Senior Vice President of Technology (Chicago)

SVP, Network Engineering

Location: downtown Chicago

*please note that this position requires 5 days in office

The SVP will act as the senior technical authority on network architecture, owning the design, resilience, and multi-year roadmap of a global network spanning all offices and cloud environments — while also managing and mentoring a team of network engineers and overseeing managed service provider operations. The role combines strategic leadership with hands-on involvement in the organization's most complex technical problems.

Responsibilities

• Set architecture strategy and technology roadmap for internal and external networks, establishing global standards for Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, and Arista platforms
• Act as final escalation point for major network incidents, directing root-cause analysis and long-term fixes across a global team
• Partner with Security leadership to define network security architecture, segmentation, and Zero Trust/SASE strategy
• Own the network capital and operating budget, including hardware refresh planning, licensing spend, and vendor contract negotiations
• Lead multi-year capacity planning and lifecycle strategy for network infrastructure, aligning forecasts with growth and cloud migration plans
• Build and mentor a network engineering team, setting standards, career paths, and performance goals
• Establish governance for documentation, change management, and configuration standards
• Manage strategic vendor and carrier relationships, including contract negotiation and SLA discussions
• Present network strategy, risk, and investment priorities to senior Technology, Security, and Finance stakeholders

Requirements:

• 10–15 years in IT, including 8+ years of progressive network engineering/architecture experience and 3+ years leading a network engineering team
• Advanced certifications preferred (e.g., CCNP/CCIE, Arista ACE, PCNSE, or Azure architecture credentials)
• Deep expertise in global LAN/WAN and enterprise networking architecture across multiple regions
• Expert knowledge of network protocols, routing, and switching at enterprise scale
• Experience setting enterprise wireless strategy (e.g., Meraki or similar cloud-managed solutions)
• Extensive Palo Alto NGFW experience, including firewall architecture and policy governance
• Strong grasp of network security principles, with experience shaping strategy alongside CISO/Security leadership
• Proven experience architecting hybrid/multi-cloud connectivity (e.g., Azure VNets, ExpressRoute) through large-scale migrations
• Track record managing multi-year budgets and negotiating vendor/carrier contracts
• TEM and MSP management experience a plus