Technical Program Manager - IP Backbone

The IP Backbone TPM coordinates the planning and delivery of Nebius’s global IP backbone and Internet edge. The role connects data center launches, customer and platform demand, IP architecture, network engineering, procurement, and external providers so that sites have the routing, transit, peering, hardware, and address resources needed for service readiness and growth.

The TPM is accountable for end-to-end project coordination: defining scope with technical owners, building integrated plans, tracking dependencies and risks, driving decisions to closure, and confirming handover. Network Architecture and Engineering own technical standards and design decisions; engineers lead implementation. The TPM keeps those workstreams aligned and ensures the required outcomes are delivered.

Nebius Regions and HQ

In summer 2026, we introduced the concept of regions to remove dependence on the Amsterdam HQ and speed decision making. The regional change applies to procurement, logistics, and IT datacenter operations. Network infrastructure remains an HQ function because its architecture and design affect all sites.

Position Scope

Please note that Nebius is in a state of rapid growth. Due to this, the scope and responsibilities of the role will constantly evolve based on business and team needs.

Site and PoP Readiness

• Coordinate IP connectivity due diligence for new data center and PoP locations.
• Confirm the planned site role in the backbone and the required connectivity to regional and Super PoPs.
• Track site dependencies such as rack space, power, security, cross-connects, cabling, hardware delivery, and carrier access.
• Coordinate PoP build plans with IP Engineering, Layer 1 Planning, Data Center Operations, , Security, and Procurement.
• Identify the boundary between IP and Layer 1 work early, including transport handoffs, demarcation points, and ownership of cross-connects.
• Confirm that IP equipment and provider services are ready for installation, testing, and operational handover.

IP Connectivity Planning

• Coordinate plans for IP transit, peering, private interconnects, and backbone connectivity in line with the global network strategy.
• Track provider requirements, site availability, port capacity, cross-connects, delivery dates, commercial terms, and technical acceptance criteria.
• Work with Procurement and network architects to gather and review ISP information using the provider qualification checklist. Use the completed assessment and architect input to support provider selection and record the decision and any conditions.
• Plan connectivity for new data center launches, including the required paths from the front-end fabric to the Nebius backbone, transit providers, cloud on-ramps, and peering locations as applicable.
• Maintain an integrated view of circuit, port, router, optics, and cross-connect dependencies so that a delivered service can be activated end to end.
• Coordinate capacity growth and diverse connectivity plans before demand or a new launch creates a service constraint.

Internet Routing Resources and Security

• Coordinate the lifecycle and accurate records for Nebius IPv4 and IPv6 address allocations, assignments, and utilization.
• Maintain an operational view of ASN use and dependencies across regions, PoPs, transit providers, peers, and customer-facing services.
• Coordinate the creation, review, and maintenance of AS-SETs, route objects, and ROAs with the responsible technical owners and relevant registries.
• Track RPKI and IRR readiness as part of provider onboarding, routing changes, and new-site launches.
• Coordinate remediation of resource or routing-security issues with Network Engineering and external providers.

Backbone Hardware and Supply

• Maintain a forward-looking view of IP backbone hardware demand based on PoP builds, data center launches, capacity plans, and approved architecture.
• Coordinate hardware planning and delivery for routers, line cards, optics, spares, software entitlements, and related components.
  • Standard platforms are Juniper MX304 routers for peering borders, Juniper PTX10002 routers for data center borders, and Cisco 8000 Series routers for Cloud Interconnect (CIC) and cloud on-ramps.
• Work with IP Engineering to translate approved designs into complete, validated bills of materials and deployment requirements.
• Track forecasts, purchase requests, supplier commitments, lead times, delivery allocations, and regional logistics with Network Supply and Procurement.
• Coordinate supply for PoP out-of-band equipment (currently MikroTik, with future SD-WAN platforms under consideration), console access, and PoP management networks. Security appliances are outside this role’s hardware scope.
• Identify supply risks early and coordinate mitigation options with technical owners, procurement, and project stakeholders.
• Keep project schedules aligned with hardware readiness, site readiness, and service activation milestones.

Delivery and Launch Coordination

• Build and maintain integrated delivery plans for IP backbone projects, PoP builds, provider services, and data center launches.
• Coordinate work across IP Architecture, IP Engineering, Layer 1 Planning, Data Center Operations, Construction, Security, Procurement, and providers.
• Define milestones, prerequisites, owners, acceptance criteria, and handover requirements for each workstream.
• Drive resolution of blockers and escalate risks that could affect site launch, customer commitments, capacity, or network resilience.
• Coordinate testing, service activation, routing turn-up, documentation, and operational handover with the engineering and operations teams.
• Maintain clear status reporting for project scope, schedule, dependencies, decisions, risks, and actions.

