Principal Network Engineer - Optical Engineering

About the role

The Principal Optical Engineer will join Oracle’s Optical Network Engineering team, responsible for building and scaling Oracle’s Optical Transport Network. The role focuses on engineering, development, and field deployment of optical transport solutions and systems, directly impacting the delivery of optical capacity and engineering solutions to support Oracle’s cloud and AI infrastructure. Key objectives include providing metro optical transport solutions, driving down equipment and service costs, training teams on optical system deployment and operation, and ensuring network availability and uptime.

Responsibilities

• Lead network lifecycle management programs by defining 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 cross-functional teams and serve as a technical subject-matter expert in 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 with multiple service layers and complex interactions.
• Partner with service teams to ensure solutions are supported through monitoring, automation, and operational readiness.
• Act as a Tier 3 or specialized escalation point for network incidents, including break-fix support during large-scale events.
• Serve 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 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 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 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 requirements.

Qualifications

• 6–10+ years of network infrastructure engineering in optics and optical systems.
• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering; Master’s degree preferred.
• Experience with datacenter engineering cabling preferred.
• Product lifecycle management experience a plus.
• Testing and qualification background a plus.
• Python coding and scripting experience a plus.

Preferred experience, characteristics, and leadership skills

• High-energy, strategic, and technical leadership with a performance-based track record.
• Balance of strategic and tactical skills with intellectual agility and original thought.
• Outstanding communicator who can write, present, and tailor messages to diverse audiences.
• Proven ability to collaborate across groups in large, sophisticated environments.
• 10–15 years of industry experience, including at least five years of relevant cloud experience.
• Clear and compelling communication; willingness to offer intellectual thought.
• Analytical and instinctual decision-making; uses data and common sense.
• Deep understanding of cloud technology, business, and operations with actionable recommendations.

Network Engineering Expertise & Experience

• Core networking: Advanced knowledge of L2/L3/L4, IP addressing/subnetting, BGP/OSPF/IS-IS, EVPN/VXLAN, ECMP, QoS, NAT; 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.