Network Architect

Firmus Technologies Firmus Technologies is a global leader pioneering the development and operation of efficient AI infrastructure across Asia Pacific. Founded in Australia in 2019, our mission is to create the most efficient AI infrastructure by combining cutting-edge technology with a steadfast commitment to sustainability. At Firmus, we are unique in our approach. We design, build, and operate a new class of digital infrastructure – the AI Factory. Through our model-to-grid technology approach, we have pushed the boundaries of multi-generational liquid cooling systems, energy management, AI software orchestration, and construction. For our customers Firmus AI Cloud Our large-scale GPU cloud platform, Firmus AI Cloud, is purpose-built to deliver energy-efficient AI compute at scale to customers. It empowers developers, enterprises, educational institutions, and government users to train and deploy AI models with unmatched efficiency and cost savings. With an ever-growing suite of services and applications, we are committed to delivering a cloud experience that is market-leading, proprietary, and built to scale. Role Summary Firmus is seeking a skilled Network Architect / Senior Network Architect to join our Engineering and Technology team. The ideal candidate will play a crucial role in leading the design and deployment of both our physical network infrastructure and network architecture for our AI infrastructure projects. This role offers an exciting opportunity to work at the forefront of AI networking technology and contribute to the growth of Firmus’ AI infrastructure capabilities. Deep hands-on experience with network hardware is required, particularly with fibre optic systems. Also necessary to succeed in the role is a strong architectural mindset to guide the evolution of scalable, secure and high-performance networks for AI. Key Responsibilities Network Architecture & Design • Architect and maintain low-latency, high-throughput interconnects (e.g. InfiniBand 100/200/400/800GbE) for HPC and AI workloads. • Collaborate with other network engineers and cross-functional teams to develop network infrastructure roadmaps, aligned with business and technical strategy. • Lead the design of our layer 1/2/3 network infrastructure in our data centre deployments, our AI Factories, and the cluster interconnects with considerations for redundancy, scalability, and performance. • Evaluate new technologies, architectures, and design patterns to improve network performance and efficiency. Network Hardware & Physical Infrastructure • Lead the design, configuration, and deployment of highly scalable physical networks optimised for AI workloads. • Oversee the planning and implementation of fibre optic cabling systems (single-mode & multi-mode), including backbone connections, patch panels, and structured cabling. • Plan the capacity and integration of optical technologies (DWDM, CWDM) and long-haul fibre for intersite connectivity. • Ensure physical infrastructure aligns with architectural standards and supports scalability, availability, and security goals. • Create and maintain accurate and up-to-date documentation of network architecture, hardware and cabling. • Work closely with other engineering disciplines to coordinate the network infrastructure with other services (e.g. mechanical, electrical, security etc.) within the data centre. • Participate in the operations standby roster and on-call support from time to time. Network Security and Policy • Plan and implement firewall and security devices. Apply firewall rules, VLAN segmentation, ACLs adhering to zero-trust principles to safeguard internal and external communications. • Collaborate with SMC Security and Risk team to enforce policies and respond to security incidents. Operation Support • Respond and resolve escalate network issues, outages and performance degradations across the SMC Corporate and Compute network infrastructure. • Analyze logs, run diagnostics and coordinate with vendors, carriers as needed. • Work with internal observability team to setup and maintain monitoring tools to proactively identify bottlenecks, errors and abnormal behaviours. • Analyze trends for bandwidth, hardware utilization, and growth to inform scaling and make recommendation to procurement decisions. • Design and rest redundant paths, failover mechanisms and DR playbooks to ensure uninterrupted connectivity during outages or maintenance. • Participate in operation standby roster and on-call for time to time. Project Management • Support the deployment team with defining project timelines and resource allocation for the network portion of AI cluster installations. • Create Bill of Materials and develop budgets for network deployments. • Coordinate with cross-functional teams to ensure successful project delivery. • Technology Expertise • Maintain and expand expertise in physical network hardware and advanced networking technologies, including: • Optical Transport Network • NVIDIA InfiniBand • Spectrum Ethernet Platform • RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) • Familiarity with open-source network operating systems such as Cumulus Linux and Sonic. • Provide technical support and troubleshooting for advanced networking technologies, escalating to vendors as needed. • Mentor junior network engineers, assisting with their technical development. Stakeholder Management & Collaboration • Work closely with both Firmus Engineering and Commissioning teams to align network infrastructure with customers’ requirements. • Facilitate knowledge sharing and communication between teams and create and maintain comprehensive technical documentation. • Maintain and build strong relationships with key technology partners and vendors and proactively manage and coordinate partner engagement on site. Skills & Experience • Bachelor’s degree in Network Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field. • 5+ years of exper…