Transport and IP Network Engineer

AST SpaceMobile is building the first and only global cellular broadband network in space to operate directly with standard, unmodified mobile devices based on our extensive IP and patent portfolio and designed for both commercial and government applications. Our engineers and space scientists are on a mission to eliminate the connectivity gaps faced by today’s five billion mobile subscribers and finally bring broadband to the billions who remain unconnected.

Position Overview

We are seeking a Principal Transport and IP Network Engineer to support the complete networking solution within the Gateway, including switches, routers, firewalls, and the optical matrix.

This role is responsible for defining, lifecycle-managing, and documenting the network SKU across all Gateway types — including acceptance testing procedures, pass/fail criteria, and golden configurations — and for leading the networking First Office Application (FOA) for each new Gateway SKU to ensure equipment integrates with other Gateway elements such as the eNB/gNB, BPMS, NCC, and OSS systems and is ready to deploy at scale.

The ideal candidate is a deeply technical networking expert with command of carrier-grade IP, MPLS and segment routing, BGP, SDN, traffic engineering, QoS, transport resiliency, and network security, and thrives in a fast-moving environment where new Gateway designs move from lab validation to global deployment. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Own the complete networking solution within the Gateway, including switches, routers, firewalls, and the optical matrix.
• Define, lifecycle-manage, and document the network SKU across all Gateway types.
• Develop and maintain acceptance testing procedures, pass/fail criteria, and golden configurations for the network SKU.
• Support integration of networking equipment with other Gateway elements, including eNB/gNB, BPMS, NCC, and OSS systems.
• Lead the networking First Office Application (FOA) for each new Gateway SKU.
• Design resilient connectivity from gateways to MNO interconnects, and engineer gateway diversity and redundancy.
• Define routing, traffic-engineering, and failover behavior, and build scalable IP address and routing architectures.
• Establish latency, packet-loss, and jitter objectives, and define QoS for voice, messaging, and data.
• Integrate terrestrial fiber and cloud environments, and design for gateway outage, transport failure, and congestion.
• Implement telemetry for path-level performance and troubleshoot packet loss, asymmetric routing, and service degradation. 

Qualifications