Principal Network Engineer at Akamai Technologies, Inc.
Pierre, SD
$132,100–$237,900from the description
Jun 29, 2026
Pierre, SD
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior individual-contributor role focused on designing, building, and automating a large-scale global network infrastructure. Day-to-day work spans BGP routing architecture, data center fabric technologies (CLOS, VxLAN, EVPN), multi-vendor hardware (Juniper, Cisco, Arista), and configuration templating with Python, Ansible, and Jinja2. Suits a deep networking specialist comfortable owning complex troubleshooting and driving infrastructure evolution from architecture through implementation.
Senior level · 12+ years · Remote · Bachelor's required · Full-time
Advertised as Principal, but the requirements read as Senior.
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 7 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $136,998 (middle half $106,921–$171,899). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (6)
No specific work location is stated in the posting; the compensation range is noted as US-based only, so the role is treated as US-based but the metro is unknown.
The title is 'Principal Network Engineer,' but the scope and requirements (12 years, deep technical ownership of a global platform, no explicit org-wide architectural authority or cross-team direction-setting) are consistent with a Senior-level role on most career ladders. The seniority is assessed as Senior accordingly.
The degree requirement ('Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related technical field') is stated as a hard gate alongside the 12-year experience requirement, with no 'or equivalent experience' escape clause.
Juniper, Cisco, and Arista are listed together as examples of multi-vendor environments; they are treated as interchangeable alternatives under one skill. Similarly, BIRD, FRR, and Cumulus are listed as routing platform examples and are grouped as alternatives.
The alt SOC (15-1244 Network and Computer Systems Administrators) is noted because the role blends architecture/design (15-1241) with hands-on operations and troubleshooting of existing infrastructure; 15-1241 wins because design and automation of the global network is the primary stated responsibility.
Ignored 1 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): IP network design.
Read the full posting
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