Principal Front-End Network Engineer

Nscale

9d • $220,000 - $310,000

About The Position

Nscale is seeking a senior technical leader to own the reliability, scalability, and long-term evolution of its high-performance Ethernet front-end networks for AI infrastructure. These networks support inference traffic, cluster management, data ingress and egress, shared storage connectivity, long-haul circuits, and carrier handoffs. The role provides technical leadership across Nscale’s front-end networking domain and influences architecture, standards, and operating practices across teams.

The engineer will set technical direction and operational strategy, evolve large-scale Ethernet leaf-spine/Clos architectures, guide investigations into the most complex incidents, and lead cross-functional initiatives that improve reliability, performance predictability, observability, and operational maturity. The role also defines standards for network hardware, routing, congestion management, firmware lifecycles, automation, and change safety, while partnering with SRE, Compute Platform, Storage, and Network Architecture teams. The position includes mentoring senior and principal-level engineers and driving measurable improvements in uptime, latency consistency, capacity efficiency, and incident reduction.

Nscale describes its environment as collaborative, supportive, and innovative, with opportunities for progression and a highly competitive base-and-equity package reviewed every 12 months. The stated base salary range is $220,000–$310,000 USD. The role may also be eligible for bonus, equity, and/or commission programs. Nscale may offer medical, dental, and vision coverage, flexible paid time off, parental leave, and retirement plan participation.

Requirements

• 12+ years of experience in network engineering, with a deep focus on hyperscale data centre, cloud, or AI infrastructure networking.
• Expert-level operational and architectural experience with large-scale Ethernet data centre fabrics using leaf-spine/Clos topologies.
• Strong hands-on production experience at scale with Nvidia (Cumulus), Arista (EOS/Etherlink), and/or Nokia (7220 IXR, 7250 IXR, 7750 SR series) platforms.
• Deep understanding of modern data centre routing and control planes, including BGP, OSPF, ECMP, and EVPN-VXLAN.
• Proven experience with long-haul circuits, DCI, and optical transport, including dark fiber, carrier Ethernet, coherent optics, and ZR/ZR+.
• Strong background in storage networking over Ethernet and shared storage connectivity at hyperscale.
• Demonstrated ability to debug and resolve complex cross-layer issues spanning hardware, optics, routing, and application layers.
• Proven ability to lead complex technical initiatives across teams and influence strategy without direct authority.
• Systems-level mindset that balances performance, reliability, scalability, and operational cost.
• Ability to mentor senior and principal-level network engineers and drive organization-wide technical and operational improvements.

Nice To Haves

• Extensive experience with Nvidia, Arista, or Nokia platforms at hyperscale or large AI infrastructure scale.
• Deep familiarity with front-end network design patterns for massive AI clusters, including inference, management, and storage tiers.
• Experience designing or operating large-scale DCI, long-haul optical, or carrier networks.
• Strong automation and tooling experience, including Python, Ansible, validation frameworks, and telemetry pipelines.
• Prior experience influencing platform or infrastructure strategy at significant scale.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical direction and operational strategy for Nscale’s front-end AI infrastructure networks.
• Design, review, and evolve large-scale Ethernet leaf-spine/Clos fabric architectures, including Arista and Nokia platforms, for future growth, inference workloads, and storage requirements.
• Serve as the senior-most escalation point for complex front-end network incidents, guiding technical investigations and systemic fixes.
• Lead cross-team initiatives to improve fabric reliability, performance predictability, observability, and operational maturity at scale.
• Define standards for hardware configuration, routing, congestion management, firmware lifecycle management, automation, and change safety across Nvidia Cumulus, Arista EOS, and Nokia platforms.
• Partner with SRE, Compute Platform, Storage, and Network Architecture teams on end-to-end system design, including long-haul/DCI circuits and storage network integration.
• Mentor senior and principal-level network engineers and promote operational rigor and technical excellence.
• Drive measurable improvements in uptime, latency consistency, capacity efficiency, and incident reduction for front-end services.
• Perform additional duties, tasks, and responsibilities as assigned by management, consistent with the skills and qualifications required for the role.

Benefits

• Highly competitive base salary and equity package, with reviews every 12 months.
• Potential eligibility for bonus, equity, and/or commission programs.
• Potential medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Flexible paid time off.
• Parental leave.
• Retirement plan participation.
• A dynamic progression plan and support for professional growth.

What This Job Offers

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