Distinguished Engineer, Networking

Who are we?

Equinix is the world’s digital infrastructure company®, shortening the path to connectivity to enable the innovations that enrich our work, life and planet.

A place where tech thinkers and future builders turn bold ideas into breakthrough experiences, we welcome your unique perspective.

Help us challenge assumptions, uncover bias, and remove barriers—because progress starts with fresh ideas. You’ll find belonging, purpose, and a team that welcomes you—because when you feel valued, you’re empowered to do your best work.

Job Summary

Equinix is seeking a world-class Distinguished Engineer, Networking to help define the architecture of one of the world's most interconnected digital infrastructure platforms.

This is the most senior individual contributor role within the Network Architecture organization and serves as the technical counterpart to leadership. The Distinguished Engineer is the person trusted to solve the hardest architectural problems in the company, challenge assumptions before they become production issues, and raise the technical bar across the global engineering organization.

This leader will shape the future of Equinix's network architecture across optical transport, software-defined interconnection, AI-native infrastructure, intent-driven networking, and cloud-scale routing. They will work directly with Product, Engineering, Operations, strategic customers, and hyperscale partners to build the technical foundation for the next generation of interconnection services.

Why This Role Matters

Equinix is executing several major architectural shifts simultaneously.

Fabric One introduces intent-driven, any-to-any connectivity built on open APIs and deep integration with cloud providers.

Fabric Intelligence enables AI agents to provision, optimize, and manage network infrastructure autonomously.

Fabric Geo Zones introduces jurisdiction-aware data paths where data sovereignty becomes a property of the network itself, not merely an application-level policy.

The platform already connects more than 10,500 businesses, 3,000 cloud and IT providers, and eight of the world's ten largest AI model providers. Because Equinix operates as a neutral interconnection platform, this role designs not for a single cloud or ecosystem—but for the broader Internet itself.

Responsibilities

Architect the Future of Interconnection

Define the architecture for the network that powers the Equinix Interconnection portfolio, including:

Equinix Fabric

Fabric Cloud Router

Metro Connect

Internet Exchange

Network Edge

Future intent-driven and AI-enabled networking services

Develop architectural patterns that support current products while providing the foundation for future innovation across the company.

Shape the Next Generation of Networking

Serve as a lead architect behind:

Fabric One: Design the network architecture behind intent-driven connectivity where applications and infrastructure consume network services through software

Fabric Intelligence: Create the networking foundation for AI-native operations where intelligent agents provision, optimize, diagnose, and heal infrastructure autonomously

Fabric Geo Zones: Develop architectures that enforce geographic and regulatory boundaries across global infrastructure environments and sovereign jurisdictions

Own the Hardest Technical Problems

Lead architectural decisions spanning Layers 0 through 3, including:

Coherent optics

DWDM

OTN

ROADMs

Optical transport

IP/MPLS

BGP at hyperscale

Software-defined networking

Control plane architecture

Provide technical leadership on vendor decisions, technology bets, standards adoption, architecture reviews, and long-range platform evolution.

Turn Strategy into Reality

Build proof-of-concepts, validate new technologies, evaluate tradeoffs, and translate architectural concepts into production recommendations

Partner closely with Product, Engineering, and Operations to ensure roadmap priorities are technically sound, scalable, and operationally viable

Influence Industry Direction

Represent Equinix externally with:

Strategic customers

Hyperscalers

AI infrastructure providers

Industry standards organizations

Technical conferences

Strategic technology partners

Serve as a trusted technical voice with CTOs, VPs Engineering, and senior architects across the global infrastructure ecosystem.

Elevate Engineering Excellence

Mentor senior and principal engineers across the organization

Create architectural standards, reusable design patterns, review mechanisms, and technical practices that improve engineering quality across the company

What Success Looks Like

The Distinguished Engineer will:

Define architectures that scale with the future of Equinix

Influence the technical direction of Fabric One, Fabric Intelligence, and Fabric Geo Zones

Help establish Equinix as a leader in software-defined and AI-native interconnection

Improve architectural quality, reliability, and scalability across the network platform

Drive strategic technology decisions that shape the company's next decade

Raise the technical capability of the entire architecture organization

Become a recognized technical authority both inside and outside Equinix

Qualifications

15+ years designing, building, and operating large-scale network infrastructure

Experience operating at cloud scale within:

AWS

Microsoft Azure

Google Cloud

Oracle Cloud

Equivalent hyperscale environments

Large-scale carrier or exchange networks

Expert-level knowledge of:

Optical transport

DWDM

OTN

Coherent networking

ROADMs

IP/MPLS

BGP

SDN and control-plane architectures

Proven ability to influence architecture decisions across large engineering organizations

Exceptional problem-solving skills with the ability to operate equally comfortably at:

Executive strategy level

Whiteboard architecture level

Protocol and packet-debugging level

As one engineer described it:

"Can write the RFC and debug the packet capture."

Preferred Qualifications

Experience designing infrastructure for AI training and distributed inference workloads

Experience with carrier-neutral interconnection, peering, IXPs, or cloud exchange platforms

Familiarity with network-as-code, intent-driven networking, and autonomous infrastructure systems

Understanding of data sovereignty architectures and jurisdiction-aware traffic engineering

Contributions to standards bodies, patents, open-source initiatives, publications, or major industry platforms

Why Join Equinix

Most networking roles optimize an existing system

This role helps define the next one

Equinix sits at the intersection of clouds, networks, enterprises, AI providers, and digital ecosystems worldwide. The Distinguished Engineer will help determine how these environments connect, how they evolve, and how infrastructure becomes increasingly intelligent, autonomous, and software-defined

The targeted pay range for this position in the following location is / locations are:

United States - Redwood City Office GHQ : 269,000 - 403,000 USD / Annual

Our pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum target for new hire pay for the full-time position determined by role, level, and location. The pay range shown is based on our compensation structure in place at the time of posting and may be updated periodically based on business needs. Individual pay is based on additional factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education and/or training.

The targeted pay range listed reflects the base pay only and does not include bonus, equity, or benefits. Employees are eligible for bonus, and equity may be offered depending on the position.

Equinix Benefits

As an employee, you become important to Equinix’s success. We ensure all your benefits are in line with our core values: competitive, inclu