.
• Triage, troubleshoot and resolve Tier 1 and Tier 2 incidents covering routing, switching, firewalls, VPNs, load balancers and wireless.
• Escalate complex or high-severity incidents to network engineering or vendors with clear diagnostic detail.
• Lead the response to service outages during your shift, coordinating with internal teams and carriers until service is restored.
• Meet defined SLAs for incident acknowledgment, response and resolution.

Change and configuration management

• Implement approved network changes during maintenance windows, including configuration updates, firmware upgrades and device replacements.
• Follow change-management processes, including pre-checks, rollback plans and post-change validation.
• Maintain accurate configuration backups and device inventories.

Documentation and continuous improvement

• Write clear incident tickets, root cause analysis (RCA) inputs and shift handover notes.
• Create and update runbooks, standard operating procedures and network diagrams.
• Tune monitoring thresholds and alerts to reduce noise and catch issues earlier.
• Identify recurring problems and propose permanent fixes or automation opportunities.

Collaboration and mentoring

• Act as the first escalation point and mentor for junior network operators.
• Work with ISPs, carriers and hardware vendors on circuit faults, RMAs and support cases.
• Support security teams by responding to network-related security alerts and applying access-control changes.
• Participate in the on-call rotation.

Required qualifications

• 3–5 years of experience in network operations, a NOC, or a similar infrastructure support role.
• Solid understanding of TCP/IP, subnetting, VLANs, DNS, DHCP and NAT.
• Hands‑on experience with routing protocols (BGP, OSPF) and switching technologies (STP, LACP, trunking).
• Working knowledge of firewalls and VPNs from vendors such as Palo Alto, Fortinet or Cisco ASA.
• Experience configuring and troubleshooting enterprise devices from Cisco, Juniper, Arista or similar vendors via CLI.
• Proficiency with network monitoring platforms and diagnostic tools (ping, traceroute, Wireshark, SNMP, NetFlow).
• Experience working within ITIL‑style incident, problem and change processes using a ticketing system such as ServiceNow or Jira.
• CCNA, JNCIA or an equivalent certification, or comparable hands‑on experience.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including clear updates during live incidents.
• Willingness to work rotating shifts to include night shift and participate in on‑call rotations.

Preferred qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Network Engineering or a related field.
• CCNP, JNCIS, Network+ or a vendor security certification (PCNSA, NSE).
• Scripting or automation experience with Python, Ansible or Bash for routine tasks and health checks.
• Exposure to cloud networking in AWS, Azure or GCP (VPCs, transit gateways, cloud VPN).
• Familiarity with SD‑WAN, MPLS, data center fabrics (VXLAN/EVPN) or high‑performance networking (InfiniBand, RoCE).
• Experience in a large‑scale, high‑availability environment such as a data center, ISP or cloud provider.

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

$140 - $200 USD