Network Infrastructure Engineer, Global Network Infra (WAN)

About the Team OpenAI's Global Network Infrastructure team is responsible for building and operating the global network backbone that connects our rapidly expanding compute infrastructure. Our work enables reliable, high-performance connectivity across data centers, cloud service providers, and network points of presence (PoPs), supporting the infrastructure behind OpenAI's research and products. As OpenAI continues to scale its compute footprint globally, we are expanding our network infrastructure to meet increasing demands for capacity, reliability, and operational efficiency. Our team works across physical network design, carrier connectivity, network deployment, and operational troubleshooting to deliver resilient infrastructure at exceptional scale. About the Role We are looking for a hands-on Network Infrastructure Engineer to help design, deploy, activate, and operate OpenAI's global wide area network (WAN) infrastructure. In this role, you will take direct ownership of bringing new network connectivity online, working closely with fiber providers, cloud service providers, and internal infrastructure teams to establish reliable connectivity across our global backbone. You will be involved in everything from physical network design and circuit provisioning to troubleshooting complex connectivity issues across Layer 1, Layer 2, and Layer 3. You will play a critical role in expanding our network footprint, bringing new PoPs online, and ensuring that our infrastructure operates reliably as OpenAI continues to grow. We're looking for engineers who enjoy working close to the infrastructure, thrive on solving difficult networking problems, and bring an automation-first mindset to scaling network operations. In This Role, You Will: - Design, deploy, and support WAN infrastructure across data centers, network PoPs, and cloud connectivity environments. - Own the end-to-end activation and turn-up of network circuits, working directly with fiber carriers and cloud service providers to establish and validate connectivity. - Troubleshoot complex network issues across physical, Layer 2, and Layer 3 infrastructure, including optical signal problems, FEC errors, routing issues, and connectivity failures. - Diagnose and isolate network failures across carrier, cloud provider, and internal infrastructure boundaries, driving issues through resolution. - Contribute to physical network infrastructure design, including port mappings, fiber and cable layouts, optical distribution frames (ODFs), and connectivity planning. - Monitor network health, circuit utilization, and performance to proactively identify capacity constraints and reliability risks. - Build automation and tooling to streamline network provisioning, deployment validation, troubleshooting, and operational workflows. - Collaborate with network engineering, data center infrastructure, and external service providers to support the expansion of OpenAI's global backbone. - Participate in an on-call rotation to maintain the reliability and availability of critical network infrastructure. You Might Thrive in This Role If You: - Have hands-on experience deploying, activating, and troubleshooting WAN circuits with telecommunications carriers, fiber providers, or cloud service providers. - Have a strong understanding of networking fundamentals, including optical networking, Ethernet, TCP/IP, BGP, and Layer 2/3 connectivity. - Are comfortable debugging network issues across multiple layers, from physical fiber connectivity and optical errors to routing and traffic forwarding. - Have experience working with data center networking, carrier infrastructure, cloud interconnects, or large-scale WAN environments. - Understand physical network infrastructure conce