Sr Network Engineer

Rakuten International is a division of Rakuten Group, Inc., a Japanese global technology leader in services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Headquartered in San Mateo, California with more than 4,000 employees worldwide, the Rakuten International business portfolio includes market leaders in e-commerce, digital marketing, advertising, communications and entertainment. We create products and services that provide exceptional value by aligning members and the businesses that want to engage them in a shared community.

In this role, you will be responsible for designing, implementing, and managing the organization's network infrastructure to ensure reliable and secure connectivity. You will configure and maintain routers, switches, firewalls, and other network devices, optimizing performance and troubleshooting issues as they arise. Your role includes monitoring network traffic, performing upgrades, and collaborating with IT teams to align network architecture with business needs.

• Network Architecture & Design:
  Lead the design and implementation of highly available, secure, scalable network solutions across LAN, WAN, Data Center, and Cloud environments; ensure solutions integrate with existing systems and support future growth.
• Operational Assessment & Optimization:
  Assess network infrastructure and operational processes to identify optimization opportunities and risk reduction; regularly review performance and implement improvements to maintain high availability and security.
• Advanced Troubleshooting & RCA:
  Act as the SME for complex network incidents—perform root cause analysis, implement permanent fixes, and proactively address performance bottlenecks and capacity constraints.
• Network Security & Zero Trust / ZTNA:
  Design, implement, and manage security solutions including NGFW, IDS/IPS, VPN (IPsec/SSL), NAC, and DDoS mitigation; lead Zero Trust / ZTNA implementations and optimization, including Zscaler ZIA/ZPA, ensuring alignment with security policies and industry standards.
• Cloud Networking:
  Architect, deploy, and manage public-cloud networking (e.g., AWS VPC, Azure VNet, GCP) including Direct Connect/Express Route, Transit Gateways, and other cloud-native networking capabilities.
• Routing, Switching & WAN Technologies:
  Provide expert hands‑on leadership for advanced routing (BGP/OSPF/EIGRP), MPLS, SD‑WAN (e.g., Cisco Viptela/Meraki, Forti Manager), and high-performance switching platforms (e.g., Cisco Nexus, Arista).
• Automation & Orchestration:
  Drive network automation initiatives using Python/Ansible and network automation platforms to streamline configuration, deployment, and operational tasks.
• Load Balancing & Application Delivery:
  Design and manage ADCs/load balancers (e.g., F5 BIG‑IP, Citrix ADC, NGINX) to ensure application high availability and performance.
• Monitoring, Observability & Analytics:
  Implement and manage monitoring/logging platforms (e.g., Solar Winds, PRTG, Splunk, ELK Stack) to proactively detect issues, analyze performance, and produce actionable insights.
• Program/Project Leadership & Delivery:
  Provide technical leadership on large‑scale network initiatives—coordinate across teams, manage timelines/resources, and ensure deliverables meet operational and compliance standards.
• Standards, Best Practices & Documentation:
  Develop and maintain network architecture documentation, standards, best practices, configurations, procedures, and diagrams; continuously refine processes to improve service delivery and consistency across projects.
• Mentorship & Leadership:
  Mentor junior engineers, share troubleshooting/design best practices, and lead technical initiatives from conception through completion.
• Vendor Management:
  Partner with vendors for technology evaluation, procurement, and support/escalations.

• Routing & Switching:
  Expert BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, MPLS, VRF, QoS; SD‑WAN (Cisco Viptela/Meraki, Forti Manager, Silver Peak);
  Network OS (Cisco IOS‑XE/XR, NX‑OS; Juniper Junos; Arista EOS);
  Data center switching (Cisco Nexus, Arista, Juniper QFX).
• Network Security: NGFW (Palo Alto, Cisco FTD, Forti Gate); IDS/IPS; VPN…