Lead Network Architect - Enterprise

Overview

Lead Network Architect

1. Enterprise Network Architecture Strategy

• Define and maintain the
• target network architecture
• across:
• WAN / SD-WAN and Internet Edge
• LAN switching and segmentation
• Wi-Fi (retail and corporate environments)
• Cloud networking and connectivity patterns
• Develop scalable
• architecture blueprints
• for:
• Retail stores, warehouses, offices, data centers, and cloud environments
• Ensure balance across:
• Resilience and fault tolerance
• Security-by-design principles
• Performance optimization (critical apps, voice/video)
• Cost efficiency and lifecycle management

2. Architecture Governance & Documentation

• Create and maintain
• comprehensive architecture artifacts
• , including:
• Reference architectures and standard designs
• HLDs, LLDs, and reusable templates
• Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), standards, and guardrails
• Ensure documentation is:
• Version-controlled
• Consistently used across delivery and operations teams

3. Design Authority & Delivery Assurance

• Act as the
• design authority
• across all network initiatives
• Review solution designs, migrations, and deployment strategies
• Ensure:
• Alignment with enterprise standards
• Scalability and repeatability
• Operational readiness and risk mitigation
• Serve as the escalation point for complex architectural trade-offs

4. Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Collaborate with operations teams to:
• Analyze recurring incidents and implement architectural improvements
• Enhance observability, troubleshooting, and support models
• Define and track:
• Reliability metrics (availability, resilience tiers)
• Operational performance standards

5. Security Integration & SASE Strategy

• Partner with Security teams to embed
• security-by-design principles
• Reassess and optimize existing
• SASE architecture
• , addressing:
• Performance bottlenecks
• Operational complexity
• Policy and routing challenges
• Define a clear
• SASE operating model
• , including:
• Ownership boundaries
• Logging and observability standards
• Change management processes

6. Network Automation & Network-as-Code

• Define governance for

Network-as-Code

• practices:
• Terraform module design and usage standards
• CI/CD pipelines for network changes
• Controlled deployment and testing strategies
• Establish integration with:
• CMDB / Source of Truth
• ITSM platforms
• Observability tools

7. Enterprise Architecture Alignment

• Present network strategies and designs to
• Enterprise Architecture boards
• Ensure alignment with:
• Organizational architecture principles
• Technology roadmaps and transformation initiatives

Must Have

• 10+ years in enterprise networking with
• 5+ years in architecture leadership roles
• Strong expertise in:

• Cisco Catalyst Switching

• Cisco SD-WAN
• Cisco ISE (NAC, RADIUS integration)

• Fortinet / Cisco Firewalls

• SASE architecture and operations
• Proven experience designing networks for
• large-scale, multi-site environments
• Strong documentation and governance skills (HLD, LLD, ADRs)
• Experience influencing cross-functional teams (Security, Engineering, Ops, PMO)
• Hands-on exposure to
• Terraform-based network automation
• Nice to Have
• Experience running
• architecture review boards / design authorities
• Cloud networking expertise (Azure / AWS / GCP)
• Strong knowledge of
• network observability and SLO frameworks
• Relevant certifications (CCNP, CCIE, Fortinet, SD-WAN, SASE)

Key Competencies

• Strategic thinking with strong architectural vision
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills
• Strong decision-making and problem-solving abilities
• Ability to balance
• security, performance, cost, and scalability