Principal Network Engineer - Optical Engineering

Description

The Principal Optical Engineer will be joining the Optical Network Engineering team which is responsible for building and scaling Oracle's Optical Transport Network. The team is focused on engineering and development, as well as FOA deployment of optical transport solutions and systems. The successful candidate will have a direct impact on our top priority of delivering optical capacity and engineering solutions to support Oracle's cloud and Al infrastructure to provide metro optical transport solutions in support of the needs of the network. To continue to drive down costs for equipment and services for metro and optics. To train other teams to deploy and operate optical systems. To provide operations support to ensure availability and uptime of the metro optical network.

Responsibilities

• Lead network lifecycle management programs by defining high-level objectives, delivery procedures, technical milestones, and supporting tasks.
• Serve as a technical lead for moderately complex projects, coordinating the work of two to three engineers as needed.
• Advise project and program managers while coordinating with immediate and skip-level leadership.
• Collaborate with teams across the organization and serve as a technical subject-matter expert in cross-functional initiatives.
• Own technical project requirements, specifications, designs, and documentation.
• Decompose high-level network architectures into detailed, scalable solution designs.
• Lead engineers in developing network solutions comprising multiple service layers and complex interactions.
• Partner with service teams to ensure solutions are fully supported through monitoring, automation, and operational readiness processes.
• Serve as a Tier 3 or specialized escalation point for network incidents, including break-fix support during large-scale events.
• Act as the primary technical contact for driving systematic resolution of complex network issues and leading root-cause analysis efforts.
• Develop scripts and automation to streamline complex or non-traditional operational tasks.
• Lead or contribute to network automation design and delivery initiatives, applying a strong understanding of the software development lifecycle.
• Provide technical guidance, coaching, and focused development support to junior and senior technical staff.
• Conduct technical coaching sessions and help junior team members build relevant technical and professional skills.
• Collaborate with vendor engineering teams and account managers to resolve current business and operational issues.
• Participate in the development of RFQs and RFPs and support the evaluation and adoption of new vendor hardware and technology.
• Maintain active communication with product teams, network leadership, and the PMO to identify gaps, assess solutions, and align technology investments with product and service requirements.

Qualifications

• 6-10+ years network infrastructure engineering in optics and optical
• Bachelors in Electrical Engineering, Masters preferred
• Experience with datacenter engineering cabling preferred
• Product Lifecycle management a huge plus
• Testing and Qualification background also a plus

• Python coding and scripting is a also a big plus

Preferred personal experience, characteristics and leadership skills:

You might be a good fit if you're a high-energy, strategic and technical leader, possessing a good sense of organizational timeliness with a performance-based track record of success.

• A balance of strategic and tactical skills, with a high-level of intellectual agility and capacity for original thought.
• An outstanding communicator who can write, present, and effectively adjust messages to meet individual audiences and organizations.
• A consistent record to navigate and effectively collaborate with other groups and resources in large, sophisticated environments.
• Ten to Fifteen years of industry experience, of which five or more years of relevant cloud experience.
• Communicates and Influences: Clearly communicates information and ideas to individuals and teams in an eloquent, focused and compelling way. Willing to offer intellectual thought.
• Analytical and Instinctual: Compares information from various sources to identify core issues. Uses data to make decisions but also understands that instinct plays a part in innovating. Always uses good common sense.
• Possesses Business Insight: Deep understanding of cloud technology, business and operations with the ability to draw from personal experience to make recommendations.
• Career Level - Senior level providing optical design, development, modification and evaluation of electronic, electro-mechanical or mechanical components, assemblies or integrated circuitry for hardware systems for the external market. Includes new design, as well as modification activities that results in significant product enhancement. Activities encompass design, analysis, testing and process development using engineering principles and methods. Technical subject areas may include electrical and logical design of printed circuit boards or integrated circuits; mechanical design of electronics enclosures or integrated circuit packaging; and embedded software/firmware design. It may encompass operational support at the Tier 3 level as well as product lifecycle management to include SW releases and feature development.
  #LI-CG2

Qualifications

Minimum Job Qualifications

Education and/or Experience:

11 years of experience in Network Engineering or related field

OR

Bachelor's of Technology (B.Tech) Degree/Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Mechnical Engineering, Computer Information Systems, Information Systems, Information Technology, Telecommunications, Mathematics, Physics, or related field AND 7 years of experience in network Engineering

OR

Master's of Technology (M.Tech) Degree/Master's Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Mechnical Engineering, Computer Information Systems, Information Systems, Information Technology, Telecommunications, Mathematics, Physics, or related field AND 5 year of experience in nework engineering or related field. 

OR

Doctorate in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Mechnical Engineering, Computer Information Systems, Information Systems, Information Technology, Telecommunications, Mathematics, Physics, or related field and 3 years of experience in nework engineering or related field.

Preferred Job Qualifications

Education and/or Experience:

11 years of experience in Network Engineering or related field

OR

Bachelor's of Technology (B.Tech) Degree/Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Mechnical Engineering, Computer Information Systems, Information Systems, Information Technology, Telecommunications, Mathematics, Physics, or related field AND 7 years of experience in network Engineering

OR

Master's of Technology (M.Tech) Degree/Master's Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Mechnical Engineering, Computer Information Systems, Information Systems, Information Technology, Telecommunications, Mathematics, Physics, or related field AND 5 year of experience in nework engineering or related field. 

OR

Doctorate in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Mechnical Engineering, Computer Information Systems, Information Systems, Information Technology, Telecommunications, Mathematics, Physics, or related field and 3 years of experience in nework engineering or related field.

Network Engineering Expertise & Experience:

Core networking: Advanced knowledge of L2/L3/L4, IP addressing/subnetting, BGP/OSPF/IS-IS, EVPN/VXLAN, ECMP, QoS, NAT; strong DNS/DHCP fundamentals; IPv6 design and transition patterns.

Cloud networking: Proficiency with VPC/VNet, route tables, NAT gateways, PrivateLink/service endpoints, transit/peering, hybrid and inter-cloud connectivity; L4/L7 load balancing and service insertion.

Security and compliance: Zero-trust segmentation, ACLs/policies, IPsec/TLS, DDoS/WAF patterns; familiarity with audit frameworks and evidence practices; change/access control rigor.

Automation and IaC: Terraform and Ansible at module/playbook level; Git and CI/CD; scripting (e.g., Python); API-driven platforms; policy-as-code, unit/integration testing, and automated validation.

Observability: Designing and operationalizing SNMP/telemetry, NetFlow/IPFIX, flow logs; SLI/SLO definition; capacity modeling and performance tuning.

Operations: Seasoned in incident management, on-call, RCAs, and structured change management; able to lead complex maintenance events.

Collaboration and communication: Clear technical writing, effective reviews, and the ability to influence related teams; comfort presenting trade-offs to stakeholders.

Problem solving and innovation: Uses judgment on multi-variable problems; leads small-scale innovation/improvement initiatives; evaluates alternatives and fallout to ensure safe adoption.