Principal Network Engineer

Company: Equinix, Inc.
Location: Redwood City
Posted on: April 23, 2025

Job Description:

Who are we?Equinix is the world's digital infrastructure company, operating over 260 data centers across the globe. Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners, and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.Our culture is based on collaboration and the growth and development of our teams. We hire hardworking people who thrive on solving challenging problems and give them opportunities to hone new skills and try new approaches, as we grow our product portfolio with new software and network architecture solutions. We embrace diversity in thought and contribution and are committed to providing an equitable work environment that is foundational to our core values as a company and is vital to our success.The Principal Network Service Engineer serves a key role as a technical leader and advisor for the global Network Operations team. This role works hand in hand with the department director, regional managers, duty engineers, and other technical teams to ensure Equinix maintains first in class network experience for customers.Responsibilities:

• Lead continuous analysis and optimization of all network infrastructure.
• Develop and maintain high-level and low-level network designs to improve operational efficiency.
• Lead the deployment of scalable network solutions, ensuring performance and security best practices.
• Consult on day-to-day operational issues, maintenances, and incidents.
• Serve as key escalation in incident response, communication, and network service recovery.
• Lead development of tooling and automation for improving efficiency and/or functionality for the team.
• Lead in tuning and improving observability, monitoring, and alerting solutions.
• Advise on planning and execution of network maintenance activities.
• Ensure departmental policies, procedures, runbooks, etc. are operationally adopted.
• Ensure network infrastructure documentation is properly maintained.
• Be a key contributor in developing departmental policies, procedures, and documentation.
• Leverage automation tools such as python, ansible, etc to improve network management efficiency.
• Work closely with cross-functional teams to align network strategies with business needs.
• Provide duty and/or leadership fill in or escalation coverage as needed.Requirements:
• Education: College degree in related field and/or equivalent knowledge and work experience.
• Experience: 10 or more years working on large scale service provider networks and at least 5 in a senior role.
• Network protocols/technologies: BGP, EVPN, VXLAN, MPLS, ISIS, IPv4/6, MST/PVST, and many others.
• Extensive experience operating full table Internet edge, multiple service providers, and peering exchanges.
• Network hardware: Juniper, Arista, Cisco, Nokia and various firewall appliances.
• Expert level knowledge and experience in network routing and switching.
• Extensive experience with data center networking principles, including spine-leaf architecture technologies.
• Experience with cloud service providers network topologies, deployments, and concepts.
• Strong understanding of Unix/Linux based operating systems.
• Strong programming experience and data models such as: Bash, Python, Perl, Go, Rust, JSON, and YAML.
• Network Automation and source of truth experience with Ansible, Jinja, Netbox, GIT and others.
• Ability to be a leader and able to educate more junior engineers on new designs and technical processes.
• Understanding of practices such as ITIL and Continuous Integration.
• Deep understanding of protocols and applications at all layers of the OSI model.
• Strong organization and time management skills.
• Impeccable verbal and written communication skills.
• A strong understanding of customer service.
• Must be self-motivated and disciplined.Preferred Qualifications:
• Master of Science in Computer Science or related discipline.
• Experience with ticketing systems such as Jira and Service Now.
• Experience with virtualization networks such as Kubernetes and VMware.
• Experience with regulatory compliance standards.
• Experience with DDoS mitigation tooling and deployment.
• Experience with DNS, RPKI, RadB, and IPAM systems.
• Experience with network monitoring SaaS applications such as Kentik, Thousand Eyes, Catchpoint.
• Expert Level vendor certification (CCIE, JNCIE, ACE: L6).The United States targeted pay range for this position in the following location is / locations are:--- San Francisco, CA / Bay Area: $179,000 to $269,000 per year--- California (Non-SF/Bay Area), Connecticut, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Washington state: $171,000 to $257,000 per year--- Colorado, Nevada, Rhode Island: $155,000 to $233,000 per yearOur pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum target for new hire pay for the full-time position determined by role, level, and location. Individual pay is based on additional factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education and/or training.This position may be offered in other locations. Your recruiter can share more about the specific pay range for your preferred location during the hiring process.The targeted pay range listed reflects the base pay only and does not include bonus, equity, or benefits. Employees are eligible for bonus, and equity may be offered depending on the position.As an employee, you become important to Equinix's success. Details about our company benefits can be found at the following link:Equinix is committed to ensuring that our employment process is open to all individuals, including those with a disability. If you are a qualified candidate and need assistance or an accommodation, please let us know by completing .Equinix is an Equal Employment Opportunity and, in the U.S., an Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to unlawful consideration of race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, place of birth, citizenship, sex, pregnancy / childbirth or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or domestic partnership status, age, veteran or military status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, political / organizational affiliation, status as a victim or family member of a victim of crime or abuse, or any other status protected by applicable law.
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Keywords: Equinix, Inc., San Francisco , Principal Network Engineer, Education / Teaching , Redwood City, California