Senior Network Solutions Architect (Network Systems)

SUMMARY

The Senior Network Solutions Architect acts as a technical
sales professional and network practice leader responsible for solution
architecture on high-value and strategically significant opportunities. This
position collaborates with Solution Engineers, sales professionals, and client
stakeholders to define secure, resilient, scalable network architectures, with
particular emphasis on Cisco Catalyst, Cisco Nexus, and Cisco Meraki
technologies.

The architect leads discovery and design across enterprise
campus, data center networking, wireless, network access control (NAC), secure
access service edge (SASE), and adjacent network security technologies. The
role requires the ability to translate business and technical requirements into
defensible architectures, implementation approaches, proposals, and services
scopes for both technical and executive audiences.

The Senior Network Solutions Architect also provides
billable consulting services, develops repeatable network standards and
practices, and serves as a senior technical mentor within the organization.

JOB
RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support specialized opportunity identification, technical
  qualification, and account planning for major accounts and significant
  territory opportunities involving enterprise networking and network security.
  
• Lead client discovery, current-state assessment,
  requirements analysis, solution architecture, and technical validation for
  complex network opportunities.
  
• Design enterprise campus, branch, data center, and wireless
  network solutions using Cisco Catalyst, Cisco Nexus, and Cisco Meraki
  platforms.
  
• Architect network access control solutions, including
  identity-based access, device profiling, guest access, posture assessment,
  segmentation, and policy enforcement.
  
• Design SASE and security service edge solutions that
  integrate secure connectivity, cloud-delivered security, identity, remote
  access, and branch networking requirements.
  
• Develop routing, switching, wireless, segmentation, high
  availability, resiliency, quality of service, multicast, and network management
  architectures.
  
• Provide technical leadership for Cisco-focused proposals,
  demonstrations, assessments, workshops, proofs of concept, and responses to
  client RFPs.
  
• Develop bills of materials, licensing recommendations,
  logical and physical designs, assumptions, implementation approaches, and
  services estimates.
  
• Identify and engage appropriate post-sales engineering,
  project management, managed services, and manufacturer resources to support
  successful delivery.
  
• Build collaborative relationships with account teams,
  internal technology groups, manufacturers, and client stakeholders to shape
  technically sound, commercially viable solutions.
  
• Professionally present network architectures, tradeoffs,
  migration approaches, risks, and recommendations to technical teams and
  executive leadership.
  
• Research and advance network architecture disciplines,
  standards, validated designs, best practices, service budgets, and delivery
  documentation.
  
• Partner with Technology Practice Group teams to strengthen
  Cisco networking, NAC, wireless, SASE, and network security practices, with
  attention to repeatability, profitability, and service quality.
  
• Engage Sales and Sales Engineering teams to transfer
  technical, business, and consultative skills that improve network opportunity
  qualification and solution development.
  
• Mentor Solution Engineers and Solutions Architects, and
  provide senior-level guidance on complex network and security designs.
  
• Coordinate with Project Management and Post-sales
  Engineering to provide complete and accurate documentation for successful
  implementation, transition, and support.
  
• Evaluate proposed network and security architectures for
  technical adequacy, interoperability, operational supportability, scalability,
  and alignment with client requirements.
  
• Assist with network assessments, design reviews, migration
  planning, remediation planning, and architecture governance engagements.
  
• Provide billable consultative services for installation,
  configuration, optimization, troubleshooting, and strategic planning when
  needed.
  
• Leverage Cisco, partner, and internal resources to address
  client concerns, resolve design issues, and advance opportunities through the
  sales process.
  
• Participate in seminars, showcases, client workshops, public
  events, and internal communities to strengthen market awareness and technical
  credibility.
  
• Act in accordance with company policies and procedures as
  set forth in the Employee Handbook.
  
• Perform other related duties as assigned.
  

QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree and eight years of progressively
  responsible experience in enterprise networking, network security, or a closely
  related technology specialization; or an equivalent combination of education
  and experience.
  
• Demonstrated experience architecting complex client
  solutions in a consulting, systems integration, managed services, or enterprise
  environment is required.
  

Licenses and Certifications

• One of the following current certifications is required:
  CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure, CCIE Enterprise Wireless, or CCIE Security.
  CCIE Security is preferred.
  
• Additional expert or professional-level Cisco certifications
  in enterprise networking, security, wireless, data center networking, or design
  are preferred.
  
• Current vendor certifications related to NAC, SASE, secure
  access, network security, or wireless technologies are preferred.
  
• Valid Driver's License, proof of personal insurance, and an
  acceptable driving record.
  

REQUIRED TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Expert-level knowledge of enterprise routing and switching,
  including BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, route redistribution, first-hop redundancy,
  spanning tree, link aggregation, QoS, multicast, and high-availability design.
  
• Advanced architecture and design experience with Cisco
  Catalyst switching and wireless technologies, including Cisco Catalyst Center
  and software-defined campus capabilities.
  
• Advanced architecture and design experience with Cisco Nexus
  data center switching, including NX-OS, virtual port channels, data center
  interconnect considerations, and leaf-spine architectures.
  
• Advanced architecture and design experience with Cisco
  Meraki switching, wireless, security appliances, Systems Manager, and
  cloud-managed networking.
  
• Demonstrated experience designing and integrating NAC
  solutions, including Cisco Identity Services Engine or comparable enterprise
  NAC platforms.
  
• Demonstrated experience with SASE architectures, including
  SD-WAN, zero trust network access, secure web gateway, cloud access security
  broker, firewall as a service, and identity-aware policy enforcement.
  
• Advanced knowledge of enterprise wireless design, including
  RF fundamentals, site survey interpretation, controller and cloud-managed
  architectures, roaming, location services, and wireless security.
  
• Strong understanding of network segmentation and security
  policy, including VLAN and VRF design, access control, macrosegmentation,
  microsegmentation, TrustSec and security group tags, and policy-based access.
  
• Experience integrating network infrastructure with
  firewalls, identity providers, endpoint platforms, monitoring systems, logging
  platforms, IP address management, DNS, DHCP, and cloud connectivity services.
  
• Ability to assess existing networks, identify material
  technical and operational risks, and develop pragmatic remediation and
  migration roadmaps.
  
• Ability to produce high-quality diagrams, design narratives,
  statements of work, assumptions, implementation dependencies, and
  executive-level recommendations.
  
• Working knowledge of automation and programmability
  concepts, including APIs, controller-based management, configuration templates,
  and infrastructure lifecycle management.
  
• Excellent communication skills with technical and
  non-technical audiences, including the ability to lead complex discovery
  sessions and explain architectural decisions, constraints, and tradeoffs.
  
• Excellent organizational, prioritization, documentation, and
  time-management skills, with the ability to exercise independent judgment in a
  changing environment.
  
• Demonstrated integrity, attention to detail, accountability,
  continuous learning, and commitment to quality.
  

JOB
REQUIREMENTS

• Should be
  willing to accept a long-term work-from-home arrangement.
  
• Should be amenable to a permanent night shift schedule