Technical Lead Network Engineer, Physical Infrastructure

PLEASE READ: Zones are based on your zip code. If you're within 100 miles of a listed metro area (straight-line radius), you're included in that Zone. For this role, we are hiring in Zones 2 and 3. Check your Zone here before applying.

Role Description

As a Tech Lead for Physical Infrastructure, you will drive the technical strategy and architecture behind Dropbox's global datacenter, network, hardware, and automation systems. You will play a crucial role in areas such as network engineering and automation, datacenter architecture, infrastructure reliability, and large-scale systems design.

In this role, you will define the next generation of Dropbox's physical infrastructure—ensuring it is scalable, automated, cost-efficient, and ready to support storage, compute, and AI workloads. You will influence multi-year roadmaps, lead complex cross-team initiatives, and partner closely with senior engineering, operations, and product leaders across the company.

This is a high-visibility technical leadership position where you will guide architectural decisions, mentor engineers, and improve the operational resilience of the systems powering hundreds of millions of users. You'll gain substantial senior leadership exposure, influence Dropbox's long-range infrastructure strategy, and help shape one of the most critical parts of our platform.

Responsibilities

Lead technical strategy and architecture across network engineering, network automation, datacenter engineering, hardware engineering, and physical operations.

Design and drive large-scale infrastructure automation systems that improve reliability, reduce manual work, and streamline configuration, deployment, and telemetry pipelines.

Guide multi-quarter, cross-functional initiatives spanning cloud infrastructure, datacenter buildouts, and network modernization efforts.

Serve as the senior technical escalation point for complex infrastructure challenges, including large-scale design decisions and high-severity production incidents.

Partner with Infra SWE, SRE, Capacity Planning, Security, and Operations to ensure Dropbox infrastructure remains reliable, scalable, and cost-efficient.

Mentor engineers across multiple disciplines, raising the technical bar through design reviews, architectural frameworks, and best practices.

Drive continuous improvement in operational resilience, system reliability, and infrastructure efficiency.

Many teams at Dropbox run Services with on-call rotations, which entails being available for calls during both core and non-core business hours. If a team has an on-call rotation, all engineers on the team are expected to participate in the rotation as part of their employment. Applicants are encouraged to ask for more details of the rotations to which the applicant is applying.

Requirements

12+ years of experience in large-scale infrastructure engineering, including network engineering, distributed systems, or network automation.

Proven experience designing and operating production networks (datacenter fabric, backbone routing, traffic engineering, reliability architecture).

Strong technical background in infrastructure automation (configuration management, deployment pipelines, orchestration frameworks, telemetry systems).

Demonstrated ability to lead multi-team technical initiatives, influencing architectural direction and driving cross-functional alignment.

Experience diagnosing and resolving complex infrastructure issues, including participation in high-severity incident management.

Effective communication and collaboration skills, with experience working across engineering, operations, and leadership teams.

Ability to mentor engineers, drive technical standards, and improve engineering quality across multiple domains.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience designing or operating datacenter mechanical, electrical, or capacity systems.

Background in hardware lifecycle management, server/switch qualification, or vendor evaluation.

Experience developing backend or distributed systems supporting infrastructure automation or orchestration.

Prior leadership in multi-region infrastructure buildouts or modernization programs.

Advanced expertise in network architecture (underlay/overlay fabrics, BGP/EVPN, routing policy, failure domain design).

Compensation

US Zone 1

This role is not available in Zone 1 US Zone 2 $212,700—$287,700 USD US Zone 3 $189,000—$255,800 USD

The range(s) listed above is the expected annual salary/OTE (On-Target Earnings) for this role, subject to change.

Please note, OTE are for sales roles only.

Salary/OTE is just one component of Dropbox's total rewards package. All regular employees are also eligible for the corporate bonus program or a sales incentive (target included in OTE) as well as stock in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs).

