OpenAI
Network Operations Engineer, Network Activation
About this role
Join OpenAI's compute infrastructure team to own the full lifecycle of WAN, fiber, and cloud-interconnect circuit activation. You'll troubleshoot Layer 1 issues, coordinate with carriers and cloud providers, and build automation to bring network connections from provisioning to stable production handoff.
What you'll do
- Own Layer 1 activation and troubleshooting for carrier circuits, dark fiber, wavelengths, and cloud interconnects across data centers
- Reconcile complete A-side/Z-side as-builts including circuit IDs, demarcations, patch-panel positions, optics, and device ports
- Investigate no-light, low-light, link-flap, and error-rate issues using optical testing tools and provider collaboration
- Guide remote hands and technicians through targeted inspection, cleaning, loopback tests, and optical power verification
- Verify service acceptance and Layer 2/3 handoff readiness with correct speeds, FEC compatibility, and stable links
- Build automation workflows that structure circuit data, ingest telemetry, and generate technician-ready instructions with human approval gates
What they're looking for
- Layer 1 optical transport troubleshooting
- Single-mode/multimode fiber and connector knowledge (LC, MPO/MTP)
- Optical testing tools (VFL, OLTS/OTDR, optical power meters, DOM/DDM)
- Circuit tracing across patch panels, cross-connects, and provider demarcations
- Carrier, AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute, and Google Cloud Interconnect experience
- Scripting and API-based automation
- 100G/400G/800G optics and power budget analysis
- Data structuring and LLM-assisted workflow development
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OpenAI
OpenAI builds AI infrastructure and products, including large-scale data center campuses for AI computing and generative AI applications for enterprise customers. The company is hiring civil engineers, project engineers, electrical design engineers, data center R&D engineers, and AI deployment engineers to expand its infrastructure capabilities and help customers deploy AI solutions.
View all jobs at OpenAILikely interview questions
- Walk us through a time you debugged a Layer 1 circuit issue—what testing tools did you use and how did you isolate the root cause?
- Describe your experience with multi-party ownership gaps when troubleshooting circuits across carriers and cloud providers—how did you drive resolution?