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