Principal Network Development Engineer

Oracle • Nashville, TN

6d

About The Position

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure advances infrastructure and cloud services through automation, scalability, and security. The IES Federal Network Engineering team delivers enterprise-grade networking and security solutions for Federal customers across U.S.-based Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and OHAI data centers, supporting critical workloads and infrastructure.

The Federal Network Engineering team defines network strategy, establishes standards, and provides engineering and operational support across OHAI’s U.S.-based Federal data centers and cloud environments. Its scope includes core routing and switching, firewall management and security services, advanced network fabrics, OCI cloud networking, network automation, monitoring, and hardware and software lifecycle management.

As a Principal Network Development Engineer, you will help lead Federal customer migrations to OCI. The role calls for deep network architecture expertise and extensive migration experience, with a focus on maintaining availability, performance, and security during transitions. In collaboration with engineering, architecture, operations, and automation teams, you will simplify network designs, standardize infrastructure, reduce operational risk, and help transform traditional data center networks into cloud-native infrastructure while protecting critical Federal services.

Requirements

• 11 years of experience in network engineering, electrical engineering, cloud programming, or networking research and development; alternatively, a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Hardware Engineering, or a related field and 7 years of such experience; a master’s degree in one of those fields and 5 years of such experience; or a doctorate in one of those fields and 3 years of such experience.

Nice To Haves

• 12 years of experience in network engineering, electrical engineering, cloud programming, or networking research and development; alternatively, a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Hardware Engineering, or a related field and 8 years of such experience; a master’s degree in one of those fields and 6 years of such experience; or a doctorate in one of those fields and 4 years of such experience.
• 3 years of experience working in a large internet service provider (ISP) or cloud provider environment.
• 3 years of experience working with network modeling and programming, such as YANG, OpenConfig, NETCONF, Terraform, or Python.
• 5 years of experience working in system-level testing and automation.
• 4 years of experience in large-scale physical network support.
• 3 years of experience in large-scale virtual cloud networking.
• Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) or Amazon Web Services (AWS) certification within 6 months of hire.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop advanced network systems for scalable enterprise, data center, or cloud environments, aligned with existing infrastructure patterns.
• Validate production networks and develop scaling strategies for diverse and evolving use cases across systems or services.
• Participate in solution architecture discussions and provide technical guidance on network requirements, tradeoffs, and design decisions.
• Identify complex network design risks and recommend mitigations before deployment.
• Coordinate with vendors and internal stakeholders on hardware, firmware, software, and cloud network code requirements.
• Design playbooks for resolving common and uncommon network issues involving moderately complex systems.
• Analyze network workflows, identify inefficiencies, and propose scalable performance improvements.
• Build advanced automation framework modules supporting testing, operations, and service reliability across environments.
• Automate high-impact network tasks in production and lab environments and optimize repetitive, cross-team workflows.
• Develop and maintain dashboards, telemetry tools, and alerting systems for proactive monitoring and faster issue resolution.
• Write, enhance, and document reusable scripts that streamline routine network operations across teams and product domains.
• Extend infrastructure pipelines and configuration management tools using existing playbooks and custom logic.
• Configure and extend tools for new products or services in alignment with platform standards and integration practices.
• Design advanced test strategies and reusable test cases to validate complex network systems and improve long-term reliability.
• Lead team-level testing practices and cross-functional collaboration, defining robust protocols and consistent execution across environments.
• Improve post-incident validation methods and incorporate break-fix outcomes and lessons learned into continuous test improvements.
• Review and approve L1 and L2 network changes, and present high-impact changes to cross-team change management boards.
• Drive pre-production validation with cross-functional teams to ensure compliance and deployment readiness.
• Prepare and deliver audit documentation and test evidence for internal Governance, Risk, and Compliance processes.
• Work with monitoring teams to customize dashboards, telemetry pipelines, and alerting systems, defining SLO-based thresholds and network-health metrics.
• Partner with monitoring and SRE teams to refine alerts and improve early detection of network anomalies and degradation.
• Lead incident response during support rotations, conduct root cause analysis, and coordinate cross-team resolution of escalated issues.
• Build and improve internal tools that help frontline support teams respond to network failures and recurring issues.
• Coordinate test and deployment milestones with project and program managers, adapting plans to manage risks and maintain cross-team alignment.
• Mentor junior engineers and provide hands-on technical subject-matter expertise in resolving complex issues.
• Lead customer technical escalations and deliver clear, actionable root cause analysis documentation.
• Influence team roadmap and architecture decisions with solutions aligned to broader engineering goals.
• Coordinate with vendors and internal teams to resolve standards misalignment and ensure technical and operational integration requirements are met.
• Analyze network performance metrics such as latency, throughput, and packet loss to identify systemic inefficiencies and drive scalable improvements.
• Forecast infrastructure needs using performance and capacity data to prepare for anticipated traffic and service growth.
• Manage and coordinate moderately complex tasks, monitor timelines and deliverables, and delegate, prioritize, and adjust work across multiple projects or initiatives.
• Collaborate across the organization and with business leaders, stakeholders, and customers to align expectations and ensure solutions meet needs; seek and listen to diverse perspectives.
• Analyze data to resolve moderately complex issues, escalate critical or unresolved issues with assessments and proposed solutions, and document problem-solving strategies.
• Pursue learning and feedback, stay current with industry trends and best practices, and coach and mentor junior team members.
• Recommend and implement process improvements, evaluate their impact, and seek feedback on alternative approaches.
• Participate in candidate interviews, assess candidates, and provide hiring recommendations.

Benefits

• Competitive benefits supporting employees with flexible medical, life insurance, and retirement options.
• Volunteer programs that encourage employees to give back to their communities.

What This Job Offers

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