Senior Software Engineer - Network Automation

Why PlayStation?

PlayStation isn’t just the Best Place to Play — it’s also the Best Place to Work. Today, we’re recognized as a global leader in entertainment producing The PlayStation family of products and services including PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®VR, PlayStation®Plus, acclaimed PlayStation software titles from PlayStation Studios, and more.

PlayStation also strives to create an inclusive environment that empowers employees and embraces diversity. We welcome and encourage everyone who has a passion and curiosity for innovation, technology, and play to explore our open positions and join our growing global team.

The PlayStation brand falls under Sony Interactive Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation.

The Network Reliability Engineering (NRE) team plays a critical role in enabling this by modernizing how we manage and scale our global network infrastructure.

Driven by a customer-first attitude, our mission is to enhance operational capabilities through automation, orchestration, and infrastructure as code. We build tools and services that support intent-driven operations, allowing teams to focus on outcomes instead of manual processes. By providing robust APIs and self-service capabilities, we empower engineers and partners alike.

We continuously refine our automation stack based on feedback, fostering an agile environment that adapts to evolving industry needs. If you're passionate about innovation, operational excellence, and delivering impactful, customer-focused solutions—join us in shaping the future of network reliability at PlayStation.

What you'll be doing:

• Design, develop, and maintain network orchestration systems that streamline operations for Network Engineering and Operations teams
• Build and improve internal tools for deploying, upgrading, and managing a global network infrastructure
• Maintain, extend, and support existing automation and tooling to ensure reliability and scalability
• Own and drive projects related to network automation and tooling with minimal supervision
• Proactively identify opportunities to improve workflows and reduce operational overhead through automation

What we're looking for:

• Strong understanding of network fundamentals (IP routing, basic concepts of dynamic routing, policy based routing decisions)
• Expert in the Python programming language and modern language features
• Proficient in data modelling, data persistency (relational or NoSQL databases), and inter-system communication patterns and data serialization
• Experience with at least 3 of the following:
  • Reading, interpreting and working with telemetry, SNMP, sFlow, IPFIX data
  • Event-driven system architecture and related messaging systems (e.g., ZeroMQ, NATS, Kafka)
  • Kubernetes tooling (Helm, GitOps, Kustomize)
  • CI/CD pipelines (Gitlab CI, ArgoCD)
  • Kubernetes, and Kubernetes API extensionsREST, and message broker systems (ZeroMQ, NATS, Kafka, or similar)
  • Understanding test driven development (TDD), software testing and deployment strategies
  • Working and understanding distributed code development workflows (git)
  • Software process and release management
  • Remote orchestration of network devices (Netconf, OpenConfig, GNMI, or similar)

Desirable Experience:

• Experience with Linux systems and containerized deployments.
• Experience with vendor hardware platforms (Juniper MX, QFX, SRX, and EX series platforms, Arista 7xxx series)
• Experience working in a globally distributed team and/or with IT Service Management (e.g., ITIL).
• Developing custom Kubernetes controllers and custom resource management systems
• Ability to translate networking and orchestration concepts to various stakeholders (e.g., infra engineers, ops teams).
• Developing distributed systems designed as event-driven micro-service
• Proficient knowledge of vendor configuration management interfaces (Netconf and eAPI)
• Proficient knowledge of the NATS message bus (with Jetstream), and common communication patterns therein

Benefits: 

• Salary: Annual salary paid across 12 month (different to other parts of Germany) 
• Bonus: Discretionary bonus, target level based on position level
• Pension: Defined benefit provided by HDI - €35 per month after successfully passing the probation period
• Insurances: Accident insurance
• Flexible working: Employee can work from home in agreement with the manager
• Holidays: 30 days + 3 day ‘Wellness Break’
• Health Insurance: 30 EUR/month (insurance coverage up to 800 EUR)
• Capital forming benefit: €40 per month
• Travel allowance: Public transportation allowance.
• Non contractual benefits: Games allocation, Christmas closure days
• Other benefits: Long time service award. Free lunch Tuesdays and Thursdays soft drinks, coffee, fruit. Annual PS Membership, Budget for personal development

Equal Opportunity Statement:

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.

We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond. 

PlayStation is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.