Distinguished Engineer – Data Center Network Architecture & Engineering
Position Description
As a Distinguished Engineer, you will establish the technical vision and engineering strategy for GEICO's data center network infrastructure. You will define long-term architectural visions, establish standards and reference architectures for data center fabrics, cloud networking, hybrid connectivity, and network security. You will drive technical roadmaps for network modernization, automation, and software-defined infrastructure initiatives. You will evaluate emerging technologies and industry trends to guide strategic investments and platform evolution.
You will lead the architecture and development of highly scalable Layer 3 Clos fabrics, software-defined networking platforms, cloud networking services, and network automation frameworks that enable self-service infrastructure at enterprise scale. You will work closely with cloud, compute, storage, security, and platform engineering teams to build a unified infrastructure architecture focused on resilience, automation, observability, and developer productivity.
Position Responsibilities
Define the long-term architectural vision for GEICO's data center network infrastructure.
Establish standards and reference architectures for data center fabrics, cloud networking, hybrid connectivity, and network security.
Drive technical roadmaps for network modernization, automation, and software-defined infrastructure initiatives.
Evaluate emerging technologies and industry trends to guide strategic investments and platform evolution.
Architect and design large-scale data center network architectures supporting virtualization, container platforms, bare metal infrastructure, and cloud-native applications.
Evolve data center network architectures to support multi-site and multi-region deployments.
Define resiliency, redundancy, and disaster recovery strategies for mission-critical infrastructure.
Lead the design and implementation of software-defined networking capabilities across private cloud and hybrid cloud environments.
Build automated network provisioning and lifecycle management platforms utilizing APIs, Infrastructure-as-Code, and GitOps methodologies.
Develop frameworks for automated network validation, configuration management, compliance enforcement, and operational remediation.
Drive adoption of programmable networking using SmartNICs, DPUs, and open hardware abstraction technologies.
Partner with OpenStack, Kubernetes, Storage, and Platform Engineering teams to deliver integrated cloud networking solutions.
Architect networking solutions supporting Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), AI/ML platforms, and emerging cloud services.
Define connectivity patterns between on-premises infrastructure and public cloud providers.
Enable secure, scalable multi-tenant networking capabilities across cloud platforms.
Lead network performance engineering initiatives to improve throughput, latency, availability, and operational efficiency.
Define observability standards leveraging telemetry, analytics, monitoring, and automated diagnostics.
Partner with cybersecurity teams to implement Zero Trust architectures, segmentation strategies, and cloud-native security controls.
Drive continuous improvement through operational excellence, automation, and resilience engineering.
Serve as the organization's most senior technical authority for network architecture and design.
Mentor Principal, Senior Staff, and Staff Engineers across multiple organizations.
Lead architecture reviews, technical design decisions, and engineering strategy discussions.
Build strong partnerships across Infrastructure, Security, Cloud, and Engineering leadership teams.
Minimum Qualifications
Deep expertise in modern data center networking architectures and large-scale network design.
Advanced understanding of Layer 2/Layer 3 protocols including: BGP, EVPN, VXLAN, ECMP, MPLS, OSPF.
Strong understanding of software-defined networking architectures and network virtualization technologies.
Cloud & Infrastructure Experience designing networking solutions for private, hybrid, and public cloud environments.
Familiarity with OpenStack networking services including Neutron and related networking components.
Experience supporting large-scale virtualized and bare metal environments.
Strong software development skills in one or more of the following: Go, Python, C/C++, Rust, Java.
Experience building automation platforms, APIs, and infrastructure services.
Strong knowledge of Linux system architecture and distributed systems.
Proven ability to troubleshoot complex network performance, availability, and scaling challenges.
Excellent analytical and systems-thinking capabilities.
Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction across multiple engineering organizations.
Exceptional communication and collaboration skills.
Proven track record mentoring senior technical talent and driving organization-wide engineering initiatives.
Preferred Qualifications
15+ years of networking, infrastructure, or cloud engineering experience.
10+ years designing enterprise or hyperscale network architectures.
Experience with open networking technologies and disaggregated network operating systems.
Experience with SmartNICs, DPUs, programmable switches, and hardware acceleration technologies.
Familiarity with Open Compute Project (OCP) networking technologies and Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI).
Experience with large-scale cloud providers or cloud service architectures.
Experience supporting AI/ML, GPU, or high-performance computing networking environments.
Experience implementing Infrastructure-as-Code and GitOps operating models.
Knowledge of Zero Trust networking and network security architectures.