Senior Network Architect - Chicago, IL (Local Candidates Only)

We are looking for a highly experienced Senior Network Architect with strong hands-on expertise in enterprise data center networking, Cisco routing and switching, SD-WAN, and hybrid cloud connectivity. The ideal candidate will have 10+ years of experience implementing, migrating, managing, and troubleshooting complex enterprise network infrastructures.

Required Skills :

10+ years of hands-on experience in enterprise and data center networking.

Expert-level experience with Cisco Nexus and Catalyst switches.

Strong knowledge of BGP, OSPF, Layer 2/Layer 3 networking, routing, switching, segmentation, and high availability.

Strong experience in enterprise WAN and SD-WAN design, deployment, migration, and troubleshooting.

Hands-on experience with Azure ExpressRoute and/or AWS Direct Connect.

Experience with data center networking and colocation environments.

Network automation knowledge and familiarity with Terraform, Ansible, Python, GitHub, and GitOps.

Strong troubleshooting, packet analysis, monitoring, and network observability skills.

Experience leading complex network migrations, production cutovers, rollback planning, and validation.

Preferred Skills :

CCNP-level networking knowledge; CCNP/CCIE certifications are a plus.

Cisco NDFC and Catalyst Center.

Prisma SD-WAN.

Palo Alto firewalls.

Infoblox (DNS/DHCP/IPAM).

F5 load balancers.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and GitHub Actions.

Key Responsibilities :

Implement, migrate, optimize, and troubleshoot Cisco Nexus and Catalyst network environments.

Design and support enterprise routing, switching, WAN, and SD-WAN infrastructure.

Implement and troubleshoot hybrid cloud connectivity using Azure ExpressRoute and AWS Direct Connect.

Lead complex network deployments and migrations across global data centers, colocation facilities, and enterprise locations.

Provide Tier 3 technical support and resolve complex production network issues.

Collaborate with Architecture, Engineering, Cloud, Security, and Operations teams.

Develop implementation plans, network diagrams, testing procedures, rollback plans, and technical documentation.

Contribute to network architecture and design decisions while maintaining a strong hands-on engineering focus.

Support network automation and Infrastructure as Code initiatives.

Candidate Requirements :

Bachelor's degree required.

10+ years of relevant network engineering experience.

Strong Cisco data center networking expertise.

Excellent communication and collaboration skills.

Ability to work independently and lead complex technical implementations.

Must be local to Chicago, IL, and available for a hybrid work arrangement.