Senior WAN & ISP Engineer – Paris Region

About Mistral

At Mistral AI, we believe in the power of AI to simplify tasks, save time, and enhance learning and creativity. Our technology is designed to integrate seamlessly into daily working life.

We democratize AI through high-performance, optimized, open-source and cutting-edge models, products and solutions. Our comprehensive AI platform is designed to meet enterprise needs, whether on-premises or in cloud environments. Our offerings include le Chat, the AI assistant for life and work.

We are a dynamic, collaborative team passionate about AI and its potential to transform society.

Our diverse workforce thrives in competitive environments and is committed to driving innovation. Our teams are distributed between France, USA, UK, Germany and Singapore. We are creative, low-ego and team-spirited.

Join us to be part of a pioneering company shaping the future of AI. Together, we can make a meaningful impact. See more about our culture on https://mistral.ai/careers.

About the Role

As a Senior WAN & ISP Engineer, you will design, deploy, and optimize Mistral’s external network connectivity, ensuring high-performance, reliable, and secure connections between our data centers and the global internet. You will manage ISP relationships, fiber infrastructure, and firewall systems to support Mistral’s mission-critical operations. This role is focused on connecting our infrastructure to the world, not internal data center networking.

Key Responsibilities

• ISP & Fiber Management:

  • Negotiate, provision, and maintain ISP contracts, SLAs, and peering agreements (e.g., with Orange, Colt, Equinix).

  • Design and optimize multi-ISP connectivity for redundancy and performance.

  • Monitor and troubleshoot fiber circuits, ensuring uptime and scalability.

• Firewall & Security:

  • Configure, manage, and audit enterprise firewalls (e.g., Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco ASA).

  • Implement security policies, access controls, and threat mitigation for external-facing networks.

  • Collaborate with security teams to align firewall rules with organizational policies.

• WAN Architecture & Optimization:

  • Design and maintain BGP routing policies, traffic engineering, and failover mechanisms.

  • Optimize latency, bandwidth, and reliability for global connectivity.

  • Monitor WAN performance metrics (e.g., packet loss, jitter, throughput) and proactively resolve issues.

• Vendor & Stakeholder Collaboration:

  • Build and maintain relationships with ISPs, fiber providers, and hardware vendors.

  • Coordinate with internal teams (e.g., infrastructure, security) to align WAN strategies with business needs.

  • Represent Mistral in peering forums, IX communities, and vendor discussions.

• Documentation & Knowledge Sharing:

  • Maintain up-to-date documentation for WAN architectures, firewall configurations, and ISP agreements.

  • Develop runbooks and playbooks for common network operations and incident response.

  • Mentor junior team members on WAN/ISP best practices.

Qualifications & Experience

Technical Skills:

• 7+ years of experience in WAN, ISP connectivity, or external networking.

• Deep expertise in BGP, OSPF, MPLS, and TCP/IP (route filtering, path selection, traffic engineering).

• Hands-on experience with ISP peering (e.g., AMS-IX, DE-CIX, France-IX) and multi-homing architectures.

• Proficiency in firewall management (Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco ASA, or similar).

• Familiarity with fiber optics, DWDM, and carrier-grade networking hardware.

• Experience with network monitoring tools (e.g., Grafana, Prometheus, Wireshark, Smokeping, RIPE RIS).

• Knowledge of network automation (Ansible, Python, or similar) is a plus.

• Understanding of network security principles (DDoS mitigation, VPNs, access controls).

Soft Skills:

• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills for troubleshooting complex WAN/ISP issues.

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

• Excellent communication and negotiation skills (English required; French is a plus).

• Vendor management experience (contracts, SLAs, escalations).

Why Join Mistral?

• • Impact: Ensure Mistral’s global connectivity is fast, reliable, and secure.

  • Growth: Shape WAN/ISP strategies from the ground up in a high-growth AI startup.

  • Collaboration: Work with a talented, cross-functional team to connect Mistral’s infrastructure to the world.

  • Flexibility: Competitive compensation, benefits, and hybrid work options.