Network Architect

Role: Network Architect

Location: Chicago, IL, USA

Job type: Contract

Must have Skills/Attributes : Azure, Cisco, Data Center, Network Automation, Routing, Switches, WAN

Required Education

-Bachelor's Degree

Required Experience

-10+ years of hands-on experience deploying, migrating, managing, and supporting complex enterprise and data center networks

Preferred Certification

-CCNP-level knowledge is strongly preferred

-Relevant Cisco certifications are a plus

Required Skills

-Data Center Networking: Expert-level hands-on Cisco Nexus and Catalyst routing/switching; BGP, OSPF, L2/L3 design, resiliency, segmentation

-Enterprise WAN & SD-WAN: Design, deployment, migration, routing integration, policy, branch connectivity, path selection, troubleshooting — Prisma SD-WAN strongly preferred

-Cisco Data Center Platforms: Nexus, Catalyst, fabric management — NDFC strongly preferred; Catalyst Center a plus

-Cloud Connectivity: Azure ExpressRoute and/or AWS Direct Connect (BGP routing, route advertisement, redundancy, cloud team collaboration)

-Complex Migrations: Dependency management, testing, change control, rollback planning, post-implementation validation

-Hands-On Implementation Leadership: Assess environment, develop approach, execute production work, validate, resolve with minimal direction

-Network Security & Adjacent Services (preferred): Enterprise firewalls, DNS/DHCP/IPAM, load balancing — Palo Alto, Infoblox, F5 particularly valuable

-Automation Awareness: Terraform, Ansible, Python, GitHub, GitHub Actions, IaC, GitOps (concepts desired; coding preferred, not required)

-Observability & Troubleshooting: Packet analysis, telemetry, monitoring tools across hybrid environments

-Communication & Collaboration: Strong written/verbal/interpersonal skills across Architecture, Cloud, Security, Operations, vendors, and global teams

-Soft Skills: Self-starter, sound engineering judgment, strong ownership, continuous improvement

Job Description

-Senior hands-on engineer with deep expertise in data center routing/switching, enterprise WAN and SD-WAN, and hybrid cloud connectivity

-Primarily focused on engineering execution: personally implementing, migrating, troubleshooting, and supporting production infrastructure

-Contributes practical input to network designs and architecture decisions

-Delivers and supports infrastructure across global private data centers, colocation facilities, cloud connectivity environments, and enterprise sites

-Owns complex tasks with minimal direction; collaborates with Architecture, Cloud, Security, Operations, and application teams

-Transitions completed solutions into stable operational support

-Data Center Routing & Switching: Implement, migrate, optimize, troubleshoot Nexus/Catalyst environments (L2/L3, BGP, OSPF, redundancy, segmentation, HA)

-Data Center Network Management: Deploy/operate fabrics and management platforms (NDFC or comparable)

-SD-WAN & Enterprise WAN: Design, deploy, migrate, support SD-WAN/WAN services (Prisma SD-WAN preferred)

-Cloud Connectivity: Implement/troubleshoot private connectivity (ExpressRoute / Direct Connect); collaborate with Cloud Engineering

-Global Network Deployments: Lead hands-on deployments and complex migrations (planning, testing, cutover, rollback, validation)

-Tier 3 Technical Support: Senior escalation point; independently diagnose/resolve complex production issues

-Network Services Collaboration: Work across firewalls, DNS/DHCP/IPAM, load balancing (Palo Alto, Infoblox, F5 preferred)

-Network Design: Contribute implementation expertise to architecture/design reviews (readiness, supportability, risk, feasibility)

-Automation: Work in an automation/IaC environment (Terraform, Ansible, Python, GitHub, GitOps)

-Documentation & Knowledge Transfer: Maintain designs, implementation plans, MOPs, test/rollback plans, diagrams, config standards, handoff docs