Abstract: Young faculty members constitute a vital component of China's burgeoning scientific and technological talent pool. Supporting their growth and enhancing their job satisfaction are paramount among the key tasks in current university talent development strategies. Existing research primarily focuses on examining the significant impact of university appraisal and hiring systems, job characteristics, psychological traits, and other factors on the job satisfaction of young faculty members, adopting perspectives from both the macro-level organizational system and micro-level individual psychology. However, research from a meso-level social network perspective remains notably absent. Young faculty members are embedded within academic communities, and comprehensively constructing and optimizing their academic social networks may serve as an effective path to achieving success and enhancing job satisfaction in the face of dual pressures from limited resources and intense competition. Based on survey data from young faculty members in western China, this paper empirically examines the characteristics of their academic networks and their impact on job satisfaction from a social network perspective. Our findings reveal three main types of academic networks among Chinese young faculty members: the endogenous type, dominated by internal workplace relationships; the multi-source type, which combines both internal and external workplace relationships; and the scarce type, which lacks support sources. Notably, the proportions of these three types of networks are similar. Young faculty members with multi-source or endogenous networks exhibit higher job satisfaction than those with scarce networks. However, the mechanisms through which these two types of networks enhance job satisfaction differ. Multi-source networks influence job satisfaction through dual pathways of motivation excitation and stress buffering, whereas endogenous networks operate solely through the motivation excitation pathway. Additionally, multi-source networks are more effective in reducing work stress among faculty from non-985 universities, those with intermediate professional titles, and female teachers, thereby further enhancing their job satisfaction. Our findings also offer valuable policy implications for the construction of academic networks and the enhancement of work well-being among young faculty members. Firstly, it is recommended that young faculty members adopt an action strategy of "interactive engagement with superiors and peers, and strengthening ties with various internal and external workplace relationships" to optimize their network structure. Specifically, they should strengthen daily communication with leaders and colleagues on one hand, and actively expand their academic exchange circles by establishing academic interactions with people from all sectors of society through industry-university-research cooperation projects, professional conferences, and other means on the other. Secondly, university administrators should gather forces from multiple parties, coordinate, and design an academic network system conducive to the development of young teachers, accurately matching corresponding resources to meet the prominent development needs of different types of young faculty members.