Dropbox takes a number of factors into account when determining individual starting pay, including job and level they are hired into, location/metropolitan area, skillset, and peer compensation. We target most new hire offers between the minimum up to the middle of the range.

Dropbox uses the zip code of an employee's remote work location to determine which metropolitan pay range we use. Current US Zone locations are as follows:

• US Zone 1: San Francisco metro, New York City metro, or Seattle metro
• US Zone 2: California (outside SF metro), Colorado, Connecticut (outside NYC metro), Delaware, Illinois (Chicago metro), Indiana (Chicago metro), Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan (Chicago metro), New Hampshire, New Jersey (outside NYC metro), New York (outside NYC metro), Oregon, Pennsylvania (D.C. metro), Pennsylvania (outside NYC or DC metro), Texas (Austin metro) Virginia (DC metro), Washington (outside Seattle metro), Washington DC metro, West Virginia (DC metro), Wisconsin (Chicago metro)
• US Zone 3: All other US locations

Company Description

Dropbox isn't just a workplace—it's a living lab for more enlightened ways of working. We're a global community of bold visionaries and resourceful doers who are shaping the future of Dropbox—and with it the future of work. Our Virtual First model combines the autonomy of a distributed workplace with the power of human connection, making space for both meaningful work and meaningful relationships. With our start-up mindset and enterprise-level opportunities, you can be who you are and grow into who you're meant to be. Here, you can own your impact to make work more intuitive, joyful, and human—for you as a Dropboxer and for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. If you're ready to push boundaries—and yourself— Dropbox is ready for you.

Team Description

The Dropbox Engineering Team builds the technology that creates more enlightened ways of working for hundreds of millions of people. Every day, our platforms—including Dropbox Dash, Dropbox Sign, and our core sync engine—handle over a billion files for users worldwide, creating engineering challenges as great as the opportunity for impact. Our software engineering team uses a range of technologies to solve interesting problems, including Python, React, , JavaScript, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, and Android development. We think like a startup but build for an enterprise, exploring new possibilities that transform how people work. If you're excited about turning complex technical challenges into intuitive solutions at scale, join our Engineering team.

Areas of work include Machine Learning Engineers, Infrastructure Engineer, Product SWE Frontend and Backend, Mobile Software Engineers (iOS and Android), Engineering Manager, Data Engineer, Software Development Engineer in Test, Security Engineering, Site Reliability Engineer, Technical Program Managers, Network Engineer, Datacenter Engineer, Technical Supply Chain Manager and more.

Benefits

Dropbox is committed to investing in the holistic health and wellbeing of all Dropboxers and their families. Our benefits and perks programs include, but are not limited to:

Competitive medical, dental, and vision coverage

401(k) plan with a generous company match and immediate vesting

Flexible PTO/Paid Time Off, paid holidays, Volunteer Time Off, and more, allowing you time to unplug, unwind, and refresh

Income Protection Plans: Life and disability insurance

Business Travel Protection: Travel medical and accident insurance

Perks Allowance to be used on what matters most to you, whether that's wellness, learning and development, food and groceries, and much more

Parental benefits including: Parental Leave, Child and Adult Care, Day Care FSA, Fertility Benefits, Adoption and Surrogacy Support, and Lactation Support

Access to over 10,000 global co-working spaces through , making it easy to book flexible workspaces for collaboration or individual work

Quarterly Cell phone and internet allowance

Mental health and wellness benefits

Disability and neurodivergence support benefits

Additional benefit details are available upon request.

Dropbox supports responsible use of AI for preparation, but misrepresentation of skills or experience is not permitted. See our AI philosophy .

Dropbox is an equal opportunity employer. We are a welcoming place for everyone, and we do our best to make sure all people feel supported and connected at work. A big part of that effort is our support for members and allies of internal groups like Asians at Dropbox, BlackDropboxers, enABLE, TODOS (Latinx), Pridebox (LGBTQ), Vets at Dropbox, and Women at Dropbox.