Lead/Architect Azure Network Engineer

Lead/Architect Azure Network Engineer

Location: Onsite (Mckinney Texas) Hybrid Local Candidate

This role is a hands-on Azure Infrastructure and Network Engineering position, responsible for designing, building, and troubleshooting cloud and hybrid networked platforms using Terraform and Azure DevOps.

The engineer is expected to think from first principles, explain why a design works, and independently diagnose and resolve network and infrastructure issues without relying solely on runbooks.

Key Responsibilities

Azure Infrastructure & Terraform Engineering:

· Design, build, and own Azure infrastructure using Terraform as the primary IaC tool.

· Create reusable Terraform modules from scratch, not just consume existing templates.

· Explain and apply:

o Resource dependencies

o State management (remote state, locking, drift detection)

o Environment isolation strategies

· Integrate Terraform with Azure DevOps YAML pipelines for controlled CI/CD deployments.

· Perform root-cause analysis for failed Terraform plans/applies and configuration drift.

· Refactor manually created Azure resources into fully Terraform-managed infrastructure.

Azure & Hybrid Network Engineering (Core Requirement):

Act as the primary Network Engineering SME for Azure and hybrid environments.

Design and troubleshoot:

Azure VNETs, subnets, peering, and hub-and-spoke architectures

NSGs, ASGs, UDRs, route tables, and effective routes

Azure VPN Gateway and ExpressRoute connectivity

Azure Firewall, NVAs, load balancers (L4/L7)

Demonstrate strong understanding of networking fundamentals, including:

TCP/IP, routing vs switching

DNS resolution flows

NAT, firewall rules, asymmetric routing

Latency, packet loss, and throughput issues

Enterprise Networking & Troubleshooting:

· Hands-on experience with enterprise networking platforms:

o Cisco and Juniper (routing, switching, firewall fundamentals)

o EdgeConnect (SD-WAN) or equivalent WAN solutions

· Perform end-to-end troubleshooting across:

o Application layer

o OS/network stack

o Azure networking constructs

o On-prem ↔ cloud connectivity

· Handle L3-level escalations, not just ticket execution.

Engineering Operations & Change Ownership:

· Own infrastructure and network changes during approved change windows.

· Perform impact analysis and rollback planning, not just change execution.

· Maintain engineering-quality documentation, including:

o Network diagrams

o Terraform module documentation

o Runbooks written by the engineer, not just consumed

Contribute to standards, best practices, and continuous improvement.