Network Architect

Supports the customer's corporate network infrastructure and translates business needs into technical solutions. Defines solutions to problems through reasoned application of information technology. Provides Network Architectural direction to various outsourced customer accounts. Works with the customer, various delivery teams and internal teams to provide outsourced services. This is a hands-off-keyboard position, not an engineering position.

RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:

- Designs, develops, documents and analyzes overall architecture of systems, including hardware and software.
- Determines integrated hardware and software architecture solutions that meet performance, usability, scalability, reliability, and security needs.
- Provide architecture designs and cost estimates for midrange infrastructure required to provide computing resources for applications
- Coordinates design and integration of total system including subsystems.
- Researches and recommends technology to improve the current systems.
- Provides specialized technical guidance to others in work area.
- Performs onsite data center support that includes problem management, change management, project support and new implementations
- Supports testing, planning, problem management, change management and staging of network hardware and configurations.
- Provides customer support including testing network hardware and software, equipment installation and turn-up, and remote hands assistance as required
- Provide technical troubleshooting and leadership required to recover from the most complex networking problems for the customer's LAN/WAN environments.
- Provide support for Sniffer and various application analysis tools for benchmarking and troubleshooting.
- Participate in identification of root cause analysis, resolution, outage mitigations, testing and implementation of vendor/IT fixes or design changes.
- Work closely with the business partners to identify/quantify business issues associated with specific projects, develop/implement business strategy, and assist in setting strategic tech direction in support of customer facing organizations.
- Review/approve proposed tech system designs in collaboration with team

SKILLS:

Bachelors degree is preferred

- Requires a minimum of 10 years of experience as an enterprise data network architect designing and implementing data center infrastructures and interconnectivity between customer sites and data centers.
- Candidate must have prior experience as a network engineer and have worked up to consulting directly with customer executives in developing overarching architectures as well as integration of all technologies and services involved in global networking capability.
- The candidate must demonstrate experience in end-to-end responsibility -- from gleaning customer requirements and translating those into a best practices solutions to providing implementation guidance to engineers and assisting with critical technical issues.
- Significant experience with Unix (eg, Cisco, Sun Servers), LAN/WAN, Routers and Switches, Network protocols, problem determination, data center design, Shell Scripting, sab/NAS storage, EBR and cost estimation is required
- Voice/data convergence and Video Conferencing Technologies a plus.
- Intermediate Visio drawings and Firewalls/security are desired.
- Regarding certifications: ACTIVE CCNP is REQUIRED; CCIE Written is desired
- In-depth understanding of Networking industry, technologies and specific infrastructures/environments, both Data and Voice
- Complex network planning, design, integration, performance, and capacity management
- Development and support of complex network solutions
- Demonstrate technical leadership, teamwork, focus on customer satisfaction
- Possess excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to communicate at both a technical and business level with technical staff and Executives.
- Candidate must be located in the Chicagoland area