Sr Principal Engineer, Enterprise Networking Architecture

Sr Principal Engineer

Equinix is seeking a world-class Sr Principal Engineer to serve as the preeminent technical authority for Enterprise Networking Architecture within the Digital Infrastructure Organization (DIO). This is a pure individual contributor role with no direct reports, carrying ultimate accountability for defining, governing, and evolving the global networking architecture and long-term strategy across the enterprise.

This leader will own the end-to-end enterprise networking architecture—spanning campus, datacenter, cloud interconnection, carrier services, and secure access—while setting a bold, forward-looking vision for modern, secure, AI-augmented networking. The role requires deep technical mastery, architectural judgment at massive scale, and the ability to influence across global teams and executive leadership without formal authority.

Responsibilities

• Act as the Final Technical Authority: Serve as the primary interface to DIO leadership and executive stakeholders on all matters of enterprise networking architecture. Function as the ultimate escalation point for complex, cross-domain architectural decisions
• Own the Global Networking Architecture: Define and govern the holistic enterprise networking architecture across LAN, WAN, datacenter fabrics, cloud connectivity, wireless, edge/access, firewalls, secure remote access, and carrier interconnects
• Set and Enforce Standards: Establish, document, and govern reference architectures, design patterns, and best practices—ensuring consistency, resilience, and security across all regions and business units
• Drive Global Alignment: Partner closely with cloud, security, infrastructure, application, and edge architecture teams to align strategies, resolve architectural conflicts, and accelerate enterprise-wide modernization
• Lead Long-Term Strategy: Author and maintain 5-year global networking roadmaps, including technology evaluations, risk assessments, architectural trade-offs, and executive-ready recommendations grounded in a big-picture, future-focused perspective
• Architect at Scale: Design high-performance, secure, and resilient connectivity solutions across a broad technology landscape, including:
• Enterprise and datacenter networking (Cisco, Juniper, Arista, whitebox)
• Next-generation security platforms (Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco)
• Wireless platforms (Mist AI, Meraki)
• Out-of-band and terminal access (ZPE, Opengear)
• Carrier and managed connectivity (MPLS, VPLS, P2P, Metro Ethernet, SD-WAN, and emerging alternatives)
• Champion AI-Augmented Networking: Lead the integration of AI across networking and operations—spanning AIOps, predictive analytics, autonomous remediation, threat detection, capacity planning, and configuration intelligence—while accounting for the networking demands of AI workloads and edge inference
• Advance Observability and Automation: Define enterprise-wide strategies for telemetry, monitoring, and observability (e.g., streaming telemetry, eBPF, AI-driven anomaly detection) to enable proactive, automated operations
• Shape the Industry: Identify emerging trends, influence vendor roadmaps, pioneer next-generation architectures, and contribute to industry standards and technical communities
• Represent Equinix Externally: Act as a visible thought leader through patents, publications, standards participation, and keynote presentations at leading industry forums (e.g., NANOG, RSA, Black Hat)
• Elevate Engineering Excellence: Mentor senior and principal engineers, lead architecture review boards and technical guilds, and foster strong collaboration across the organization

Qualifications

• Proven years of experience in enterprise-scale networking and security architecture, including 10+ years in senior, principal, or distinguished IC roles owning global, multi-site environments (10,000+ endpoints, petabit-class fabrics)
• Prior Distinguished Engineer, Senior Principal Engineer, Fellow, or equivalent executive IC role at a top-tier Fortune 50 or hyperscale technology company (e.g., Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, NVIDIA, Meta, or similar)
• Demonstrated external technical impact, including patents, influential open-source contributions, published research, standards participation, or high-profile industry speaking
• Deep, hands-on expertise across enterprise networking domains, including:
• Datacenter and enterprise networking (BGP/EVPN, VXLAN, leaf-spine, SD-WAN, 400G+ fabrics)
• Security architectures (zero trust, SASE/SSE, microsegmentation, next-gen firewalls)
• Wireless networking (Mist AI, Meraki)
• Out-of-band and resiliency engineering
• Carrier interconnects and managed connectivity
• Edge, hybrid/multi-cloud integration, automation, and performance optimization
• Proven success leading 3–5+ year strategic planning, delivering measurable outcomes such as cost optimization, ultra-high availability, and reduced security risk
• Strong experience applying AI/ML to networking operations and understanding AI's broader implications on enterprise infrastructure
• Exceptional ability to influence at the executive level, communicate complex architectural concepts clearly, and align diverse global teams
• A forward-thinking mindset with the credibility and presence to drive industry-leading innovation while collaborating effectively across organizational boundaries

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field
• Active participation in industry bodies or technical communities (e.g., IETF, ONUG, CNCF networking SIGs)
• Experience operating in regulated or mission-critical environments (finance, healthcare, critical infrastructure)
• Proficiency with automation and IaC (Python, Ansible, Terraform) and GitOps-based operational models