Cloud Network Engineer – Optical Network Agents & Workflow Automation

The Global Azure Optical Network Team is dedicated to operational excellence in managing and automating this expansive optical network, which powers all Microsoft services, including Azure cloud infrastructure, global GPU-driven workloads, and critical internet connectivity for millions of users worldwide. Our team is growing and we are looking for a Cloud Network Engineer. You will directly contribute to the automation and operational management of one of the largest and most sophisticated fiber-optic networks in the world. This network supports everything from cloud services and AI workloads to Microsoft’s core offerings such as Teams, Xbox, Office, Bing, and Azure AI models including OpenAi. You will specifically focus on developing and deploying advanced AI agents and platforms that automate global datacenter fiber operations, fiber maintenance processes, repairs, hardware diagnostics, and recovery from network failures. Your work will directly influence how efficiently and reliably Azure’s optical infrastructure scales to meet exponentially increasing global demands.

We leverage cutting-edge platforms like Temporal and continuously innovate to build powerful AI-driven automation systems. This role offers a unique opportunity for smart, technically ambitious engineers to transition from foundational engineering work into groundbreaking, AI-centric network automation, where your contributions have immediate global impact.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Please note this application is only for roles based in our Redmond, Washington office. For roles in other offices in the United States, please see our Careers site .

Responsibilities

• Be willing to develop hands-on knowledge of optical networking, including troubleshooting real-world network problems.
• Participate in on-call rotations to manage and operate our software platforms that power the optical network.
• Design, build, and optimize AI agents and develop prompt-based automation strategies for optical network management.
• Contribute to the enhancement and development of the internal AI agent automation platform.
• Design intuitive interfaces for managing and operating a fleet of AI agents, ensuring scalability and ease of use.
• Evaluate and validate that workflows and AI agent scenarios comprehensively resolve operational issues, directly improving customer experiences.
• Collaborate effectively with software engineers and operations teams to write robust, maintainable code and continually enhance automation systems.
• Develops knowledge of network technologies to draw insights that aid in network design, implementation, and operation.
• Assists in the design of reliable, scalable, and high-performance network features or components with guidance from other engineers.
• Monitors network telemetry and performs basic analyses to triangulate failures, with guidance from other engineers; makes suggestions on possible improvements to monitoring based on observations.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or related field.
  • OR 2+ years technical experience in network design, development, and automation.
  
  

Other Requirements:

• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:
  • 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 Qualifications:

• 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 Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
  • OR 5+ years technical experience in network design, development, and automation.
  
  
• Experience with AI agent platforms, Temporal workflow orchestration, or similar automation frameworks.
• Experience or interest in optical networking or global network operations.

Cloud Network Engineering IC2 – The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $81,900 – $160,200 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 $105,600 – $174,600 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

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until May 13th, 2025.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, natioal origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.

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