Lead Network Engineer

Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions. By collaborating with hyperscalers and ecosystem partners, Astera Labs enables organizations to unlock the full potential of modern AI. Astera Labs’ Intelligent Connectivity Platform integrates CXL®, Ethernet, NVLink, PCIe®, and UALink™ semiconductor-based technologies with the company’s COSMOS software suite to unify diverse components into cohesive, flexible systems that deliver end-to-end scale-up, and scale-out connectivity. The company’s custom connectivity solutions business complements its standards-based portfolio, enabling customers to deploy tailored architectures to meet their unique infrastructure requirements. Discover more at .

Job Title: Lead Network Engineer

Experience: 8–14 Years
Location: Bengaluru
Employment Type: Full-time

Job Summary

We are looking for an experienced and proactive Network Engineer with hands-on experience in designing, implementing, maintaining, and troubleshooting enterprise network infrastructure. The ideal candidate should have strong expertise in routing, switching, firewalls, network security, wireless technologies, cloud and data center networking. This role requires collaboration with cross-functional teams to ensure a secure, scalable, and highly available network environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement, configure, and support enterprise LAN, WAN, WLAN, and Cloud data center networks.
• Configure and troubleshoot Layer 2 and Layer 3 networking technologies.
• Manage routing protocols such as BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, and static routing.
• Configure and maintain Cisco, Juniper, Arista, or equivalent networking devices.
• Implement and support network security solutions, including firewalls, VPNs, IDS/IPS, and NAC.
• Monitor network performance and proactively identify and resolve issues.
• Perform network capacity planning, optimization, and performance tuning.
• Support high availability, redundancy, and disaster recovery initiatives.
• Work with cloud networking technologies (AWS, Azure, or GCP) to establish secure connectivity.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, security, and application teams during deployments and upgrades.
• Prepare and maintain network documentation, diagrams, and standard operating procedures.
• Participate in on-call support and major incident management when required.

Required Skills

• Strong understanding of TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, NAT, VLANs, STP, HSRP/VRRP, QoS, MPLS, and VPN technologies.
• Hands-on experience with enterprise routing and switching.
• Hands-on experience managing both on-prem and Cloud Network technologies (AWS preferred).
• Expertise in routing protocols including BGP, OSPF, and EIGRP.
• Experience configuring and managing firewalls such as Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco or Check Point.
• Experience with SASE (SSE, SD-WAN) technologies is preferred.
• Knowledge of wireless networking solutions and controllers.
• Strong troubleshooting skills using tools such as Wireshark, SolarWinds, or similar network monitoring platforms.
• Familiarity with network automation using Python, Ansible, or REST APIs is an advantage.
• Exposure to cloud networking concepts and hybrid network architectures.
• Good understanding of network security best practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Electronics, or a related field.
• Industry certifications such as CCNP, CCIE, JNCIP, PCNSE, NSE 4/5, AWS Advanced Networking, or Azure Network Engineer are highly preferred.
• Experience working in enterprise or managed services environments.
• Strong analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills.

Nice to Have

• Experience with Cisco ACI or VMware NSX.
• Knowledge of load balancers .
• Experience with NAC solutions such as Cisco ISE.
• Exposure to Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) and DevOps practices.
• Knowledge of monitoring and observability platforms.

What We're Looking For

• Strong ownership and accountability.
• Excellent troubleshooting and incident management skills.
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in a team environment.
• Effective communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

We know that creativity and innovation happen more often when teams include diverse ideas, backgrounds, and experiences, and we actively encourage everyone with relevant experience to apply, including people of color, LGBTQ+ and non-binary people, veterans, parents, and individuals with disabilities.