Senior Principal Engineer, Product Software (Network Platform)

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.

Role Summary 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.

Responsibilities Architecture & Technical Leadership • 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

Platform & Systems Design • 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

Strategy & Business Alignment • 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

Escalation & Problem Solving • 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

Governance & Standards • 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

Operational Excellence & Impact • Drive efficiency through automation, standardization, and simplification • Define and track metrics for system health, performance, and architectural quality

Leadership & Industry Engagement • 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

Qualifications Experience & Background • 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 • Understanding of model lifecycle management and real-time inference systems (nice to have)

Technical Expertise • 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

Leadership & Communication • 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

Approach & Mindset • Broad technical generalist with strong architectural judgment and systems thinking • Pragmatic and outcome-oriented, focused on scalable, operable solutions aligned to business goals

Why This Role Matters The Senior Principal Architect plays a key role in Equinix’s architectural leadership community. Through close collaboration with peer architects, engineering teams, and product leaders, this role shapes platform direction, influences how systems are designed and operated, and ensures Equinix can scale effectively as it evolves.

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