Principal Cloud Networking Engineer

Artificial intelligence is driving fundamental changes in the scale and architecture of cloud infrastructure. Networks must grow faster and carry substantially more capacity while becoming simpler to deploy, easier to automate and more resilient to failure. Meeting those requirements means reconsidering how routing, optics, network hardware and software come together as a system.

Azure Global Networking designs, builds, operates and evolves the network that connects Microsoft's datacenters to each other and to the world. You will join a team working on the next generation of that infrastructure, where packet and optical networking, hardware and software disaggregation, automation and new approaches to physical network engineering are increasingly converging.

As a Principal Cloud Network Engineer, you will drive the creation and adoption of technologies, protocols and solutions that define reliable, secure, scalable, cost-effective and high-performance network architectures. You will work across organizations to solve ambiguous, multi-layer engineering problems and influence architectural decisions spanning network topology, routing, hardware, optics, automation, telemetry and operations.

You will help develop architectures that make capacity easier to introduce while reducing shared dependencies and containing failures within clearly defined failure domains. You will take ideas from architectural principles and experimentation through engineering validation, production deployment and operational learning, maintaining accountability for how those designs behave in the live network.

This opportunity will allow you to shape hyperscale network architecture for artificial intelligence-driven infrastructure, work deeply across Software for Open Networking in the Cloud (SONiC), merchant-silicon hardware, disaggregated networking, optical technologies including Optical Circuit Switching (OCS), and advance automation and artificial intelligence-assisted network engineering. You will provide technical leadership across teams while remaining directly connected to the production network and the engineering challenges that emerge at global scale.

Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. We come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities

• Drive the creation and adoption of technologies, protocols and solutions that define reliable, secure, scalable, cost-effective and high-performance large-scale network architectures and designs.
• Work across multiple teams and organizations to develop network architectures, lead architecture and design reviews, and drive technical decisions across functionality, performance, scale, reliability, operations, security and cost.
• Develop and drive new approaches that address fundamental weaknesses in network architecture, processes, tooling and engineering capabilities before they result in customer or business impact, using automation and infrastructure as code to enable improvements at scale.
• Provide end-to-end technical leadership across packet and optical networking, hardware, device operating systems, telemetry and automation, while influencing internal engineering teams, technology suppliers and other partners.
• Design and advance automated network testing, validation, telemetry and analytics that identify failures and regressions earlier, improve troubleshooting at scale and explore the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to network operations.
• Lead the diagnosis and root-cause analysis of complex, multi-layer live-site issues, use production and telemetry data to identify systemic problems, and translate those learnings into durable improvements in network architecture, automation and engineering practices.
• Participate in and lead on-call duties for production incidents, provide technical leadership through complex incidents, and mentor and coach engineers in network architecture, engineering, DevOps and live-site practices.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Doctorate Degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND technical experience in network design, development, and automation
  • OR Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND technical experience in network design, development, and automation
  • OR Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND technical experience in network design, development, and automation
  • OR equivalent experience.
• Advanced technical experience defining, designing, developing or operating large-scale network architectures and taking major network solutions from architecture through validation and production deployment.
• Experience with Software-Defined Networking (SDN), controller-based networking or centrally orchestrated traffic-engineering systems, including the programming and operation of network forwarding paths, tunnels or routing state.
• Deep experience with network architecture and routing technologies, including Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS), Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), Segment Routing or comparable large-scale routing and traffic-engineering technologies.
• Experience designing for the interaction between centralized network control and distributed router control planes, including convergence, fallback routing, failure handling, state consistency and failure-domain isolation.
• Experience developing or influencing network automation, infrastructure as code, telemetry, testing or validation systems used to safely deploy and operate network infrastructure at scale.
• Experience providing technical leadership during complex, multi-layer production incidents and translating operational findings into durable improvements in architecture, software, hardware, automation or engineering standards.

Other Requirements:

• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role.
• These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:
  • Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Doctorate Degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND technical experience in network design, development, and automation
  • OR Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND technical experience in network design, development, and automation
  • OR Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND technical experience in network design, development, and automation
  • OR equivalent experience.
• Experience delivering network designs into production and experience with live site accountability for a network.
• Experience developing quality management programs.
• Experience applying AI agent based systems to network engineering or operations, such as detecting anomalies, diagnosing complex failures, analyzing telemetry, identifying systemic design or operational weaknesses, validating network behavior, or developing automated remediation approaches.
• Experience delivering large-scale network architectures into production with live-site accountability and technical leadership for complex production networks.
• Demonstrated ability to research and evaluate emerging networking, hardware, software and Artificial Intelligence technologies and translate relevant innovations into practical architectural or operational improvements

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.