Manager - Network API & Observability

Who are we? Equinix is the world's digital infrastructure company®, shortening the path to connectivity to enable the innovations that enrich our work, life and planet. A place where bold ideas are welcomed, human connection is valued, and everyone has the opportunity to shape their future. Help us challenge assumptions, uncover bias, and remove barriers-because progress starts with fresh ideas. You'll find belonging, purpose, and a team that welcomes you-because when you feel valued, you're empowered to do your best work. Job Summary We are seeking an Engineering Manager to build and lead a new India-based team that develops Network APIs and Network Telemetry systems within Equinix's Network Reliability and Observability Engineering organization. You will hire and grow the team, own delivery and program management, and set technical direction for how network telemetry, asset data, and network APIs are built, operated, and exposed to internal operators, customers, and AI agents. This is a player-coach leadership role. You will partner with the global Network Observability leadership, product, platform architecture, and Network operations stakeholders across time zones, and you will establish the engineering practices, culture, and operating rhythm of the India team from day one. Responsibilities People Management & Team Building Hire, onboard, and retain engineers across levels, and build a team with deep network software and observability expertise Own performance management for direct reports, including the GPS process, Total Rewards allocation, quarterly conversations, career pathways, and individual development plans Coach engineers on technical growth and engineering craft, and build a pipeline of future tech leads Model Equinix culture and values, and ensure the team operates in line with local labor law and regulations Program & Project Management Own end-to-end delivery of Network API and telemetry projects, including major, minor, and patch releases Work with Technical Project Managers, product engineering managers, and portfolio leads across locations Identify delivery risks early, propose mitigations, and escalate with clear options Manage resource allocation, utilization, and budget; request approvals for spend or headcount outside the approved plan Report project status, KPIs, and resource data to senior management Responsible for the planning of strategic priorities Responsible for developing and communicating a roadmap of projects and initiatives to project/functional stakeholders Technical Leadership & Architecture Participate in and drive architecture and design reviews for Network API and telemetry platforms Ensure designs integrate streaming telemetry, flow data, SNMP, topology, and inventory data into reliable, queryable, well-governed API/Streaming and MCP interfaces Guide API design standards (REST, gRPC, GraphQL), data modeling, versioning, and contract testing Champion code quality, peer review, testing strategy, and CI/CD practices Partner with global teams to adopt AI-native patterns, such as exposing network capabilities through MCP servers and agent-ready APIs Works with SRE and Platform team on sizing and requesting infrastructure requirement for observability Operational Excellence & Reliability and Reporting Own production health for the team's services, including SLOs, on-call practices, runbooks, and incident response Utilizes subject matter expertise to implement improvements to internal processes and integrate systems supporting these processes Lead troubleshooting for critical issues with cross-functional teams, and oversee RCA cycles and repeat-issue remediation Drive improvements to observability pipelines, alerting quality, data accuracy, and platform scalability Collects, analyzes, organizes and presents the data to senior management on projects and resources Executes against operational KPIs Stakeholder & Customer Engagement Partner with product management, Ops, X-functional engineering, and platform teams to translate requirements into roadmaps and commitments Manage stakeholder communication, conflict resolution, escalations, and priority shifts Represent the India team in global forums, and maintain strong working overlap with US and EMEA counterparts Roadmap, Process & Innovation Develop and communicate the team's roadmap and strategic priorities Create and refine processes, standards, and policies, and monitor adherence Drive innovation, such as anomaly detection, natural-language network queries, and AI-assisted troubleshooting, and encourage the team to prototype and share learnings Qualifications Required 10+ years of software engineering experience, 2+ years in a software development leadership role (people management of engineers) Hands-on background in network software systems, especially network observability or telemetry platforms, NMS/EMS, or network automation and inventory systems Working knowledge of network concepts (BGP, OSPF, MPLS, VLANs, topology modelling) and network data sources (SNMP, streaming telemetry/gNMI, NetFlow/IPFIX, syslog) Experience with observability and streaming technologies such as Kafka, Prometheus, OpenTelemetry, Grafana, and Loki, or equivalents Strong engineering background in Python, or Java, and experience designing and operating production APIs at scale Experience with program management: planning, estimation, risk management, release management, and reporting to senior leadership Excellent communication skills and experience collaborating across time zones with global stakeholders Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience Preferred Experience with telecom, service provider, data center, or interconnection platforms (e.g., Equinix Fabric, Network Edge) Familiarity with CMDB/DCIM, network inventory, or graph-based topology systems Exposure to AI-native development: LLM tool calling, agent frameworks, Model Context Protocol (MCP), RAG Experience with vendor or consulting resource management Prior experience setting up or scaling a new engineering site or team What You'll Own A high-performing India engineering team, hired and grown by you Network API and telemetry services that are reliable, well-documented, and consumed by humans and AI agents A predictable delivery and operating cadence with global partners The technical and people foundation for the India site's long-term role in Network Observability Equinix is committed to ensuring that our employment process is open to all individuals, including those with a disability. If you are a qualified candidate and need assistance or an accommodation, please let us know by completing this form. Equinix is an Equal Employment Opportunity and, in the U.S., an Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to unlawful consideration of race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, place of birth, citizenship, sex, pregnancy / childbirth or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or domestic partnership status, age, veteran or military status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, political / organizational affiliation, status as a victim or family member of a victim of crime or abuse, or any other status protected by applicable law. We use artificial intelligence in our hiring process. Learn more here. This posting is a new position within our organization.