Senior Network Engineer, Edge & Optical Transport

Who We Are

Lightning AI is the company behind PyTorch Lightning. Founded in 2019, we build an end-to-end platform for developing, training, and deploying AI systems—designed to take ideas from research to production with less friction.

Through our merger with Voltage Park, a neocloud and AI Factory, Lightning AI combines developer-first software with cost-efficient, large-scale compute. Teams get the tools they need for experimentation, training, and production inference, with security, observability, and control built in.

We serve solo researchers, startups, and large enterprises. Lightning AI operates globally with offices in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and London, and is backed by Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Firstminute.

The Way We Work

The people who thrive here are builders who move fast, communicate openly, take ownership, and continuously improve themselves, their teams, and our company. Here's what that looks like in practice:

• Move with Urgency: We move quickly, make thoughtful decisions, and keep momentum. We value action over perfection and learn by shipping.
• Take Ownership: We own outcomes, not just our individual work. We make decisions that move the company forward and follow through.
• Communicate Openly: We communicate directly, seek to understand, and create clarity for others. Honest conversations help us move faster together.
• Build Great Teams: We lead by example, empower others, and create healthy teams where people can do their best work.
• Raise the Bar: We're always improving ourselves. We learn from feedback, consistently challenge ourselves to grow, and focus on the work that matters most.
• Think Long-Term: We design for what's next. We create scalable systems, simplify complexity, and use AI and automation to amplify our impact.

What We Are Looking For

Lightning AI is seeking a Senior Network Engineer to own the operation, reliability, and growth of our edge network and optical transport infrastructure. You will manage Juniper PTX routers and Smartoptics M32 and M40 line systems, connecting our data centers, internet providers, peering partners, and external networks. This is a hands-on engineering role spanning IP routing and the optical layer that carries it.

You will build resilient connectivity for our AI infrastructure, improve operational visibility, and automate routine work. You will work closely with data center networking, compute, platform, and operations teams to deliver reliable connectivity as our infrastructure grows.

This role offers hybrid work from our San Francisco, Seattle, or NYC offices, or fully remote work within the U.S. All employees participate in occasional team and company offsites.

What You Will Do

• Operate, configure, and expand our Juniper PTX edge and backbone routers, including routing policy, interface provisioning, software upgrades, and configuration lifecycle management.
• Manage internet transit, private and public peering, and external connectivity using IPv4/IPv6, eBGP/iBGP, routing policy, prefix filtering, and route validation.
• Deploy and maintain Smartoptics M32 and M40 optical line systems for DWDM transport and data center interconnects, including wavelength provisioning, power-level checks, alarm monitoring, and capacity expansion.
• Troubleshoot failures across packet and optical layers, including route instability, packet loss, congestion, fiber loss, optical power issues, and degraded optical performance.
• Plan resilient paths and capacity across edge, backbone, and optical networks; validate failover behavior and identify shared failure risks.
• Coordinate circuit delivery, cross-connects, turn-ups, acceptance testing, and fault resolution with carriers, colocation providers, fiber vendors, and equipment support teams.
• Automate provisioning, configuration validation, backups, and operational checks using Python, Ansible, APIs, or similar tools.
• Improve telemetry and alerting for routing health, interface utilization, errors, optical performance, and service availability.
• Execute planned maintenance with documented validation and rollback procedures; participate in incident response and root cause analysis.
• Maintain network diagrams, circuit and wavelength inventories, IP addressing records, configuration standards, and operational runbooks.

What You Will Need

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience operating production edge, backbone, service provider, or large-scale data center networks.
• Hands-on experience with Juniper PTX routers and Junos OS/Evolved, including configuration, troubleshooting, upgrades, and routing policy management.
• Strong knowledge of IPv4/IPv6, BGP, internet routing, peering and transit, route filtering, and failure detection and convergence.
• Practical experience operating DWDM optical transport or open line systems, including wavelength planning, optical power budgets, fiber loss, and alarm troubleshooting.
• Ability to isolate faults across router interfaces, transceivers, optical line systems, fiber spans, and carrier circuits.
• Experience planning and turning up high-capacity Ethernet and data center interconnect services, with attention to redundancy and service acceptance.
• Experience using Python, Ansible, or similar tools to automate network operations and validate changes.
• Experience with network monitoring, telemetry, and capacity planning, and with executing production changes using validation and rollback plans.
• Strong documentation and communication skills; ability to independently prioritize work, coordinate with external providers, and own issues through resolution.

Ideal Experience

• Direct experience deploying and operating Smartoptics M32 and M40 line systems and their management tools.
• Experience with coherent optics, optical performance metrics such as OSNR and pre-FEC error rates, and fiber testing using optical power meters or OTDRs.
• Experience with multi-region backbone design, dark fiber services, carrier diversity, and data center interconnect architecture.
• Familiarity with routing security practices such as RPKI-based route origin validation, IRR filtering, and coordination with DDoS mitigation providers.
• Experience integrating edge networks with data center fabrics, cloud connectivity, or AI infrastructure environments.
• Experience working in a high-growth infrastructure company with a small team and a high degree of ownership.

We are committed to offering competitive compensation that reflects the value each team member brings to our mission. Final offers are based on factors such as experience, skills, geographic location, and role expectations. In addition to base salary, our total rewards package for eligible roles includes a discretionary bonus, a meaningful equity component, and comprehensive benefits.

The anticipated annual base salary range for this role is:

$180,000—$225,000 USD

Benefits and Perks

We offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support our employees’ health, well-being, and long-term success:

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and eligible dependents.
• Meaningful Equity: RSUs that give employees a stake in the company's long-term success.
• Retirement Savings: 401(k) matching (U.S.) and pension contributions (U.K.).
• Flexible Time Off: Unlimited PTO, company holidays, and floating holidays to support work-life balance.
• Paid Parental & Family Leave: Paid leave to support you and your family through life's important moments.
• Professional Development: Annual learning and development allowance to support your professional growth.
• Wellness Benefits: Wellness and work-from-home stipends to support your physical and mental well-being.
• Sabbatical Program: Four weeks of paid sabbatical leave after four years of service.
• Flexible Work: Flexible schedules and a hybrid work model for our office-based teams.
• In-Office Meals: Complimentary meals at our office hubs.

Benefits may vary by location, team, and role.

At Lightning AI, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe that diverse teams drive innovation and create better products. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We are dedicated to building a culture where everyone can thrive and contribute to their fullest potential.