Director, Network Engineering

Company Description

NBCUniversal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. We create world-class content, which we distribute across our portfolio of film, television, and streaming, and bring to life through our theme parks and consumer experiences. We own and operate leading entertainment and news brands, including NBC, NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC Sports, Telemundo, NBC Local Stations, Bravo, USA Network, and Peacock, our premium ad-supported streaming service. We produce and distribute premier filmed entertainment and programming through Universal Filmed Entertainment Group and Universal Studio Group, and have world-renowned theme parks and attractions through Universal Destinations & Experiences. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

Our impact is rooted in improving the communities where our employees, customers, and audiences live and work. We have a rich tradition of giving back and ensuring our employees have the opportunity to serve their communities. We champion an inclusive culture and strive to attract and develop a talented workforce to create and deliver a wide range of content reflecting our world.

Comcast NBCUniversal has announced its intent to create a new publicly traded company ('Versant') comprised of most of NBCUniversal's cable television networks, including USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel along with complementary digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass, and SportsEngine. The well-capitalized company will have significant scale as a pure-play set of assets anchored by leading news, sports and entertainment content. The spin-off is expected to be completed during 2025.

Job Description

The Director, Network Engineering is a critical leadership role responsible for the strategic planning, design, implementation, and operation of Versant Media's enterprise and production network infrastructure. This encompasses supporting our high-availability broadcast centers, global corporate offices, and scalable public cloud environments that power our premier digital properties and streaming services.

This Director will lead a team of talented engineers, ensuring the network is secure, resilient, highly performant, and capable of supporting the demanding requirements of live news, sports broadcasting, and large-scale video-on-demand (VOD) distribution. You will be instrumental in driving the adoption of network automation and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles to accelerate our transformation into an agile, digital-first media company.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Strategy & Architecture

• Define and own the 3-5 year network architecture roadmap across all environments (LAN, WAN, Data Center, Cloud, and Broadcast Production), ensuring solutions align with business growth and regulatory compliance.
• Lead the design, implementation, and optimization of WAN/MPLS circuits and network connectivity between Versant's domestic and international offices, ensuring consistent performance and security standards globally.
• Design and enforce network redundancy, ensuring diverse paths and connectivity at all locations to eliminate single points of failure for critical broadcast and digital services.
• Drive network security initiatives, working closely with InfoSec to implement and enforce segmentation, zero-trust models, and perimeter defense across the hybrid cloud estate.
• Manage capacity planning, and lifecycle management for all network assets.

Leadership & Operations

• Recruit, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of network engineers, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, ownership, and technical excellence.
• Oversee the 24x7 operational stability of the network, acting as a final escalation point for critical incidents impacting live services or broadcast operations.
• Establish and enforce comprehensive network monitoring standards and practices for all infrastructure components, including routers, switches, firewalls, and wireless access points.
• Standardize network configuration, tooling, and alerting, utilizing Python, Ansible, and Terraform for infrastructure automation and rapid deployment.
• Establish and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level objectives (SLOs) to ensure the network consistently meets five-nines (99.999%) availability targets.

Technical Expertise

• Expertly manage and optimize advanced routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, MPLS) and switching technologies across diverse vendor platforms (e.g., Arista, Cisco, Juniper).
• Own the end-to-end network and circuit design from initial concept through deployment, including high-level and low-level engineering documentation and acceptance testing.
• Mainta