Principal Network Engineer

Lila Sciences • Cambridge, MA

1d • $204,000 - $272,000

About The Position

As Principal Network Engineer, you will be the senior technical owner of Lila Sciences’ growing, multi-site network, spanning corporate offices, autonomous labs, and OT/robotics environments across Cambridge (Alewife), OCP, San Francisco, and London. This hands-on senior individual-contributor role will establish technical direction, build in-house network engineering capability, and strengthen the effectiveness of managed service provider relationships. You will partner with Identity, Endpoints, Security, and OT/Controls engineering teams as the corporate engineering function develops, and influence network architecture decisions supporting the safe and timely launch of new labs and AI Science Factories.

You will own the architecture, design, and roadmap for the global network, including SD-WAN/SASE, enterprise firewalls, and secure remote access. The role covers segmentation across corporate IT, lab, and OT environments; IT/OT convergence; infrastructure migration and hardening; visibility and monitoring; and scalable standards for DNS, IP addressing, and naming. You will act as the senior escalation point for complex incidents, create runbooks, manage network-focused MSPs and vendors, mentor network engineers, and advise leadership on architecture tradeoffs involving security, cost, reliability, and delivery speed.

Lila Sciences builds Scientific Superintelligence by combining advanced AI models with proprietary AI Science Factory instruments to execute the scientific method autonomously and accelerate discovery across medicine, materials, and energy. The company is guided by truth, trust, curiosity, grit, and velocity, and is committed to equal employment opportunity.

Requirements

• Typically 10+ years of progressive network engineering experience, or equivalent depth in designing and operating multi-site networks.
• Deep hands-on expertise with SD-WAN/SASE platforms such as Cato Networks or similar.
• Strong experience with enterprise firewalls, routing platforms, switching, VLAN segmentation, and subnetting at scale.
• Experience securing and connecting corporate IT and OT, industrial, or lab-instrumentation networks.
• Practical experience implementing network segmentation, zero-trust concepts, and secure remote access.
• Proven ability to manage MSPs and vendors while improving technical outcomes and accountability.
• Strong troubleshooting skills and comfort serving as the senior escalation point for production-impacting network issues.
• Excellent communication skills, including translating network architecture decisions for technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in life sciences, biotech, pharma, or advanced manufacturing environments with lab automation or robotics on the network.
• Industry certifications such as CCNP/CCIE, JNCIP/JNCIE, or equivalent.
• Cloud networking experience with AWS VPC, Transit Gateway, Direct Connect, or similar.
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code for network configuration, such as Terraform, Ansible, or similar.
• Familiarity with identity and access patterns, such as SSO/IdP, Keycloak, or similar, as they intersect with network and remote access design.
• Experience operating in SOC 2 or similarly regulated security environments.
• Prior experience building an internal network engineering function that reduced reliance on outside vendors or MSPs.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture, design, and roadmap for Lila’s global network, including SD-WAN/SASE, enterprise firewalls, and secure remote access.
• Lead VLAN, subnet, and segmentation design across corporate IT, lab, and OT environments.
• Design IT/OT convergence patterns that keep production labs safe, segmented, observable, and reliable.
• Drive network infrastructure migration and hardening, including firewall-to-SASE cutovers and maintenance windows.
• Build network visibility, monitoring, and telemetry to detect issues before they affect scientists or lab operations.
• Establish scalable standards for DNS, IP addressing, and naming conventions across labs, buildings, and geographies.
• Serve as the senior escalation point for complex network incidents and create runbooks that help the broader IT team self-serve.
• Manage network-focused MSPs and vendors while insourcing the highest-value engineering work over time.
• Mentor other network engineers and represent network engineering in planning for lab buildouts and facility expansions.
• Advise leadership on network architecture tradeoffs across security, cost, reliability, and delivery speed.
• Partner with Identity, Endpoints, Security, and OT/Controls engineering teams as the corporate engineering function develops.

Benefits

• Competitive base compensation with bonus potential and generous early-stage equity.
• U.S. full-time employees receive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Employer-paid life and disability insurance for U.S. full-time employees.
• Flexible time off with generous company-wide holidays for U.S. full-time employees.
• Paid parental leave for U.S. full-time employees.
• Educational assistance program for U.S. full-time employees.
• Commuter benefits, including bike share memberships for office-based employees.
• Company-subsidized lunch program.
• International full-time employees receive a comprehensive benefits program tailored to their region.

What This Job Offers

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