Network Architect - Chicago, IL, USA - Hybrid

Network Architect- Chicago, IL, USA

Required Education
-Bachelor's Degree
Required Experience
-10+ years of hands-on experience deploying, migrating, managing, and supporting complex enterprise and data center networks
Preferred Certification
-CCNP-level knowledge is strongly preferred
-Relevant Cisco certifications are a plus
Required Skills
-Data Center Networking: Expert-level hands-on Cisco Nexus and Catalyst routing/switching; BGP, OSPF, L2/L3 design, resiliency, segmentation
-Enterprise WAN & SD-WAN: Design, deployment, migration, routing integration, policy, branch connectivity, path selection, troubleshooting — Prisma SD-WAN strongly preferred
-Cisco Data Center Platforms: Nexus, Catalyst, fabric management — NDFC strongly preferred; Catalyst Center a plus
-Cloud Connectivity: Azure ExpressRoute and/or AWS Direct Connect (BGP routing, route advertisement, redundancy, cloud team collaboration)
-Complex Migrations: Dependency management, testing, change control, rollback planning, post-implementation validation
-Hands-On Implementation Leadership: Assess environment, develop approach, execute production work, validate, resolve with minimal direction
-Network Security & Adjacent Services (preferred): Enterprise firewalls, DNS/DHCP/IPAM, load balancing — Palo Alto, Infoblox, F5 particularly valuable
-Automation Awareness: Terraform, Ansible, Python, GitHub, GitHub Actions, IaC, GitOps (concepts desired; coding preferred, not required)
-Observability & Troubleshooting: Packet analysis, telemetry, monitoring tools across hybrid environments
-Communication & Collaboration: Strong written/verbal/interpersonal skills across Architecture, Cloud, Security, Operations, vendors, and global teams
-Soft Skills: Self-starter, sound engineering judgment, strong ownership, continuous improvement
Job Description
-Senior hands-on engineer with deep expertise in data center routing/switching, enterprise WAN and SD-WAN, and hybrid cloud connectivity
-Primarily focused on engineering execution: personally implementing, migrating, troubleshooting, and supporting production infrastructure
-Contributes practical input to network designs and architecture decisions
-Delivers and supports infrastructure across global private data centers, colocation facilities, cloud connectivity environments, and enterprise sites
-Owns complex tasks with minimal direction; collaborates with Architecture, Cloud, Security, Operations, and application teams
-Transitions completed solutions into stable operational support
-Data Center Routing & Switching: Implement, migrate, optimize, troubleshoot NexCatalyst environments (L2/L3, BGP, OSPF, redundancy, segmentation, HA)
-Data Center Network Management: Deploy/operate fabrics and management platforms (NDFC or comparable)
-SD-WAN & Enterprise WAN: Design, deploy, migrate, support SD-WAN/WAN services (Prisma SD-WAN preferred)
-Cloud Connectivity: Implement/troubleshoot private connectivity (ExpressRoute / Direct Connect); collaborate with Cloud Engineering
-Global Network Deployments: Lead hands-on deployments and complex migrations (planning, testing, cutover, rollback, validation)
-Tier 3 Technical Support: Senior escalation point; independently diagnose/resolve complex production issues
-Network Services Collaboration: Work across firewalls, DNS/DHCP/IPAM, load balancing (Palo Alto, Infoblox, F5 preferred)
-Network Design: Contribute implementation expertise to architecture/design reviews (readiness, supportability, risk, feasibility)
-Automation: Work in an automation/IaC environment (Terraform, Ansible, Python, GitHub, GitOps)
-Documentation & Knowledge Transfer: Maintain designs, implementation plans, MOPs, test/rollback plans, diagrams, config standards, handoff docs