Director, Network Engineering (WAN/DDI)

We are the movers of the world and the makers of the future. We get up every day, roll up our sleeves and build a better world -- together. At Ford, we’re all a part of something bigger than ourselves. Are you ready to change the way the world moves

Enterprise Technology plays a critical part in shaping the future of mobility. If you’re looking for the chance to leverage advanced technology to redefine the transportation landscape, enhance the customer experience and improve people’s lives, this is the opportunity for you. Join us and challenge your IT expertise and analytical skills to help create vehicles that are as smart as you are.

This job is posted as onsite and required to work from our Dearborn, MI, offices.
 
The Director of Network Engineering will develop, manage, and support networking products across DDI and WAN. This hands-on role involves working with multi-vendor technology stacks, software-as-a-service, and various networking tools including third party solutions as well as internal Ford applications. You will be responsible for leading a team of engineers and driving the tactical and operational aspects of DDI and Wide Area Networking while also collaborating across adjacent network groups in the Enterprise Technology space. 

• Networking Architecture: Direct the design, implementation, and ongoing maintenance of the organization's DDI and wide area network (WAN) infrastructure, ensuring high availability and performance.
• Large Scale Enterprise Migrations - Lead efforts to migrate WAN services to Palo Alto Prisma cloud and DDI services to TCPWave.
• Team Leadership: Lead and manage a Network Infrastructure team, fostering a collaborative and high-performing environment, ensuring efficient team operations and project delivery.
• Advanced Security Rigor: Implement and maintain robust network security policies and procedures to protect against threats and vulnerabilities. Work closely with the security team to ensure compliance and best practices.
• Capacity Planning: Proactively plan for future network capacity needs and continuously monitor network performance, identifying and resolving bottlenecks to ensure optimal operation.
• Onboarding/Ingestion: Define and introduce a standardized process for onboarding new network programs, including pre-requisites, budget availability, and cross-team collaboration needs to help prioritize requests.
• Robust Documentation: Establish and implement a comprehensive documentation strategy for all network programs, including design specifications, architecture drawings, operational procedures, and security configurations.
• Network Automation: Drive the automation of network deployment and management processes using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools such as Ansible, Cisco NSO, Terraform, etc.
• Network Performance Optimization: Monitor, analyze, and optimize network performance, employing techniques like traffic shaping, load balancing, and network path optimization.
• High Availability and Disaster Recovery: Architect fault-tolerant network solutions with disaster recovery capabilities across all site archetypes to ensure highly available and reliable connections to Ford data centers.
• Network Troubleshooting: Lead efforts in network troubleshooting and incident response, utilizing advanced diagnostic tools and techniques such as packet capture analysis, flow monitoring, and synthetic testing.
• Compliance and Security Best Practices: Ensure adherence to industry standards and compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) by implementing security frameworks such as NIST and CIS benchmarks.
• Innovation:  Stay abreast of emerging network technologies and trends, identifying opportunities to enhance network performance, security, and efficiency.

• Deep understanding of various WAN technologies, including MPLS, SD-WAN, VPNs, and other WAN optimization techniques.
• Experience engineering and transitioning large Enterprises to Palo Alto Prisma Access platform for WAN modernization a major plus
• Expert knowledge of WAN routing protocols, including BGP (Border Gateway Protocol), OSPF (Open Shortest Path First), and MPLS.
• Strong understanding of DNS record management and protocols, DHCP server configuration and IP address allocation within an IPAM system;  proficiency in subnetting, network protocols and experience with DDI management tools including QIP and TCPWave
• Proven experience in migrating large enterprises to TCPWave (or similar DDI management tooling)
• Understanding of net