# Network Engineer

**Company:** [OpenAI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/openai)
**Location:** San Francisco, CA
**Role:** DevOps / SRE
**Salary:** $293k – $385k/yr
**Skills:** cisco ios, cisco meraki, palo alto, arista, BGP, ospf, vlan/vrf, Python, Go, Terraform, Ansible, Grafana, aws transit gateway, azure virtual wan, network security
**Posted:** 2026-08-14

> Designs, operates, and improves secure enterprise networks spanning offices, campuses, cloud environments, and connectivity services. The role combines architecture, production operations, troubleshooting, observability, security, and infrastructure automation.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Design, implement, and operate secure, scalable enterprise networks across offices, labs, campuses, PoPs, cloud connectivity, and hybrid environments.
- Set strategic direction for network services through architecture, standards, roadmaps, lifecycle planning, capacity strategy, and measurable reliability outcomes.
- Own production operations, including on-call, incident response, escalations, and time-sensitive delivery.
- Use incident learning, problem management, ticket trends, and telemetry to eliminate recurring failure modes through automation, Infrastructure as Code, and safer operating standards.
- Develop dashboards, telemetry, alerts, and health checks for actionable visibility into network performance and failure domains.
- Implement and operate routing, switching, wireless, WAN, Internet edge, firewall, NAC, segmentation, and core network services.
- Lead network changes, migrations, refreshes, site launches, and service improvements from design through validation and operational handoff.
- Partner with security and identity teams to apply least privilege, Zero Trust principles, RBAC, device identity, and appropriate access controls.
- Balance long-term platform improvements with urgent operational priorities through clear ownership, documented decisions, deliberate tradeoffs, and transparent communication.

## Requirements
- Hands-on experience designing and operating enterprise networks using Cisco IOS, Cisco Meraki, Palo Alto, Arista, or equivalent technologies.
- Strong routing and switching fundamentals, including BGP, OSPF, VLAN/VRF design, WAN, Internet edge, and high-availability patterns.
- Production troubleshooting experience across packets, logs, telemetry, configurations, circuits, and physical infrastructure.
- Experience with network observability using SNMP, syslog, NetFlow, packet capture, ELK, Grafana, or comparable platforms.
- Strong network security fundamentals, including ACLs, firewalls, VPN, 802.1X/NAC, device profiling, segmentation, and least privilege.
- Ability to automate infrastructure using a modern programming language and tools such as Python, Go, Terraform, Ansible, APIs, Git, and CI/CD.
- Experience with enterprise wireless and at least one cloud or hybrid connectivity environment.
- Clear communication, sound operational judgment, and ability to own outcomes while partnering across technical and business teams.

## Nice-to-haves
- Experience shaping a multi-quarter network roadmap while supporting production operations and changing delivery needs.
- Experience with optical transport and carrier services, including DWDM, wavelengths, dark fiber, and DIA.
- Experience with cloud and virtual WAN architectures such as Azure Virtual WAN and AWS Transit Gateway.
- Experience with campus, data center, colocation, or PoP architecture, interconnects, high-availability design, and operational handoff.
- Experience building internal platforms, self-service workflows, or AI-assisted automation that reduces operational toil.

## Compensation and benefits
- Annual salary range: $293,000–$385,000.
- Hybrid work model with three days in the office per week.
- Relocation assistance is available to new employees.

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