Data Center Network Architect

Apple - Sunnyvale, CA

Full-time - Senior

Sunnyvale, CA

Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing

About the position

The Data Center Network Architect role at Apple involves designing and operationalizing innovative network infrastructure solutions for Apple's global data centers. This position is critical in ensuring the reliability, security, and performance of Apple's network services, which support billions of customers. The architect will collaborate with various teams to influence and implement Apple's future network vision, focusing on large-scale systems and distributed architecture.

Responsibilities

• Build and operationalize innovative products and solutions for hyper-scale network infrastructure.
• Collaborate with network architects to realize Apple's future network vision.
• Meet with vendors and draft RFPs for network solutions.
• Qualify software and hardware for network deployment.
• Develop integration plans and influence hardware design decisions.
• Work closely with other Infrastructure teams to ensure cohesive network operations.

Requirements

• Expert-level routing and switching mastery.
• In-depth understanding of switching ASICs from multiple providers.
• Understanding of multi-vendor & open source network operating system architecture and design.
• Sophisticated knowledge of TCP/IP, routing protocols, and large scale network features.
• Familiarity with network performance tuning and optimization.
• Deep technical background in network-layer security mechanisms.
• Cloud-scale networking background.
• Experience deploying and scaling overlay networking technologies (VXLAN, GRE, IPSec, etc).
• Familiarity with data center structured cabling, fiber plant, power, and cooling.

Nice-to-haves

• 10+ years experience in building, securing, and deploying large scale data center network environments.
• Engineering leadership experience.
• Self-starter, self-motivated, self-directed, and self-sufficient.
• Demonstrates consistent technical, organizational, and industry-level awareness.
• Technical presentation and communication skills for diverse audiences.
• Experience with tooling development and software development lifecycle.
• Proficiency in one or more software languages (Swift, Golang, Python, etc).
• Extensive understanding of public & private cloud networking architecture & compute virtualization technologies.
• Practical knowledge of high-performance compute and artificial intelligence networking.
• Experience with configuration management platforms (Puppet, Ansible, Salt, Chef, etc).