Infrastructure Engineer

Forward Networks • Santa Clara, CA

10d • Hybrid

About The Position

Forward Networks is transforming how the world’s most complex networks are managed and secured. Founded in 2013 by four Stanford Ph.D.s, we built the industry’s first network digital twin — a mathematically precise model of the production network that gives IT teams unmatched visibility, verification, and agility across every major cloud and vendor environment. Our customers include global leaders such as Goldman Sachs, PayPal, S&P Global, IBM, and Dell, as well as fast-growing enterprises and government agencies. According to IDC, Forward Networks customers realize an average of $14.2 million in annual benefits through improved efficiency and security. Backed by world-class investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs, MSD Partners, and Threshold Ventures, Forward Networks offers a people-centric, innovative culture where brilliant minds are shaping the future of network reliability, security, and AI-ready operations. Forward Networks is looking for an experienced Infrastructure Engineer. As an Infrastructure Engineer, you will support the deployment, operation, and evolution of internal platforms and applications. In this role, you'll have hands-on time with a wide breadth of systems and system types, going beyond just core “IT”, to frequent interactions with security and engineering teams. As we grow our infrastructure, (both on-prem and in-cloud), and grow the team, you’ll have ample opportunities to learn. Both Dev and Ops work is in scope. Storage, Compute, Network, Cloud, or Application? If you said ‘Yes’, you may be the right fit. Must be able to work from the office in Santa Clara at least two days a week, and able to come in as needed.

Requirements

• Thirst for knowledge / desire to learn and grow
• Ability to effectively debug hard problems on a range of systems types
• Infrastructure Systems Experience: experience configuring, operating, and maintaining: Virtualization Hosts: (OpenShift/Kubernetes and VMware vCenter/ESX)
• DDI Systems (DNS, DHCP, IPAM)
• Network and security infrastructure (experience with routers/routing, switches/switching, and firewalls/network policy)
• Backup and disaster recovery systems
• Working knowledge of wireless networking and troubleshooting of them
• Comfort and working experience with CLI and Linux
• Understanding of application-relevant security concepts, including certificates, VPNs, and encryption
• Understanding of network connectivity concepts, including IP address allocation, tunneling, L2/L3 routing and switching, firewalls, and proxies (ideally, CCNA-level knowledge or better)
• 3-5 years of hands on experience with network equipment and servers

Nice To Haves

• Scripting: Practical scripting and automation experience, including git, Bash, Python, Ansible, Terraform, Kubernetes, REST APIs, etc.
• Comfort working with AI tools / processes and effective prompting
• Cloud: Experience provisioning and using resources in AWS (or other clouds)
• File servers and NAS (disk and flash-based) - basic knowledge and understanding of storage is required but specific / detailed knowledge of a specific system or format is not required
• iSCSI knowledge
• Access and identity systems (SSO, LDAP, VPN, …)

Responsibilities

• Drive development work for physical systems, network devices, and virtual machines - to add new systems, replace existing ones, or integrate new functionality
• Drive operations for corporate systems: handle tier-two escalations, write runbooks, and do knowledge transfer to systems engineers on the team
• Implement corporate security policies into all systems
• Drive updates and patching

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees