Who are we?

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

We are seeking a highly seasoned Senior Principal Architect to serve as a strategic technical leader within our interconnections organization. This is a highly visible, customer-facing role that combines deep technical expertise, industry thought leadership, and cross-functional influence. You will guide customers in making the right network architecture choices, act as an evangelist for our solutions, and work closely with engineering to shape and evolve our product portfolio.

As a Network provider, we rely on this role to continuously evaluate and refine our own network design, drive architectural best practices, and provide market-backed insights to the SVP and executive team. The ideal candidate has 20+ years of hands-on experience designing and operating real, large-scale customer networks across various verticals.

Responsibilities

Customer Leadership & Evangelism

• Serve as a trusted advisor to strategic customers, guiding them through network architecture decisions, design patterns, and technology adoption

• Act as a technical evangelist—communicating our networking vision, platform capabilities, and roadmap to customers, partners, and industry stakeholders

• Lead executive and architectural conversations to help customers modernize and optimize their networks using our portfolio and best practices

Product & Engineering Partnership

• Work closely with engineering and product leadership to influence product direction, identify gaps, and drive enhancements aligned with real customer needs

• Provide technical validation and architectural input for new features, integrations, and platform extensions

• Translate customer pain points and field insights into actionable product requirements and long-term roadmap considerations

Internal Architecture &  Design

• Evaluate and shape the evolution of our own network architecture as a provider, ensuring scalability, reliability, security, and operational excellence

• Bring industry best practices into our internal design processes and guide architectural decisions across the organization

• Conduct architectural reviews, assess new technologies, and champion standards and design principles across teams

Executive Advisory

• Advise the leadership team and teams on emerging market trends, competitive dynamics, customer priorities, and technology shifts

• Provide thought leadership for strategic initiatives, long-term network strategy, and cross-company architectural alignment

• Represent technical viewpoints in executive discussions and contribute to high-impact go-to-market initiatives

Qualifications

• 10+ years of direct experience designing, deploying, and operating enterprise or service provider networks, ideally across diverse environments and architectures

• Prior experience at a cloud provider, large-scale enterprise in a principal architect role

• Experience with API-driven architectures, network automation frameworks, and modern DevOps practices

• Recognized industry thought leadership

• Deep expertise in networking and cloud technologies

• Demonstrated ability to drive architectural strategy at scale

• Proven track record collaborating with engineering and product teams to shape platform capabilities

• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to translate complex concepts into clear, compelling messages

What Success Looks Like

• Customers and sales view you as a trusted, strategic advisor who materially shapes their network strategy

• Engineering and product teams rely on your guidance to build the right capabilities at the right time

• Our own network architecture becomes more scalable, resilient, and differentiated through your influence

• The executive team gains sharper insight into market needs, competitive positioning, and long-term direction

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

United States - Redwood City Office GHQ : 240,000 - 360,000 USD / Annual

United States - CA Bay Area : 240,000 - 360,000 USD / Annual

United States - CA Non-Bay Area, AK, CT, DC, IL, MD, MA, NJ, NY, VA, WA : 220,000 - 330,000 USD / Annual

United States - Other posted locations not specifically listed : 200,000 - 300,000 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, inclusive, sustainable, connected and efficient. We keep them competitive within the current marketplace to ensure we’re providing you with the best package possible. So, wherever you are in your career and life, you’ll be able to enhance your experience and bring your whole self to work.

Employee Assistance Program: An Employee Assistance program is available to all employees.

US Benefits: - Insurance: You may enroll in health, life, disability and voluntary plans that are designed for you and your eligible family members. - Retirement: You and Equinix may contribute to a retirement plan to help you plan for your financial future. - Paid Time Off (PTO) and Paid Holidays: You will receive an accrued amount of PTO each pay period along with various paid holidays for you to rest and recharge. Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific plan or program terms.

Equinix is committed to ensuring that our employment process is open to all individuals, including those with a disability.  If you are a qualified candidate and need assistance or an accommodation, please let us know by completing this form.

Equinix is an Equal Employment Opportunity and, in the U.S., an Affirmative Action employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to unlawful consideration of race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, place of birth, citizenship, sex, pregnancy / childbirth or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or domestic partnership status, age, veteran or military status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, political / organizational affiliation, status as a victim or family member of a victim of crime or abuse, or any other status protected by applicable law. 

We use artificial intelligence in our hiring process. Learn more here.