Director, Virtual Networking

DigitalOcean•Seattle, WA

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

DigitalOcean is seeking an exceptional engineering leader to own the strategy, execution, and operation of its Virtual Networking organization. This role reports to the Senior Director of Networking and will lead the team responsible for core networking platforms powering DigitalOcean services and customer workloads. These platforms include VPC, Public/Private/Global DNS, gateway services, DDoS protection, Network Firewall, and other foundational networking services. The organization will design, build, and operate over 12 cloud-scale, multi-tenant networking services enabling secure, resilient connectivity within and across DigitalOcean's global infrastructure. This is a strategic leadership role focused on defining the long-term vision for Virtual Networking and building a world-class engineering organization to deliver reliable, secure, and scalable networking services.

Requirements

Executive Leadership Experience leading multiple engineering teams or organizations responsible for cloud infrastructure or networking platforms.
Proven ability to build and scale high-performing engineering teams through strong technical leadership, organizational design, and operational excellence.
Strong cross-functional leadership skills with a track record of influencing engineering, product, and executive stakeholders.
Deep expertise in cloud networking, distributed systems, and large-scale software platforms.
Experience designing and operating highly available, multi-tenant networking services such as VPC, DNS, gateways, load balancing, firewalls, service networking, or adjacent cloud networking technologies.
Strong understanding of networking architecture, cloud infrastructure, security, and reliability engineering.
Demonstrated success delivering large-scale, cross-functional initiatives from strategy through execution.
Experience defining engineering metrics, operational mechanisms, and service reliability practices.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical challenges into clear business outcomes.

Responsibilities

Own the Virtual Networking Strategy: Define and execute the multi-year strategy for DigitalOcean's Virtual Networking platform, delivering foundational networking services.
Build the Next Generation of Networking Services: Lead the architecture, development, and operation of cloud-scale, multi-tenant networking services including VPC, DNS, gateway services, DDoS protection, Network Firewall, and future capabilities for AI and cloud-native workloads.
Deliver Reliable Cloud Services: Own the availability, scalability, security, and operational excellence of over 20 production networking services. Establish engineering mechanisms and operational practices for reliable operation at cloud scale.
Lead a High-Performing Engineering Organization: Recruit, develop, and mentor engineering managers and senior engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence, accountability, innovation, and customer obsession.
Partner Across Engineering: Collaborate with Physical Networking, Compute, Storage, GPU, Security, Product, and Infrastructure teams to deliver integrated networking capabilities.
Drive Operational Excellence: Establish engineering metrics, operational reviews, reliability goals, and automation to improve service availability, operational efficiency, and engineering velocity.
Influence Product Strategy: Partner with Product Management to shape the networking roadmap, prioritize investments, and deliver differentiated networking capabilities.