Principal Network Engineer

Principal Network Engineer Houston; New York; San Francisco; Seattle Nscale is the GPU cloud engineered for AI. We provide cost-effective, high-performance infrastructure for AI start-ups and large enterprise customers. Nscale enables AI-focused companies to achieve superior results by reducing the complexity of AI development. Our GPU cloud bolsters technical capabilities and directly supports strategic business outcomes, including cost management, rapid innovation, and environmental responsibility. We thrive on a culture of relentless innovation, ownership, and accountability, where every team member takes pride in their work and drives it with excellence and urgency. As an Nscaler, you'll build trust through openness and transparency, where everyone is inspired to do their best work. If you join our team, you'll be contributing to building the technology that powers the future. About The Role The Network Operations and Engineering teams at Nscale operate some of the most demanding networking environments in the industry, supporting large-scale AI GPU clusters where network performance directly impacts customer outcomes. We're looking for a Senior Principal Front End Network Engineer – AI Infrastructure to provide technical leadership across Nscale's front-end networking domain. This role is focused on owning the reliability, scalability, and long-term evolution of our high-performance Ethernet front-end networks. These networks support inference traffic, cluster management, data ingress/egress, shared storage connectivity, long-haul circuits, and carrier handoffs. You will operate as a senior technical authority, influencing architecture, standards, and operational practices across teams while tackling the most complex front-end network challenges in the platform. What You'll Be Doing Owning the technical direction and operational strategy for Nscale's front-end AI infrastructure networks at the highest level Designing, reviewing, and evolving large-scale Ethernet leaf-spine / Clos fabric architectures (including Arista and Nokia platforms) to support future growth, inference workloads, and storage requirements Acting as the senior-most escalation point for the most complex front-end network incidents, guiding deep technical investigations and systemic fixes Driving cross-team and cross-functional initiatives to improve fabric reliability, performance predictability, observability, and operational maturity at scale Defining standards for hardware configuration, routing, congestion management, firmware lifecycle management, automation, and change safety across Nvidia Cumulus, Arista EOS and Nokia platforms Partnering with SRE, Compute Platform, Storage, and Network Architecture teams to influence end-to-end system design, including long-haul/DCI circuits and storage network integration Mentoring senior and principal-level network engineers, raising the bar for operational rigor and technical excellence across the organization Driving measurable improvements in uptime, latency consistency, capacity efficiency, and incident reduction for front-end services About You (Skills / Qualifications) 12+ years of experience in network engineering, with deep focus on hyperscale data centre, cloud, or AI infrastructure networking Expert-level operational and architectural experience with large-scale Ethernet data centre fabrics (leaf-spine / Clos topologies) Strong hands-on expertise with Nvidia (Cumulus), Arista(EOS / Etherlink) and/or Nokia(7220 IXR, 7250 IXR, 7750 SR series) platforms in production environments at scale Deep understanding of modern data centre routing and control planes (BGP, OSPF, ECMP, EVPN-VXLAN) Proven experience with long-haul circuits, DCI, and optical transport (dark fiber, carrier Ethernet, coherent optics, 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 A systems-level mindset, balancing performance, reliability, scalability, and operational cost at the highest level Nice to Have 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 (inference, management, and storage tiers) Experience designing or operating large-scale DCI / long-haul optical or carrier networks Strong automation and tooling experience (Python, Ansible, validation frameworks, telemetry pipelines) Prior experience influencing platform or infrastructure strategy at significant scale What We Can Offer You At Nscale, you'll find a collaborative, supportive, and innovative environment where your contributions spark real impact. We're building something extraordinary, and we want you at the core. Highly competitive package (base + equity) with reviews every 12 months. Join the fastest-growing tech startup, your chance to push boundaries, collaborate with brilliant minds, and make your mark on cutting-edge AI. Expect a dynamic progression plan tailored to your ambitions. Grow by trying new things, leading, challenging the status quo, and owning your impact, always with our full support. Equal Opportunities Statement We strongly encourage applications from people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, parents, carers, and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. If there's anything we can do to accommodate your specific situation, please let us know. The responsibilities outlined in this job description are not exhaustive and are intended to provide a general overview of the position. The employee may be required to perform additional duties, tasks, and responsibilities as assigned by management, consistent with the skills and qualifications required for the role. The range below reflects the base salary for the position. Actual compensation may vary based on job-related factors such as skill set, experience, education, and location. In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for bonus, equity, and/or commission programs. Nscale may offer a competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, flexible paid time off, parental leave, and retirement plan participation. nScale