Senior Network Architect

No Sponsorship will be provided for this role.

Location: On Site at location listed in posting

Weekly Schedule: Monday- Friday, 9am-5pm

The Senior Network Architect leads the design, roadmaps, and lifecycle of enterprise network platforms that enable our associates and serve our clients. This role sets standards, designs secure and resilient architectures, and serves as an escalation point for complex issues across campus/branch, WAN/SD-WAN, and data center networks.

Key responsibilities

Architecture and roadmaps

· Define enterprise network reference architectures, standards, and patterns for campus/branch, data center, cloud connectivity, and remote access.

· Own L2/L3 designs (BGP, OSPF, VRF, route-maps, NAT, QoS) with an emphasis on high availability, segmentation, and zero-trust principles.

· Develop multi-year technology roadmaps and capacity plans; drive lifecycle management and refresh strategies.

SD-WAN (HPE Aruba EdgeConnect)

· Design and optimize underlay/overlay, path conditioning, segmentation, and business intent policies.

· Establish best practices for active/active paths, performance monitoring, and failover; integrate with MPLS/Internet and cloud on-ramps.

Cisco enterprise and Meraki

· Lead designs for campus/branch switching and routing (Catalyst/IOS-XE) and Meraki (switching, MX, wireless).

· Establish segmentation strategies (VRF/VLAN, SGTs if applicable), QoS, and resiliency (HSRP/VRRP, ECMP).

Identity and NAC (Cisco ISE)

· Architect and operationalize 802.1X/MAB, profiling, posture, guest/BYOD, and device onboarding.

· Define policies for dynamic VLANs, SGT/TrustSec (if used), and certificate/PKI integrations; ensure smooth enforcement across Cisco and Meraki.

Data center networking

· Design and maintain data center fabrics and core switching (e.g., Cisco Nexus/leaf-spine or equivalent), L2/L3 redundancy, and EVPN/VXLAN or traditional designs as applicable.

· Integrate firewalling, load balancing, and private/public cloud connectivity.

Monitoring, telemetry, and tooling

· Set standards for observability (SNMP/telemetry, syslog, NetFlow/IPFIX), dashboards, and alerting.

· Leverage and integrate tools such as SolarWinds/Orion, NetFlow/IPFIX collectors, packet capture/analysis (e.g., Wireshark), and configuration/asset platforms.

· Define SLOs/SLIs and use data to drive capacity planning and problem management.

Security, compliance, and governance

· Embed security and regulatory best practices applicable to financial services into network designs (segmentation, encryption, access controls, logging/retention, change control).

· Partner with Security, Compliance, and Audit to meet policy and regulatory expectations.

Delivery and operations

· Provide L4/L5 escalation support; lead root-cause analysis and corrective action plans for major incidents.

· Author high-quality documentation: HLDs/LLDs, standards, runbooks, and diagrams.

· Participate in CAB/ITIL processes; plan and execute complex changes, including after-hours maintenance windows.

Collaboration and leadership

· Mentor engineers, review designs, and raise the bar for engineering quality.

· Engage with vendors, evaluate solutions, and contribute to budgeting and SOWs.

· Translate business requirements into robust technical solutions and clear deliverables.

Required qualifications

· 8–10+ years of progressive experience designing and operating large enterprise networks; 3+ years in an architecture or principal engineering role.

Deep hands-on expertise with:

· Cisco routing/switching (Enterprise): OSPF, BGP, VRF, HSRP/VRRP, QoS, multicast (nice to have).

· Meraki switching/security/wireless and Dashboard administration.

· Cisco ISE for NAC (802.1X/MAB, profiling, posture, guest/BYOD) and policy design.

· HPE Aruba EdgeConnect (SD-WAN) design, policy, and operations.

· Data center switching and L2/L3 designs (leaf-spine/Nexus or equivalent).

Strong TCP/IP fundamentals and troubleshooting skills using packet captures and flow/telemetry data.

· Experience building highly available, segmented, and secure architectures in regulated environments.

· Proficiency with network management and observability tools (e.g., SolarWinds/Orion, NetFlow/IPFIX, syslog) and creating actionable dashboards/alerts.

· Excellent communication skills to interface with technical teams, leadership, and non-technical stakeholders; strong documentation discipline.

Preferred qualifications

· Relevant certifications such as Cisco: CCNP/CCIE Enterprise; Cisco Meraki Solutions Specialist; ISE-focused specialist credent