Microsoft

Cloud Network Engineers II / Senior Cloud Network Engineers - Network, Optical & Hybrid Cloud

Microsoft$102K — $202K *
Information Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Master's or Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Optical Engineering, Computer Science, IT, or related field with relevant experience in network design and development.
  • 5+ years of technical experience in network design with preference for candidates with extensive automation skills.
  • Deep knowledge of IPv4/IPv6 and routing protocols including BGP, OSPF, and IS-IS.
  • Hands-on experience with enterprise-grade routing, switching, firewall, and application delivery platforms, including Palo Alto, Cisco, and F5 technologies.
  • Proficiency in automation tools like Python and Ansible, especially in hybrid-cloud environments.

Responsibilities

  • Engineer, design, implement, and operate global routing, switching, optical, and hybrid-cloud network services.
  • Translate security, business, and functional requirements into secure technical architectures.
  • Create and translate architecture into detailed low-level designs for datacenters and Azure-connected environments.
  • Partner with various teams to assess connectivity requests and implement network technologies.
  • Develop automation solutions for provisioning and monitoring at scale, leveraging emerging capabilities.
  • Manage network deployments through continuous-delivery practices, testing and validating changes.
  • Participate in on-call rotations and troubleshoot incidents to enhance service reliability.

Benefits

  • Participation in a unique cloud background check requiring compliance every two years.
  • Opportunities for mentorship and collaboration within cross-functional teams.
  • Access to ongoing development practices including DevOps and engineering quality initiatives.
  • Exposure to cutting-edge technologies and automation techniques.
Full Job Description
Overview

We are hiring for multiple Cloud Network Engineers II and a Senior Cloud Network Engineer for these exciting opportunities in MSD! As a Cloud Network Engineer, you will help design, build, automate, secure, and operate Microsoft's global enterprise network, including routing and switching, optical transport, corporate hybrid-hosting infrastructure, and connectivity between on-premises lab environments and Azure. You will solve complex infrastructure challenges, improve reliability by identifying and eliminating defects, and partner across engineering, security, product, and customer teams to deliver resilient services at scale.

Responsibilities
  • Apply knowledge of enterprise networking, field data, and industry trends to engineer, design, implement, and operate global routing, switching, optical, and hybrid-cloud network services.
  • Translate security, business, availability, and functional requirements into secure technical architectures that balance cost, interoperability, performance, reliability, and operational supportability.
  • Create bills of materials and translate high-level architecture into detailed low-level designs for datacenters, network sites, optical infrastructure, on-premises lab networks, and Azure-connected environments.
  • Partner with security teams, application owners, internal customers, product groups, and service leaders to assess connectivity requests and implement appropriate Azure and network technologies.
  • Design and implement least-privilege hybrid network topologies that connect internal workloads and on-premises environments to Azure compute, networking, and storage services.
  • Participate in design and code reviews, validate solutions against quality and secure-by-design standards, and establish consistent engineering standards across services and workloads.
  • Develop automation for provisioning, deployment, validation, operations, monitoring, and quality at scale using scripting, machine-readable network definitions, and emerging capabilities such as agentic AI.
  • Manage network and optical deployments through continuous-delivery practices; test and validate devices, configurations, and service changes before and after release.
  • Monitor, analyze, debug, and troubleshoot enterprise infrastructure across Layer 2 and Layer 3 networking, routing and switching protocols, transport services, firewalls, load balancers, overlays, and optical systems.
  • Participate in on-call and Designated Responsible Individual (DRI) rotations, customer issue intake, and live-site response for availability, security, and compliance incidents; produce root-cause analyses and drive corrective actions.
  • Improve service reliability by identifying systemic defects, strengthening observability and operational processes, and working with product development teams to enhance platforms and services.
  • Drive adherence to security and compliance objectives while maintaining clear internal and customer-facing documentation, including architecture records, standard operating procedures, and knowledge resources.
  • Plan and support large-scale, geo-distributed, highly available enterprise services and coordinate complex initiatives from design through deployment and operational readiness.
  • Collaborate across interdependent teams, communicate technical information at the appropriate level for each audience, resolve obstacles and conflicts, and align stakeholders around shared outcomes.
  • Mentor engineers, provide and seek actionable feedback, and strengthen team practices in DevOps, live-site response, engineering quality, and continuous improvement.
  • Embody our culture and values.


Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications:
  • Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND 1+ year(s) technical experience in network design, development, and automation OR Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field AND 2+ years technical experience in network design, development, and automation OR equivalent experience.

Other Requirements:
  • Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Preferred/Additional Qualifications:
  • 5+ years of technical experience in network design, development, and automation; or bachelor's degree in a related field and 2+ years of relevant experience; or master's degree in a related field and 1+ year of relevant experience. Advanced-scope candidates may bring 7+ years of experience, including 4+ years with a bachelor's degree, 3+ years with a master's degree, or a doctorate in a related field.
  • 3+ years of enterprise network design and development experience, including hands-on Layer 2 analysis and troubleshooting of TCP/IP routing and switching.
  • Deep knowledge of IPv4/IPv6 and routing protocols such as BGP, OSPF, and IS-IS, including their interaction with MPLS.
  • Working knowledge of MPLS technologies and services, including traffic engineering, segment routing, EVPN, L3VPN, and L2VPN across MPLS backbones.
  • Experience with overlay and resiliency technologies such as VXLAN and MLAG, and with TCP, UDP, and HTTP/S behavior in distributed environments.
  • Hands-on experience with enterprise-grade routing, switching, firewall, and application-delivery platforms; experience with technologies such as Palo Alto Networks and Panorama, Arista, Cisco, and F5 is valued.
  • 3+ years of experience automating network provisioning, deployment, operations, monitoring, or validation. Proficiency with Python and/or Ansible in Linux and Windows environments is preferred; exposure to AI-assisted or agentic automation is beneficial.
  • 3+ years of experience managing enterprise optical transport systems, with working knowledge of DWDM, CWDM, ROADM, OTN, and fiber-characterization technologies such as OTDR, chromatic dispersion, and polarization mode dispersion.
  • Knowledge of network security principles, secure-by-design practices, least-privilege connectivity, and security and compliance controls for enterprise and hybrid-cloud environments.
  • Experience designing or operating hybrid connectivity between on-premises networks and Azure infrastructure services, including compute, networking, and storage.
  • Experience working in agile, highly complex organizations and supporting large-scale, geo-distributed, highly available enterprise services.
  • Program or project management experience planning, designing, deploying, and documenting customer or infrastructure solutions.
  • Demonstrated ability to produce clear technical documentation, standard operating procedures, architecture guidance, and customer-facing knowledge resources.
  • Demonstrated collaboration, communication, incident-management, and mentoring skills, with the ability to influence across teams and drive work to completion in ambiguous environments.


Cloud Network Engineering IC3 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $102,100 - $202,200 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $133,800 - $219,200 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

Cloud Network Engineering IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $160,200 - $261,000 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

About Microsoft

Microsoft is an American multinational corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells a range of software products and services. Microsoft’s devices and consumer (D&C) licensing segment licenses the Windows operating system and related software, Microsoft Office for consumers, and the Windows Phone operating system. The company’s computing and gaming hardware segment provides Xbox gaming and entertainment consoles and accessories, second-party and third-party video games, and Xbox Live subscriptions; surface devices and accessories; and Microsoft PC accessories. Its phone hardware segment offers Lumia smartphones and other non-Lumia phones. Its D&C segment provides Windows Store, Xbox Live transactions, and Windows phone store; search advertising; display advertising; Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal; first-party video games; and other consumer products and services as well as operating retail stores. Microsoft’s commercial licensing segments license server products, including Windows Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Studio, System Center, and related Client Access Licenses (CALs); Windows Embedded; Windows operating system; Microsoft Office for business, including Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, and related CALs; Microsoft Dynamics business solutions; and Skype. Its commercial segment offers enterprise services, including premier support services and Microsoft consulting services; commercial cloud comprising Office 365 Commercial, other Microsoft Office online offerings, Dynamics CRM Online, and Microsoft Azure; and other commercial products and online services. The company markets and distributes its products through original equipment manufacturers, distributors, and resellers, as well as online.

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Learn more about Microsoft
Size
181,000 employees
Market Cap
$1,762.4 billion
Industry
Net Income
$51.3 billion
Founded
1975
5 Year Trend
+15.5%
Revenue
$153.2 billion
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