SR. NETWORK ARCHITECT

Job Summary: Talent Software Services is in search of a Sr. Network Architect for a contract position in Overland Park, KS. The opportunity will be six months with a strong chance for a long-term extension.

Position Summary: The Senior Network Architect is responsible for Network infrastructure lifecycle management planning, design, oversight, and optimization. This individual collaborates extensively with worldwide client's business and IT professionals, as well as with US-based Infrastructure, Applications, and Information Security teams, and with third-party vendors and contractors. They focus heavily on the strategic and architectural design of on-premises and cloud networking solutions. They help support a robust network environment by supporting office moves, troubleshooting, and design/configuration. This individual also uses their expertise in SDWAN, Routing Architectures, and knowledge of Data Center connectivity to oversee both large and small installations, utilizing a variety of both on-premises and cloud platforms. This candidate is a recognized communicator, subject matter expert, thought leader, champion for technology adoption and compliance, and a passionate empathizer for client needs.

Primary Responsibilities/Accountabilities:

• Face of client's Networking to the world-wide community, acting as a point of contact for issues, questions and support escalation needs.
• Maintains contact and builds relationships with the operating businesses, IT management, IT vendors and technical architects to ensure availability, security, and satisfaction.
• Assists in identifying new and improved approaches, technologies, tools, templates, and business use cases.
• Supports deployment and configuration of a complex Network Infrastructure environment
• Assesses on-prem data centers, office locations, and clouds for network capacity, connectivity, performance, and resiliency.
• Reviews/Approves/Represents Change Tickets in the Network Infrastructure Area
• Leads Networking Break-Fix situations with multiple team members including managed service provider partners
• Maintains broad-based technical and solutions knowledge in key Networking optimization and solution areas including:
  • SDWAN
  • SDA
  • Network Segmentation
  • PAN firewall management
  • VPN concentration
  • Networking expertise across a Hybrid Cloud Environment (On-Premise, Azure, AWS, OCI)
  • Infrastructure as Code (IaC) / Networking Automation
  • Management Responsibilities
  • Experience leading 3rd party delivery teams in geographically diverse locations

• Hybrid Routing Architectures (On-Prem & Cloud) including Routing Tables and protocols such as (BGP, OSPF, VXLAN, OMP)
• Monitoring Tools such as SolarWinds Orion, Cisco DNA Center, Azure ARC, Azure Monitor
• Cisco SDWAN Expertise
• Zero Trust Experience
• Wireless Design Experience for Wi-Fi 6E using predictive site tools
• Load Balancer Design Experience
• Network Authentication utilizing Cisco Client
• Firewall Management utilizing Panorama, Azure WAFs and Azure Firewalls
• Scripting/Coding and automation using such tools as PowerShell, Python, Ansible, Terraform, etc.
• Business Skills
• Experience in leading the delivery of assessments, development of business cases, and solution architecture.
• Experience with multi-phased, complex migration programs that address technology, people / organization, and process change.
• Strong written skills - able to create concise and structured recommendations for total solutions as well as simplifying systems architectures.
• Dynamic and engaging presentation style that commands respect, inspires confidence, earns trust, and makes the complex easy to understand.
• Strong business engagement and customer relationship management.
• Demonstrated proficiency with technical architecture, practical adaptation and implementation, functional deployment, and business ROI focused areas of enterprise infrastructure solutions.
• Financial fluency which includes working with ROI, cost analysis, and financial statements.
• Strong command of English