Network Engineer

Base is America’s next-generation power company. We’re rebuilding the foundation of modern civilization–electricity–by deploying a vast network of distributed batteries that is transforming today’s fragile, centralized grid into a resilient and abundant system. We are engineers, operators, and creatives solving some of the most complex, interdisciplinary challenges of our time.

Base is the first engineering-led, technology-focused power company. As America electrifies, our outdated power systems are straining, leaving families vulnerable to outages and rising costs. Base is deploying a distributed network of residential batteries that maintain household power during outages while stabilizing the entire grid day-to-day. By building the nervous system for this distributed power plant, you will be making electricity more reliable, affordable, and abundant for millions.

As a Network Engineer at Base, you won't just be managing a network; you'll be the architect of a critical piece of American infrastructure. You will solve novel, first-principles problems at the intersection of large-scale IoT, industrial control systems, cloud networking, and cybersecurity. Your work will directly ensure the secure, reliable, and massively scalable communication fabric between our distributed energy assets and our cloud control plane. As we vertically integrate, you will also build our manufacturing and operational network infrastructure from the ground up. This is a role for an engineer who wants to build something tangible and enduring, leaving a legacy of a more resilient and reliable America.

What You'll Do:

• Architect, build, and operate the secure, low-latency, and resilient network connecting our central cloud platform to a rapidly growing fleet of thousands (and soon millions) of IoT devices in the field.

• Design and implement a zero-trust security architecture for our Operational Technology environment, utilizing advanced firewall policies, network segmentation, NAC using 802.1X, and VPN technologies to protect critical infrastructure.

• Champion and execute an infrastructure-as-code methodology using tools like Terraform for all network provisioning, configuration, and lifecycle management, ensuring high-velocity, repeatable deployments at massive scale.

• Lead the ground-up design and implementation of all on-premise network infrastructure for our corporate, R&D, and manufacturing facilities. This includes everything from L1 (structured cabling, IDF/MDF) to L3 (routing, switching, firewalls).

• Develop and automate comprehensive network monitoring, observability, and alerting systems (e.g. Grafana) to proactively detect and mitigate issues, ensuring sub-second visibility into network health.

• Act as the final escalation point for all network-related incidents, leading the diagnosis, resolution, and post-mortem analysis to drive continuous improvement.

• Collaborate with Hardware, Software, Manufacturing, and Deployments teams to define network requirements for new products and services, ensuring the network architecture is a key enabler of the company's mission.

What We're Looking For:

• Expert-level knowledge of TCP/IP, OSPF, and other modern networking protocols.

• Demonstrated experience of network automation using Python, Go, and/or Terraform.

• Experience architecting and securing large-scale IoT, SCADA, or other OT networks.

• Direct experience designing and supporting network infrastructure in a manufacturing, industrial, or factory environment.

• Deep expertise with modern firewall platforms (e.g., Palo Alto Networks, Juniper, Fortinet) and network security technologies (e.g., IDS/IPS, 802.1X NAC, PKI).

• Deep experience with cloud networking constructs in AWS, GCP, or Azure (e.g., Transit Gateway, Direct Connect, VPC Peering, Cloud Routers).

• A relentless drive to own projects from conception to completion, with a strong bias for action and an ability to thrive in a high-velocity, mission-driven environment.

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to distill complex technical concepts for both technical and non-technical audiences.

Required Skills / Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, a technical discipline, or 8+ years of professional network engineering experience.

• 5+ years of experience building and managing production enterprise, service provider, or industrial networks.

• Proven experience managing firewalls and implementing network security controls (segmentation, VPNs, access control lists).

Base is a company for people who want to win and who want their work to matter. We think from first principles, move with urgency, and treat the mission like our own.

We talk about what isn’t working before we talk about what is because every problem is an opportunity to fix something, improve the system, and compound progress. We cut through complexity, stay close to the work, and let results speak for themselves.

• First Principles Thinking: Question assumptions. Principles > rules.

• Operate at Base Pace: Focus on what matters, act quickly, and learn by doing.

• Give & Get Feedback: Be direct, be humble, and maintain a growth mindset.

• Everyone’s an Owner: Follow through on commitments and own results.

• Strong Opinions, Loosely Held: Drive clarity and make calls with imperfect information.

• Committed to the Mission: Rebuilding the grid is a big challenge. We work hard because we care deeply about the impact we’re creating. We work in-person. It’s not a 9-to-5. We are all-in.

• Fun & Optimism Coexist with Grit: Collaboration and celebration coincide with the intensity of building real things.