Senior Network Architect

What success looks like in this role: 1) Customer Network Architecture & End-to-End Design Leadership (Primary) Own the end-to-end network architecture for large/complex customer environments (multi-site, multi-cloud, hybrid, regulated). Lead architecture discovery : current-state analysis, application dependency mapping, traffic flows, capacity baselining, and risk assessment. Produce high-quality architecture artifacts , including: High-level and low-level designs (HLD/LLD) Reference architectures and patterns Logical/physical diagrams, segmentation models, routing & switching plans Security and resiliency designs (fault domains, HA, DR) Bill of materials, licensing alignment, and cost/risk trade-offs Define and validate target-state architecture across: Data center / campus / WAN / branch SD-WAN, SASE, ZTNA integration Load balancing (L4/L7), DNS/DHCP/IPAM DDI, NAC, segmentation, micro-segmentation (where applicable) IPv4/IPv6 strategy, BGP/OSPF/ISIS, EVPN/VXLAN (if required) Ensure designs align to customer business outcomes (growth, M&A, compliance, cloud adoption, user experience, cost controls). Hands-on expectation: Ability to validate designs via config prototypes, lab testing, packet capture, and troubleshooting in real environments. 2) Operational Stabilization & Network Reliability Excellence (Primary) Lead the stabilization of network operations by establishing and driving: Operational maturity (standard operating procedures, runbooks, escalation paths) Incident reduction program using RCA, problem management, and corrective action plans Change governance with standardized change templates, risk scoring, and backout plans Configuration standardization (golden configs, compliance checks, drift detection) Resiliency improvements : elimination of SPOFs, HA consistency, redundancy validation, failover testing Create a Network Reliability Plan with measurable targets: Availability / downtime reduction MTTR improvement Change failure rate reduction Alert noise reduction Performance SLOs (latency/jitter/loss) aligned to app needs Build “ Day-2 Operations ” readiness: Monitoring/telemetry baselines (SNMP/streaming telemetry/syslog/NetFlow) Event correlation and service mapping Capacity forecasting and lifecycle management Drive post-implementation validation : performance testing, failover testing, and operational acceptance criteria. 3) Executive / C-Level Customer Engagement & Technology Leadership (Primary) Act as the trusted technical advisor to customer executives (CIO, CTO, CISO, VP Infrastructure/Operations). Lead executive-level workshops and steer conversations from technical detail to business outcomes: Risk posture, resiliency, compliance readiness Cost optimization (CapEx/OpEx), vendor strategy, roadmap planning Cloud/network strategy alignment Present architectural decisions with clear trade-offs: “Option A vs B” cost, risk, complexity, time-to-value Explicit assumptions, constraints, and recommended path Own the technical narrative in high-stakes settings: QBRs/EBRs, steering committees, architecture review boards Critical incident executive briefings (what happened, impact, mitigation, prevention) 4) Delivery Oversight & Technical Governance (Primary) Provide architectural governance across the delivery lifecycle: Review designs for correctness, security, scalability, and operational readiness Ensure implementation matches the design intent Lead technical checkpoints: design review, pre-change readiness, cutover go/no-go Define quality bars for: Implementation standards and validation checklists Documentation completeness and operational handover Testing requirements (functional, performance, failover) Partner with PMs and Delivery Leads on: Scope definition, sequencing, risk and dependency management Technical change windows and cutover strategy 5) Hands-On Technical Troubleshooting & Escalation Leadership (Primary) Serve as top-tier escalation for complex issues: Routing instability, asymmetry,