Principal Network Engineer, Core42 – United States

About Us

Core42, a leader in AI-powered cloud and digital infrastructure, is driving transformative technology solutions globally. Leveraging advanced resources and partnerships, Core42 empowers clients to harness sovereign AI infrastructure, especially in sectors with stringent regulatory needs. With a mission to redefine digital transformation, we combine sovereign capabilities with scalable, high-performance compute infrastructure, positioning itself at the forefront of AI innovation in the Middle East and beyond.

The opportunity

We are seeking a Principal Network Engineer to lead the design, deployment, and management of high-performance Ethernet-based network fabrics across compute, control plane, and storage domains in large-scale GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) and high-performance computing (HPC) environments. This role is pivotal in building and scaling global GPU platforms that power AI and scientific workloads across petascale and exascale systems. The ideal candidate will bring deep technical expertise in spine-leaf architectures, RDMA over Ethernet (RoCE), multicast optimization, ZTP automation, and network observability, as well as a strategic mindset to influence infrastructure direction worldwide.

Your key responsibilities

Architecture & Design

• Lead the design of high-bandwidth, low-latency Ethernet fabrics to support GPU compute clusters, distributed storage systems, and critical control plane services.
• Architect resilient and scalable leaf-spine or Clos topologies with 100/200/400/800GbE switching and multi-tier data center fabrics.
• Define physical and logical network topologies for compute (East-West), control plane (North-South), and storage networks, ensuring isolation and security boundaries are maintained.
• Evaluate and integrate emerging technologies including SONiC, DPU-based offloads, PFC/ECN tuning, and Ethernet MACsec.

Operations & Reliability

• Oversee global Ethernet fabric operations including monitoring, fault resolution, capacity management, and firmware lifecycle.
• Drive zero-touch provisioning (ZTP), CI/CD pipelines for switch configs, and configuration as code (e.g., using AVD, NAPALM, Ansible).
• Implement and maintain BGP EVPN, VXLAN, or VLAN-based transport models based on workload profiles and isolation needs.
• Participate in incident response and root cause analysis of large-scale networking events in a 24/7 mission-critical environment.

Collaboration & Leadership

• Collaborate with compute, storage, SRE, and security teams to design integrated infrastructure that supports high-density GPU deployments.
• Guide and mentor a team of network engineers and support staff in project delivery and operational excellence.
• Represent the networking domain in technical steering committees, design reviews, and customer escalations.

What we’re looking for

Required skills / qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience in large-scale data center networking, preferably in HPC, cloud-scale AI, or GPUaaS platforms.
• Deep expertise in Ethernet fabrics, particularly with RoCEv2, multicast, ECMP, MLAG, and spine-leaf topologies.
• Extensive experience with switches from Arista, Juniper, Nvidia/Mellanox (Spectrum-X), Broadcom-based platforms, etc.
• Fluency in L2/L3 protocols (BGP, OSPF, EVPN, VXLAN), QoS tuning (PFC, ECN), and multicast optimization.
• Strong scripting/automation skills in Python, Ansible, or similar, and infrastructure-as-code approaches to network configuration.
• Demonstrated success building redundant, high-throughput (Tbps-scale) networks for AI model training, distributed compute, and RDMA-backed storage systems.

Preferred skills / qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience in large-scale data center networking, preferably in HPC, cloud-scale AI, or GPUaaS platforms.
• Deep expertise in Ethernet fabrics, particularly with RoCEv2, multicast, ECMP, MLAG, and spine-leaf topologies.
• Extensive experience with switches from Arista, Juniper, Nvidia/Mellanox (Spectrum-X), Broadcom-based platforms, etc.
• Fluency in L2/L3 protocols (BGP, OSPF, EVPN, VXLAN), QoS tuning (PFC, ECN), and multicast optimization.
• Strong scripting/automation skills in Python, Ansible, or similar, and infrastructure-as-code approaches to network configuration.
• Demonstrated success building redundant, high-throughput (Tbps-scale) networks for AI model training, distributed compute, and RDMA-backed storage systems.

The U.S. base salary range for this full-time role is $190K to $230K, with bonus, LTIP and benefits on top. Salary ranges are set according to the role, level, and location. The range listed on each job posting represents the minimum and maximum target salary for new hires across all U.S. locations. Actual pay within this range will depend on factors such as the specific work location, job-related skills, experience and relevant education or training.

What working at Core42 offers

With a diverse team of 1,100+ employees from 68 nationalities, we foster an inclusive, innovative and collaborative environment. At Core42, we foster a culture grounded in trust, accountability and high performance. We are united by our values: Grit, where we overcome challenges with resilience and determination, Passion, which drives us to pursue excellence in everything we do, and Impact, as we aim to inspire progress and create meaningful change. Our team members thrive in an environment where each person’s contributions propel us forward, and together, we commit to achieving extraordinary results.

Core42 is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. As an equal opportunity employer, Core42 does not discriminate based on race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age or any other legally protected status. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), we provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the application and employment process. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please contact us on reasonableaccommodations@core42.com  including the role you’re applying for and the accommodation necessary to assist you with the recruiting process.