SD-WAN Engineer

Location: New York, NY or Jersey City, NJ (Hybrid – 3 days onsite)

Quick Context:
The client has not yet selected an SD-WAN vendor and is currently evaluating Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN (Viptela), Juniper Mist, and Arista VeloCloud. They are looking for a senior, hands-on engineer with deep expertise in one SD-WAN platform (Cisco Viptela/Catalyst SD-WAN preferred) who can intelligently discuss the other platforms. They are not looking for a generalist with shallow knowledge across all vendors.

What to Look For

• Prioritize hands-on SD-WAN configuration, deployment, and troubleshooting experience. This is a builder/implementer role, not a strategy or PowerPoint architect.
• Strong expertise in one SD-WAN platform:
  • Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN (Viptela) – Preferred
  • Juniper Mist WAN Assurance / Session Smart Router
  • Arista VeloCloud SD-WAN
• Candidates should be able to read and interpret High-Level Designs (HLDs) and Low-Level Designs (LLDs). They do not need to be the original author of the designs.
• Strong enterprise networking fundamentals including:
  • BGP (Route Reflection, Communities, Policy)
  • OSPF
  • IPSec
  • QoS
• Experience participating in vendor evaluations, Proof of Concepts (POCs), or SD-WAN bake-offs is highly desirable.
• Looking for senior-level engineers with excellent communication skills who can explain technical tradeoffs to customers and stakeholders.
• Experience migrating from DMVPN/MPLS to SD-WAN is a strong plus.
• Include a clear pay range in all job postings (WWT Pay Transparency requirement).
• Remove all end-client references from any candidate-facing communication or job postings.

Candidates do not need experience with all three SD-WAN platforms listed in the job description.

The client is seeking a strong expert in one platform who is willing and able to transfer that knowledge across other vendor technologies.

This is NOT an Architect-level role.

The ideal candidate is a Senior, hands-on SD-WAN Engineer with current experience performing:

• Configuration
• Deployment
• Troubleshooting
• Reading and interpreting High-Level Designs

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN (Viptela) experience remains the preferred background.

Primary Skills

The primary focus is hands-on SD-WAN engineering experience, with Cisco being the preferred platform.

• Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
• Juniper Mist WAN Assurance and Session Smart Router
• Arista VeloCloud SD-WAN

Candidates can work from either the New York or Jersey City office.

Occasional night/weekend work may be required, but this role supports the engineering team, not the deployment team, so after-hours work should be minimal.

Position Overview

The Senior SD-WAN Network Architect will provide architectural leadership and hands-on delivery for modern WAN transformations. This role partners closely with customer stakeholders, implementation teams, and operations to design, deploy, and transition resilient SD-WAN solutions into steady-state operations.

Responsibilities

• Provide architectural fluency across Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Juniper Mist WAN Assurance with Session Smart Router, and Arista VeloCloud SD-WAN.
• Lead design and hands-on deployment for at least one SD-WAN platform in production environments.
• Design and implement enterprise routing and switching solutions including BGP, OSPF, IPSec, and Quality of Service.
• Develop policy constructs, multi-VRF designs, and network segmentation strategies.
• Author High-Level Designs (HLDs) and Low-Level Designs (LLDs), maintaining architectural decision records with clear design rationale.
• Create test plans, validation procedures, and execute design verification activities.
• Produce as-built documentation, test results, and Day 2 operational runbooks for customer NOC handoff.
• Execute migrations from legacy WAN architectures such as DMVPN and traditional MPLS to SD-WAN platforms.
• Integrate SD-WAN solutions with inline next-generation firewall technologies and adjacent security architectures including Secure Service Edge (SSE) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).
• Implement cloud on-ramp connectivity for at least one major cloud provider.
• Serve as a senior technical responder during deployments, escalations, and complex troubleshooting bridge calls.

Qualifications

• Expert-level experience in enterprise networking with deep routing and switching fundamentals.
• Demonstrated experience with BGP overlay designs including route reflection, communities, and policy control.
• Strong working knowledge of OSPF, IPSec, and traffic engineering concepts.
• Proven ability to lead WAN transformation initiatives from design through implementation and operational transition.
• Experience collaborating with operations teams and supporting production environments during high-impact events.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present technical concepts to varied audiences.

Tools & Technologies

• Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
• Juniper Mist WAN Assurance and Session Smart Router
• Arista VeloCloud SD-WAN
• Git-based configuration management with peer review workflows
• Ansible for network configuration management
• Python for automation and SD-WAN controller API integration
• Network security platforms including next-generation firewalls and SASE-related services