Director Systems Engineering, North America

Director, Systems Engineering — North America Title flexible to Senior Director or Field CTO for exceptional candidates Location: United States (Remote / Field) Travel: Around 25%, primarily to EBCs and customer sites in North America Eligibility: Candidates must be US Citizens or US Permanent Residents. Why This Role You'll be RtBrick's first senior technical leader in the US: the primary technical interface between our engineering core and US customers, carrying carrier-grade software that is already in production into a market we're just entering. You start as the hands-on technical lead and build the systems engineering team as US accounts land. About RtBrick RtBrick builds the software that lets operators run their network edge the way cloud providers run data centers. Our platform, RtBrick Full Stack (RBFS), replaces monolithic, proprietary edge systems with cloud-native, disaggregated software that runs on Broadcom DNX-based white boxes and on cloud instances. RBFS is a full Multiservice Edge (broadband network gateway, CGNAT, peering, aggregation and edge routing) on one software base built on open APIs. RBFS is also built for AI-assisted operations. Every RBFS element includes an MCP server that lets AI agents diagnose and operate the network. Each agent action goes through the same authenticated, audited and reversible commit path as an operator's change, and humans approve what gets applied. The software is proven in production. Deutsche Telekom has approved RBFS for deployment in its network, where it delivered a significant reduction in five-year total cost of ownership versus the incumbent approach. RBFS has carried subscriber and business traffic for years with service providers in Austria, Germany, Canada and Taiwan, through failures, upgrades and traffic peaks. Backed by major telco investors, we are now opening the US market. The Role You'll own the architecture conversation with US customers from the first whiteboard session through production deployment. You'll report to: Head of Professional Services. The work is architectural. You'll design how operators move from monolithic edge platforms to disaggregated, cloud-native infrastructure: subscriber management at scale, CGNAT, peering and aggregation, and the IP/MPLS and BGP/EVPN designs underneath. You'll also help operators adopt AI-assisted operations without giving up control of their network. The role demands range. You'll go deep with a customer's principal architects on routing design, then take the same conversation to the C-suite as a commercial and roadmap discussion, often in the same week.

What You'll Do

• Customer-Facing Technical Authority. Serve as the lead architectural voice for US accounts. Lead technical workshops, design reviews (HLD/LLD), and complex POCs and make sure our solution meets each customer's network requirements.
• Strategic Pre-Sales and Solution Design. Translate customer use cases (massive-scale access, DC interconnect, peering) into technical requirements for our engineering team. Own the technical win.
• AI-Assisted Operations. Guide operators in adopting RBFS's built-in MCP server and agent-driven operations, from read-only diagnosis to human-approved and templated changes.
• Product Evolution. Act as the Voice of the Customer. Work closely with the CEO, CTO, and Product Managers to prioritize features that solve real operator pain points, weighing long-term product vision against immediate market demands.
• Team Leadership and Mentorship. Grow into building and managing a team of high-caliber Systems Engineers and Solutions Architects. Build an engineering-first culture that values deep hands-on skills alongside commercial acumen.

What Success Looks Like in Your First 12 Months

• First US POCs designed, run, and converted into technical wins.
• A US reference architecture for migrating from incumbent edge platforms to RBFS.
• Field feedback reflected in the product roadmap through the Field and Product Management team.
• The first Systems Engineering hires as US accounts land.

What You Bring: Required

• Experience. 15+ years in service provider networking, with at least 5 years at Principal or leadership level.
• IP/MPLS Edge Routing. Hands-on experience in IP/MPLS edge routing with fluency in Layer 2/3 protocols (BGP, IS-IS, OSPF, Segment Routing).
• Service Provider Architecture. Expert understanding of large-scale service provider architectures (BGP/MPLS, Segment Routing, EVPN). Experience managing complex multi-vendor integrations and carrier-grade reliability requirements.
• Cloud-Native Networking. Solid understanding of cloud-native networking (Kubernetes, microservices, APIs, NETCONF/YANG). Expertise in cloud-native or containerized NOS environments.
• Hands-On Technical Credibility. While this is a director-level role, you must be comfortable diving into packet-level details, reviewing configurations, and navigating a Linux-based NOS.
• Disruptor Mindset. Experience articulating the TCO and CapEx benefits of white-box, disaggregated models versus traditional chassis-based systems.
• Communication. Proven ability to present complex technical roadmaps to CTOs and VPs, and to keep composure during high-stakes commercial or technical negotiations.
• Drive. A can-do attitude. You thrive in a high-performance environment where autonomy is expected and pay for performance is the norm.

What You Bring: Preferred

• Experience with CGNAT or Broadband Network Gateway (PPPoE/IPoE).
• Familiarity with Broadcom-based merchant silicon and white-box hardware.
• Experience at a disaggregated or challenger networking vendor, or inside an ISP or MSO.

Why RtBrick

• Real impact. You'll build on software that already works at carrier scale, replacing legacy edge platforms in production networks today, not pitching a roadmap.
• Hard problems. Subscriber management at millions of sessions, cloud-native operations on merchant silicon, and intent-based networking that actually ships. Engineering is hard, and it's why people stay.
• Direct access. Flat structure, no layers between you and the decision. You'll work daily with founders and industry veterans who are still deep in the technical details and still write code.
• Build it from the ground up. You'll define how the US practice runs, set the architecture standard for a new market, and build the team behind it.

RtBrick is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status.