Operations and Capacity Management

• Track IP backbone and Internet edge capacity against forecast demand, data center growth, customer requirements, and platform launches.
• Coordinate port, router, transit, peering, address-resource, and hardware expansion before capacity constraints affect service readiness.
• Maintain accurate records of PoPs, providers, circuits, ports, ASNs, address allocations, AS-SETs, ROAs, and deployment status in the agreed systems of record.
• Support incident follow-up and provider escalations when delivery or service issues affect backbone availability.
• Review completed projects with technical and operations teams, capture lessons learned, and improve planning and handover processes.
• Support ongoing improvements to resiliency, routing security, provider diversity, and operational readiness.

Working Boundaries with Layer 1 Planning

IP and Layer 1 TPMs share delivery responsibility for PoP and data center connectivity projects. The IP TPM coordinates the IP service outcome: routing, transit, peering, IP address resources, IP hardware, and service activation. The Layer 1 TPM coordinates the physical and optical transport outcome: fiber routes, wavelengths or dark fiber, DWDM systems, ILAs, and the transport path to the agreed handoff.

For shared projects, the two TPMs should maintain one integrated milestone plan, agree the service demarcation and handoff points with engineering, and assign a clear owner to each dependency. Technical design and configuration decisions remain with the relevant architecture and engineering owners.

Internal Operating Context

Nebius infrastructure supports Nebius Cloud Platform, Nebius Token Factory, Meta, Microsoft, and selected bare-metal customers. The IP backbone TPM works with product and infrastructure stakeholders to translate Nebius Cloud launches and requirements into deliverable connectivity plans. This scope covers Nebius Cloud by default; Internet access for a bare-metal customer is included when that customer specifically requests it. Cloud Interconnect requirements may require dedicated on-ramp planning.

For provider onboarding, Procurement coordinates the commercial process and issues the qualification questionnaire. The TPM coordinates technical due diligence with Backbone Architecture and Engineering, tracks completion, and records the approval decision and follow-up actions. The TPM coordinates the provider assessment and selection process with Procurement and the network architects, using the qualification checklist and architect input to reach and document the decision.

Security Project Coordination

The TPM may coordinate IP security and DDoS-related projects that affect the backbone or Internet edge. Security Architects lead these projects and own the security architecture and technical decisions. The TPM coordinates scope, dependencies, milestones, risks, stakeholder communication, and delivery handover with Security, Network Architecture, Engineering, Procurement, and providers as needed.

Key Collaborators

Function	Typical contribution
IP / Backbone Architecture	Defines architecture and technical standards; provides technical input to provider selection and design decisions
IP Engineering	Owns detailed design, configuration, implementation, testing, and technical handover
Front End Fabric Deploy Team	Ensures that OOB connectivity is ready, and that CAB + Border related deploy work is completed and unblocks this team.
Layer 1 Planning / DWDM Engineering	Delivers transport connectivity and coordinates shared PoP or site dependencies
Network Supply and Procurement	Forecasts and sources hardware and services; coordinates provider qualification and commercial processes
Data Center Operations and Construction	Delivers site access, space, power, cabling, cross-connect, and readiness dependencies
Product and customer teams	Provides launch dates, demand forecasts, and customer or platform requirements
Security Architects	Lead IP security and DDoS projects and own security architecture decisions
ISPs, peers, exchanges, and cloud providers	Deliver transit, peering, interconnection, and related services

About Nebius

Nebius AI is an AI cloud platform with one of the largest GPU capacities in Europe. Launched in November 2023, the Nebius AI platform provides high-end, training-optimized infrastructure for AI practitioners. As an NVIDIA preferred cloud service provider, Nebius AI offers a variety of NVIDIA GPUs for training and inference, as well as a set of tools for efficient multi-node training. 

Nebius AI owns a data center in Finland, built from the ground up by the company’s R&D team and showcasing our commitment to sustainability. The data center is home to ISEG, the most powerful commercially available supercomputer in Europe and the 16th most powerful globally (Top 500 list, November 2023).  

Nebius’s headquarters are in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with teams working out of R&D hubs across Europe and the Middle East. 

Nebius AI is built with the talent of more than 500 highly skilled engineers with a proven track record in developing sophisticated cloud and ML solutions and designing cutting-edge hardware. This allows all the layers of the Nebius AI cloud – from hardware to UI – to be built in-house, distictly differentiating Nebius AI from the majority of specialized clouds: Nebius customers get a true hyperscaler-cloud experience tailored for AI practitioners. We’re growing and expanding our products every day.

If you’re up to the challenge and are excited about AI and ML as much as we are, join us!