Network & Infrastructure Engineer

THUMBWAR • Los Angeles, CA

12h • $80,000 - $110,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

This is not a corporate help-desk or a static office-networking role. At THUMBWAR, our hybrid infrastructure kit is our product. We operate in the high-stakes, zero-downtime world of live sports broadcasting and premium media production, where our customers rely upon us to deliver critical broadcast workflows for air. We are seeking a hands-on, highly adaptable Network & Infrastructure Engineer to join our growing engineering team. This role bridges the gap between heavy-duty routing, enterprise virtualization, and physical hardware across our production facilities and remote broadcast operations. If you are bored of clicking through cloud consoles, want to build tangible, high-performance infrastructure, and thrive in an environment where your engineering decisions directly impact live broadcasts, this is your next step. The base salary for this role is $80,000 - $110,000 / year. Final compensation will be determined by factors such as the candidate’s experience and skills.

Requirements

• Network Fundamentals: CCNA-level routing and switching knowledge. Cisco Certified Network Associate certification is strongly preferred, but equivalent verified experience is welcome.
• Core Routing/Switching: Deep understanding of Layer 2/Layer 3 technologies, TCP/IP design (RFC 1918), and hands-on experience with interior/exterior gateway protocols (OSPF and BGP).
• Advanced Networking: Solid understanding of Multi-VRF design, route leaking, Linux networking (bridges, bonds), and OpenVSwitch.
• Virtualization Mastery: Hands-on experience managing hypervisors, with a strong focus on Proxmox or enterprise VMware environments, including hypervisor-to-network integration (e.g., mapping VLANs and trunk ports to virtualization nodes).
• Security Connectivity: Practical experience deploying secure VPN tunnels using tools like WireGuard or Tailscale.
• Automation and Scripting. Practical experience with scripting workflows (Bash, Python, NodeJs, etc.) to automate repetitive infrastructure tasks. Use of AI to solve problems and orchestrate outcomes.

Nice To Haves

• Storage & Media Workflows: Familiarity with ZFS, file-sharing protocols (SMB, NFS), and advanced storage networking (RDMA, RoCE, iSCSI, cluster file systems).
• Overlay Networks: Experience configuring or troubleshooting VXLAN environments.
• Containers and Cloud: Familiarity with Docker and cloud environments (for instance AWS).
• Industry Context: Prior experience working within broadcast television, live production environments, or post-production facilities.

Responsibilities

• Deploy Live Networks: Design, provision, and maintain complex Layer 2 and Layer 3 media network infrastructures across our remote broadcast footprints.
• Manage Virtualization Ecosystems: Own the deployment, configuration, and performance tuning of our hypervisor platforms, with a primary focus on scaling and monitoring Proxmox environments.
• Physical Hardware Ownership: Rack, cable, stack, and troubleshoot physical server hardware, enterprise switches, and high-performance storage arrays. You own the infrastructure from the bare metal up.
• Architect Segmented Routing: Implement and maintain robust routing architectures utilizing OSPF, BGP, and Multi-VRF segmentation to ensure secure, low-latency media transport and route leaking where required.
• Ensure Zero-Failure Event Support: Support live event schedules, proactively monitoring network health and swiftly diagnosing real-time infrastructure or hypervisor bottlenecks under tight production deadlines.
• Infrastructure as a Code: Real hardware monitoring and reliability meets DevOps. We are deploying an innovative hybrid kit and will rely upon the latest in deployment methodologies like Ansible and Terraform to ensure we continue to innovate while maintaining high levels of service.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed