Senior Principal Engineer, Product Software (Network Platform)

Equinix•Redwood City, CA

23h

About The Position

Equinix is the world’s digital infrastructure company®, shortening the path to connectivity to enable the innovations that enrich our work, life and planet. A place where tech thinkers and future builders turn bold ideas into breakthrough experiences, we welcome your unique perspective. Help us challenge assumptions, uncover bias, and remove barriers—because progress starts with fresh ideas. You’ll find belonging, purpose, and a team that welcomes you—because when you feel valued, you’re empowered to do your best work. The Senior Principal Architect is a highly influential technical leadership role responsible for end-to-end architectural direction, technical governance, and the evolution of software and network platforms within Network Platform Engineering (NPE). NPE designs, builds, and operates Equinix’s global network infrastructure and platforms, including: Network architecture across optical, routing, switching, and SDN Software platforms for control, observability, automation, and operations at global scale Industry engagement through standards bodies and developer communities This role operates within a small group of senior and principal architects, requiring strong collaboration, shared ownership, and alignment across domains, while partnering closely with engineering teams and stakeholders. The Senior Principal Architect spans software and network architecture, including control plane systems and observability, acting as a broad technical generalist who guides systems from strategy through execution and operations. This role serves as a key technical authority, driving standards, resolving escalations, and anticipating future technology shifts.

Requirements

Significant experience in large-scale, mission-critical infrastructure environments
Proven success in a senior architecture role (Principal / Senior Principal level), influencing technical direction across multiple teams and domains
Experience operating within an architecture community or peer architect model, driving alignment and shared outcomes
Experience applying AI/ML in large-scale infrastructure or platform environments
Familiarity with AIOps, data engineering, and production ML pipelines
Deep expertise in modern, cloud-native and distributed software architectures
Strong experience with control plane systems, telemetry and observability platforms, and network software stacks
Solid grounding in large-scale network architecture and operations
Ability to reason across hardware, software, and operational systems
Strong communication skills, with the ability to engage across engineering, product, and senior leadership
Proven ability to influence architectural outcomes across teams through collaboration and technical leadership
Experience working with globally distributed teams
Broad technical generalist with strong architectural judgment and systems thinking
Pragmatic and outcome-oriented, focused on scalable, operable solutions aligned to business goals

Nice To Haves

Understanding of model lifecycle management and real-time inference systems

Responsibilities

Define and drive end-to-end architecture across network and software platforms, including control plane, data plane, telemetry, APIs, automation, and operations
Act as architect-of-record for critical platforms and initiatives, collaborating with peer architects on shared systems and boundaries
Provide architectural leadership across network control systems, infrastructure software (OEM / ODM / open networking), and observability platforms
Guide engineering teams and tech leads on architecture, design patterns, and implementation; lead architecture and design reviews
Drive software platform architecture with a system-level perspective, ensuring scalability, resilience, and operational excellence
Shape design across control plane systems, telemetry and observability pipelines, and network platforms
Champion automation-first design and strong operational practices
Own architectural strategy from long-term vision through delivery and steady-state operations
Translate business needs into architectural direction and clearly communicate trade-offs to senior stakeholders
Partner cross-functionally to improve platform quality, operability, and readiness
Drive adoption of AI-driven capabilities where relevant
Act as a senior escalation point for complex, cross-domain technical issues
Provide architectural leadership during critical incidents and ambiguous problem spaces
Leverage data-driven insights to accelerate diagnosis and resolution
Establish and evolve architectural governance, standards, and best practices with peer architects
Ensure consistency across platforms while enabling team autonomy and addressing technical debt
Promote responsible and scalable integration of AI capabilities
Drive efficiency through automation, standardization, and simplification
Define and track metrics for system health, performance, and architectural quality
Influence outcomes across engineering, product, and leadership through technical expertise and collaboration
Act as a trusted technical advisor to senior leadership
Represent Equinix externally and contribute to industry standards, innovation, and emerging technologies