Senior/Tech Lead Network Capacity Planning Engineer
ByteDance
San Jose, CA, USA
Responsibilities
About the Team: ByteDance Networking brings together innovative ideas and technologies from network architecture, software-defined networking (SDN), network virtualization, switch software and hardware co-design, and high-speed networking, to create hyperscale data-center networking solutions that power several of the most popular apps of the world such as Douyin and TikTok which serve hundreds of millions of users around the globe. ByteDance Networking is responsible for designing, building, and operating the global, intelligent network infrastructure to meet the requirements of high availability, scalability, and high-performance. About the Role: As a Senior Network Capacity & Planning Engineer, you will own end-to-end network planning for large-scale data center and backbone networks: translating product growth and traffic patterns into multi-quarter and multi-year capacity plans, identifying risk hotspots, driving investment and delivery priorities, and ensuring network scalability and resiliency. You will be expected to operate with high autonomy, influence stakeholders, and partner across Network Engineering, SRE, DC/IDC delivery, Finance/Procurement, and product growth teams to turn planning into real build outcomes. Responsibilities: 1. Capacity Forecasting & Modeling - Own and evolve models to forecast ByteDance global network traffic demand (DC, backbone, Cloud, peering/transit) across multiple horizons (weekly/quarterly/annual) - Define forecast accuracy metrics, perform backtesting, and systematically improve methodology (seasonality, event-driven spikes, regional growth shifts, product launches) 2. Network Planning - Lead capacity planning and network expansion strategy: define headroom policies, redundancy targets, and growth triggers aligned with availability/SLA objectives - Produce actionable network plans (quarterly and annual): where/when to add capacity, which links/PoPs/DC fabrics to scale, and which upgrades deliver best risk reduction and cost efficiency - Run network simulations / what-if analysis to quantify failure-domain risk, congestion risk, and resiliency gaps; recommend topology or routing changes where appropriate - Drive planning-to-execution alignment: translate plans into clear build requirements and timelines; track delivery progress and mitigate gaps (supply, lead time, deployment constraints) - Own planning readouts for leadership: communicate assumptions, risks, trade-offs, and prioritization proposals with clarity 3. Data & Tooling - Build scalable methods and tools to streamline network data analytical tasks (pipelines, dashboards, automated insights) - Partner with the OneNet team to automate forecasting and network planning workstreams (data ingestion, reporting, plan generation, validation, alerts) 4. Cross-functional Leadership - Engage with cross-functional teams to align on demand signals, validate model inputs, and integrate planning into business roadmaps - Mentor/guide team members to provide best practices on planning frameworks, metrics, and data quality 5. Reporting & Governance - Deliver quarterly and annual summaries of key network planning and delivery performance metrics to internal stakeholders, including forecast accuracy, capacity utilization trends, risk posture, and delivery health - Establish planning governance: standard definitions, review cadence, change management for assumptions and plan revisions
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications - A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent - Proven experience applying quantitative methodologies to analyze network performance and capacity metrics - In-depth understanding of network devices, protocols, routing, and resiliency (e.g., BGP/IGP, ECMP, failure domains, traffic engineering concepts) Preferred Qualifications - Demonstrated ownership of network planning (capacity strategy, headroom policy, long-range planning, build prioritization) in hyperscale networks, large ISPs, or major cloud providers - Experience collaborating with network engineers and building productive cross-functional relationships (Engineering, SRE, DC delivery, Finance/Procurement) - Experience leading data science and engineering projects end-to-end (problem framing → model/tool delivery → adoption) - Experience with data visualization software, e.g. Aeolus, Tableau - Experience driving ambiguous problems to closure; comfortable influencing stakeholders without direct authority - Coding experience in Python + SQL (MySQL or similar) and/or other languages for data analysis and automation
Job Information
【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Annually)
The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $212800 - $450000 annually.
Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies and experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Package that is provided to compensate and recognize employees for their work, and this role may be eligible for additional discretionary bonuses/incentives, and restricted stock units.
Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Employees have day one access to medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) savings plan with company match, paid parental leave, short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, wellbeing benefits, among others. Employees also receive 10 paid holidays per year, 10 paid sick days per year and 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire with increasing accruals by tenure).
The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.
For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:
Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:
1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
3. Exercising sound judgment.
About Us
Founded in 2012, ByteDance's mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. With a suite of more than a dozen products, including TikTok, Lemon8, CapCut and Pico as well as platforms specific to the China market, including Toutiao, Douyin, and Xigua, ByteDance has made it easier and more fun for people to connect with, consume, and create content.
Why Join ByteDance
Inspiring creativity is at the core of ByteDance's mission. Our innovative products are built to help people authentically express themselves, discover and connect – and our global, diverse teams make that possible. Together, we create value for our communities, inspire creativity and enrich life - a mission we work towards every day.
As ByteDancers, we strive to do great things with great people. We lead with curiosity, humility, and a desire to make impact in a rapidly growing tech company. By constantly iterating and fostering an "Always Day 1" mindset, we achieve meaningful breakthroughs for ourselves, our Company, and our users. When we create and grow together, the possibilities are limitless. Join us.
Diversity & Inclusion
ByteDance is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At ByteDance, our mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.
Reasonable Accommodation
ByteDance is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at https://tinyurl.com/RA-request