Network Architect

Role: Network Architect (W2 only)

Location: Richmond, VA (Hybrid 3 days/week)

Duration: 6+ month C2H

About the role

Our client recently lost a senior infrastructure leader, and network responsibilities informally covered by a server-focused employee now need dedicated, experienced ownership. The organization runs on Cisco networking infrastructure and is also consolidating infrastructure across multiple merged entities, which makes stable, well-understood network architecture more important than ever. This role calls for a certified Cisco subject matter expert who can also lead people and still work the problem personally.

This is not a purely break/fix role, and it is not a purely managerial one either. The client wants a seasoned network architect - an SME in Cisco with the certifications to back it up - who combines architectural thinking with real management or team-lead experience and hands-on-keyboard troubleshooting instinct. Someone who can direct a team, then personally dig into a hard, unresolved problem on Cisco gear, question assumptions, and drive it to root cause.

Key responsibilities

• Own network architecture and strategy during a period of leadership transition and organizational change
• Lead and mentor staff currently covering network responsibilities outside their primary specialty, while remaining personally hands-on in the environment
• Personally troubleshoot complex, unresolved network and Wi-Fi issues, including recurring interference-related outages that have resisted prior investigation and mapping
• Evaluate aging network equipment, eliminate variables, and apply practical, field-tested judgment where standard processes haven't resolved the issue
• Assess network implications of merging infrastructure across multiple business entities
• Evaluate vendor, partner, and outsourced-team recommendations, identifying weak or incomplete solutions
• Design and personally help implement scalable, resilient network and wireless architecture for a growing, multi-site enterprise
• Collaborate with M365/Azure and infrastructure teams where network design intersects with cloud and collaboration platforms

Required experience & skills

• Proven experience as a network architect at enterprise scale - certifications alone are not sufficient
• Subject matter expert (SME) in Cisco networking, with relevant Cisco certifications (e.g., CCNP or CCIE) backed by real-world enterprise deployment and troubleshooting experience
• Deep hands-on expertise across the Cisco stack - switching, routing, wireless (Cisco Wireless / Meraki), and firewall/security platforms
• Real managerial or team-lead experience - has run a team, owned delivery decisions, or directly supervised engineers, not just informally guided them
• Still hands-on keyboard: comfortable configuring, testing, and troubleshooting Cisco equipment personally rather than only directing others to do so
• Strong wireless/Wi-Fi troubleshooting expertise, including diagnosing intermittent, interference-related outages on Cisco wireless infrastructure
• Proven ability to systematically root-cause difficult, previously unresolved network issues
• Experience evaluating and modernizing aging Cisco network infrastructure and planning refresh/upgrade cycles
• Experience working alongside offshore teams or external partners, with the judgment to assess their recommendations critically
• Strong communication skills, able to explain technical root causes to non-technical leadership
• Experience supporting organizations through infrastructure consolidation or M&A-driven change is a plus

Ideal candidate profile

A certified Cisco SME who has genuinely managed people or teams, not only owned designs on paper, and who still gets hands-on with the equipment personally. This candidate can walk into a stubborn, unresolved Wi-Fi problem on Cisco infrastructure, lead the team through it, ask the right questions, and find the answer directly.