Distinguished Engineer, Networking

About this role

Who are we? 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.

Job Summary As a Distinguished Engineer within the Infrastructure Engineering organization, you will serve as the definitive technical authority for network architecture across the Network Edge product line. This is a company-wide leadership role that sets the long-term network architectural vision and translates it into concrete engineering direction for product teams.

You will own the network designs underpinning Equinix's Virtual Network Function (VNF) platform, drive high-impact initiatives such as the high-throughput VNF effort and dual-Data Center connectivity, and serve as the primary technical bridge between product engineering and Equinix's Network Architecture and Operations organizations. This role also carries direct customer-facing responsibility—providing expert-level guidance and troubleshooting for Equinix's most strategic customers. Distinguished Engineers at Equinix operate at an industry level. You will be recognized as an expert inside and outside the company, influencing product roadmaps multiple years out and elevating the engineering community through mentorship and thought leadership.

Responsibilities Technical Leadership & Architecture • Define and own the multi-year network architecture vision for Network Edge, ensuring designs are scalable, resilient, and aligned with Equinix's global infrastructure strategy

• Lead network architecture and design for critical platform initiatives, including high-throughput VNF enablement and dual-Data Center connectivity

• Establish authoritative design patterns, reference architectures, and standards for virtual network functions, overlay networking, and carrier-grade performance tuning across on-prem and cloud environments

• Identify and resolve systemic architectural gaps across the Network Edge platform, providing clear technical recommendations that unblock engineering teams

• Drive performance engineering for VNFs, including profiling, tuning, and qualification of throughput-sensitive network workloads (DPDK, SR-IOV, CPU pinning, and related techniques)

Cross-Organizational Influence • Serve as the primary technical liaison between product engineering and Equinix Network Architecture, Network Operations, and external network vendors

• Influence Equinix's broader network and infrastructure strategy by contributing architectural guidance that spans product, platform, and operations boundaries

• Partner with Product, Engineering, and Strategy leadership to define the 2027+ product roadmap and ensure technical feasibility of new features and services

• Represent Equinix Network Edge capabilities to strategic customers, partners, and industry forums, providing expert-level consultation and thought leadership

• Set and model a high bar for technical excellence, fostering a culture of quality, innovation, transparency, and continuous improvement

Engineering Community & Mentorship • Mentor and develop Senior Principal and Principal Engineers, accelerating their technical growth and organizational impact

• Publish internal design documents, architectural decision records, and best-practice guides that elevate the craft of network engineering across Equinix

• Champion rigorous problem-solving, transparency, and continuous learning within the engineering organization

Customer & Field Engagement • Engage directly with strategic customers to diagnose complex network issues, validate architectural approaches, and build confidence in the Network Edge platform

• Translate field observations and customer feedback into actionable architectural improvements and product requirements

Qualifications Leadership & Experience • 15+ years of experience in network engineering, with deep expertise in large-scale, high-performance network architecture and operations

• Demonstrated track record of defining and delivering network architectures for commercial-grade telecommunications, cloud, or digital infrastructure products

• Proven ability to influence technical direction at the company level, across engineering, product, and operations organizations

• Experience engaging directly with enterprise or carrier-grade customers in a technical advisory or escalation capacity

• Inclusive leadership approach with strong collaboration and communication skills; ability to translate complex network concepts for technical and non-technical audiences alike

Technical Expertise • Deep expertise in network architecture for virtualized and cloud-native environments, including SDN/NFV, overlay networking (VXLAN, MPLS, Segment Routing), and virtual routing/switching

• Expert-level knowledge of Virtual Network Function (VNF) architecture, performance tuning, and qualification—including DPDK, SR-IOV, CPU pinning, and high-throughput packet processing techniques

• Strong command of BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, and other routing protocols as applied in large-scale multi-tenant or carrier environments

• Experience designing and operating interconnected multi-site (multi-Data Center) or multi-region network topologies with stringent availability and latency requirements

• Familiarity with Kubernetes networking, cloud-native CNI plugins, and service mesh concepts as they apply to infrastructure products

• Ability to engage deeply with both software engineering and network operations teams, bridging low-level protocol knowledge with product and platform requirements

• Experience applying AI/ML tools or automated analysis to netw

Similar jobs

• Distinguished Engineer — Capital One · McLean, VA | Plano, TX | Richmond, VA
• Distinguished Engineer — Elevance Health · CA-WALNUT CREEK, 2121 N CALIFORNIA BLVD, 7TH FL
• Distinguished Engineer — Elevance Health · IL-CHICAGO, 233 S WACKER DR, STE 3700
• Distinguished Engineer — Elevance Health · GA-ATLANTA, 740 W PEACHTREE ST NW
• Distinguished Engineer, Switch Architect — Marvell · Santa Clara, CA
• Senior Engineer, Network — Nascar · Daytona Beach, FL | Charlotte, NC | Concord, NC
• Engineer, Network — Cogeco · Columbus, OH | King George, VA | Kingwood, WV
• Engineer - Network — Iberdrola Group · Orange, Connecticut, United States