Principle Network Architect

Job Description

Key Responsibilities

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● Own the network architecture standards and Building Block topology framework for the physical

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security estate, setting the designs the senior team builds against.

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● Define perimeter-resilience and high-availability strategy, including ERPS / MSTP ring architecture

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standards and cable-cut survivability requirements for critical zones.

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● Establish network security and configuration standards, and the zero-touch-config automation strategy

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that governs deployment at scale.

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● Set monitoring, inventory and observability standards (NetBox, SolarWinds, PRTG, Syslog) for the

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network estate.

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● Own network hardware and firmware lifecycle strategy, EOL evaluation, refresh planning and vendor

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selection across Cisco / Juniper / Arista.

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● Serve as the final escalation point for the most complex network incidents and architectural decisions.

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● Partner with the Infrastructure Engineering team and program leadership to align network architecture

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with shared security boundaries, governance, SLAs and KPIs.

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● Author and approve network architecture standards, design documentation and runbooks; drive

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continuous improvement of resilience and security posture.

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● Mentor and develop senior network engineers, establishing best practices and building long-term

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network engineering capability.

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Required Skills

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● 10+ years of enterprise network engineering, including architecture leadership and standards

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ownership in large or critical environments.

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● Authoritative enterprise network design across Cisco / Juniper / Arista, with deep routing, switching

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and segmentation expertise.

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● Mastery of ERPS / MSTP ring protocols and high-availability perimeter design, including

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survivability strategy for critical zones.

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● Strong network automation and zero-touch-config leadership (Python / Ansible) and standards

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definition.

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● Monitoring and inventory architecture (NetBox, SolarWinds, PRTG, Syslog); hardware / firmware

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lifecycle and vendor management.

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● Demonstrated network architecture leadership — standards ownership, cross-functional partnership,

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mentoring and escalation leadership.

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● Certifications — Required: Cisco CCNP or Juniper JNCIS. Strongly preferred: CCIE or equivalent

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architect-level credential; network automation (Python / Ansible); ERPS / MSTP design; ITIL 4.

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Tools Required

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● Standards & Access: 802.1X, VLAN segmentation, DNS, DHCP for secure network access and

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segmentation.

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● High-Availability Architecture: ERPS and MSTP ring topologies for perimeter resilience and cable-

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cut survivability.

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● Automation: zero-touch-config and scripting (Python / Ansible) for standardized, rapid deployment.

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● Monitoring & Vendors: NetBox, SolarWinds, PRTG and Syslog analysis; Cisco / Juniper / Arista

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platforms; hardware / firmware EOL refresh.