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Role: Sr. Network Architect

Duration: 6 month contract to hire- No Sponsorship available

Location: Hybrid either in Chicago, Atlanta or Houston.

Update: Client needs strong experience with Fortinet and Azure. 

• Security Infrastructure experience (Cisco ASA & Meraki, Palo Alto, Fortinet, Zscaler)
• 2 + years of experience with Zscaler products and technologies, including ZIA, ZPA, Zscaler Cloud Firewall, and Zscaler Private Access.
• 3+ years of experience with Cisco ACI or other versions of Network SDN
• 5+ years of experience with Networking, Load Balancers, WAN Optimizers, SDWAN, Wireless LAN Controllers, Network Access Control (NAC) & Zero Trust
• 3+ years of design & support experience with Cloud computing (Azure, AWS, or GCP)
• CCIE / CISSP Route & Switch or Datacenter level certifications or equivalent experience.

Job Purpose: The Network Architect is responsible for the development, ongoing technical expertise and architectural solutions in the network, cloud, and ancillary network areas. This role holds significant responsibility for providing robust and scalable technology platforms to ensure the ongoing performance of ABM’s IT systems. This role will be focused on setting standards, building designs, and working with Network Engineers to implement ABM’s network systems. The Network Architect will work with other architecture roles in the company, including Solution Architects and Enterprise Architects as well as Infrastructure Project Managers.
Responsibilities:

• Provide oversight and governance for all network technology and domains, ensuring solutions architecture assurance and compliance
• Establish, document, and communicate all infrastructure architecture designs and standards, ensuring the adherence to these measures across the environment and participating in process reviews like IT Vendor Assessments & IT Risk Assessments
• Perform within the Plan/Build/Operate model as 80% Planning & 20% Build/Operate
• Manage and develop the architecture for projects working closely with application leaders to ensure the project is aligned with the overall enterprise architecture
• Monitor the current state solutions portfolio to identify deficiencies through aging of technologies and infrastructure
• Define the principles, guidelines, and standards to ensure solution decisions are aligned with the enterprise’s future-state architecture vision
• Ensure the stable operation of the corporate enterprise network including planning, developing, installing, configuring, maintaining, supporting, and optimizing all network hardware, software, and data connectivity links with the assistance of Network Services team members
• Conduct research and make recommendations on network infrastructure, services, protocols, and standards in anticipation and in advance of the business need
• Provide guidance and support to more junior team members, conducting and overseeing training & mentoring sessions, standards, and best practices overviews
• Provide technical leadership of the Network Services team, participating in roadmap and planning sessions and ensuring a culture of accountability to the best practices and standards the Network Architect will be responsible for establishing
• Individual must be able to perform the essential duties with or without reasonable accommodation
• Escalation point for advanced network & systems troubleshooting
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned

Qualifications:
Any combination of requirements, which provide knowledge and abilities necessary to perform essential duties and responsibilities, will be considered.

• Undergraduate degree in computer science, systems analysis, related study or equivalent combination of education and work experience that provides the knowledge and abilities necessary to perform the work
• 10+ years of experience designing and implementing enterprise network and technology solutions, developing, and supporting infrastructure, analyzing and documenting technology solutions and mapping them to business TCO and ROI Analysis
• 10+ years of experience building and supporting data center environments (Cisco Data Center, Nexus, VXLAN, ASR/ISR Routers)
• Ability to research and identify solutions and leading the proof of concepts (PoCs) for software and hardware solutions that address business/technical needs and opportunities
• Ability to apply multiple technical solutions to business problems
• Ability to translate future-state business capabilities and requirements into solution architecture requirements
• Ability to propose and estimate the financial impact of solution architecture alternatives
• Ability to research, identify and recommend industry best practices (using existing, new, and emerging technologies) for solving business problems
• Ability to maintain knowledge of IT network architecture, standards and practices and consistently apply these standards
• Ability to identify and document technical debt and establish a lifecycle management strategy
• Adept at communicating complex technical solutions to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Develop documentation from a high level (documentation strategy) as well as hands on (network diagrams, standards documents, SOPs, etc).
• Implement security best practices to protect cloud networks from cyber threats and vulnerabilities. This includes configuring firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), encryption, access control, and implementing security policies and compliance standards.

Preferred Qualification:

• CCIE / CISSP Route & Switch or Datacenter level certifications or equivalent experience
• 3+ years of design & support experience with Cloud computing (Azure, AWS, or GCP)
• 5+ years of experience with Networking, Load Balancers, WAN Optimizers, SDWAN, Wireless LAN Controllers, Network Access Control (NAC) & Zero Trust
• 3+ years of experience with Cisco ACI or other versions of Network SDN
• 2 + years of experience with Zscaler products and technologies, including ZIA, ZPA, Zscaler Cloud Firewall, and Zscaler Private Access.
• Security Infrastructure experience (Cisco ASA & Meraki, Palo Alto, Fortinet, Zscaler)
• Enterprise Network Monitoring & SIEM experience (SolarWinds Orion, Splunk, Sentinel, etc)
• Experience developing strategies for implementation of QoS, and Multicast
• Significant experiencing with packet capture and analysis tools, NetFlow, IP SLA, etc
• Active Directory, SAN & VMware experience
• Experience with Cisco Call Manager and Unified Communications Technologies
• UCaas & CCaaS Cloud based services

Additional Qualifications:

• Must have the ability to provide documentation verifying legal work status.
• Ability to read and speak the English language proficiently to communicate with others, understand and interpret safety instructions, and to respond to inquiries.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, communication skills and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams.
• Ability to understand and comply with ABM guidelines and expectations, to include Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest guidelines