Senior Network Architect

What success looks like in this role:

1) Customer Network Architecture & End-to-End Design Leadership (Primary)

Own and lead end-to-end network architecture for large, complex customer environments, including multi-site, hybrid, multi-cloud, and regulated ecosystems.

Drive architecture discovery through comprehensive current-state assessments, application dependency mapping, traffic flow analysis, capacity baselining, and risk evaluation.

Develop high-quality architectural deliverables, including:

• High-Level and Low-Level Designs (HLD/LLD)

• Reference architectures and reusable design patterns

• Logical and physical diagrams

• Segmentation strategies and routing/switching frameworks

• Security and resiliency architectures (fault domains, high availability, disaster recovery)

• Bills of materials, licensing alignment, and cost/risk trade-off analysis

Define and validate future-state architectures across:

• Data center, campus, WAN, and branch environments

• SD-WAN, SASE, and ZTNA integrations

• Load balancing (L4/L7), DNS/DHCP/IPAM (DDI)

• NAC, segmentation, and micro-segmentation (as applicable)

• IPv4/IPv6 strategy, BGP/OSPF/ISIS, and EVPN/VXLAN where required

Ensure all designs align with business objectives, including growth initiatives, M&A activity, regulatory compliance, cloud adoption, user experience, and cost optimization.

Maintain hands-on credibility by validating designs through configuration prototypes, lab testing, packet captures, and live-environment troubleshooting.

2) Operational Stabilization & Network Reliability Excellence (Primary)

Lead initiatives to stabilize and mature network operations by implementing:

• Standard operating procedures, runbooks, and defined escalation paths

• Incident reduction programs leveraging root cause analysis (RCA) and structured problem management

• Formal change governance with standardized templates, risk scoring, and rollback strategies

• Configuration standardization (golden configurations, compliance validation, drift detection)

• Resiliency improvements through SPOF elimination, HA consistency validation, and failover testing

Develop and execute a Network Reliability Plan with measurable outcomes:

• Improved availability and reduced downtime

• Reduced MTTR

• Lower change failure rates

• Alert noise reduction

• Performance SLOs (latency, jitter, packet loss) aligned to application requirements

Establish strong Day-2 operational readiness by implementing:

• Monitoring and telemetry baselines (SNMP, streaming telemetry, syslog, NetFlow)

• Event correlation and service mapping

• Capacity forecasting and lifecycle management

Drive post-implementation validation through performance testing, failover validation, and formal operational acceptance criteria.

3) Executive & C-Level Engagement / Technology Leadership (Primary)

Serve as a trusted technical advisor to executive stakeholders (CIO, CTO, CISO, VP Infrastructure/Operations).

Lead executive workshops and translate technical strategy into business outcomes, including:

• Risk posture and resiliency strategy

• Compliance readiness

• CapEx/OpEx optimization and vendor strategy

• Cloud and network roadmap alignment

Present architectural decisions with clearly articulated trade-offs:

• Option comparisons (cost, risk, complexity, time-to-value)

• Explicit assumptions and constraints

• Clear, defensible recommendations

Own the technical narrative in high-impact forums such as QBRs, EBRs, steering committees, architecture review boards, and executive incident briefings.

4) Delivery Oversight & Technical Governance (Primary)

Provide architectural governance throughout the delivery lifecycle.

• Review designs for accuracy, scalability, security, and operational readiness

• Ensure implementation fidelity to architectural intent

• Lead technical checkpoints (design reviews, pre-change readiness, go/no-go decisions)

Define and enforce quality standards for:

• Implementation best practices and validation checklists

• Documentation completeness and operational handoff

• Functional, performance, and failover testing

Partner with Program Managers and Delivery Leads on scope de