Telecom Cisco Architect

Telecom Cisco Architect

Hourly Rate: $80-150 per hour

Long term contract

The Lead Infrastructure Architect designs, implements, integrates, and maintains the enterprise voice telecommunications system while ensuring efficiency and adherence to business and reliability standards. This role leverages industry knowledge and experience with enterprise systems troubleshooting, incident response and analysis, threat awareness, and vulnerability analysis to help determine Company’s technical vision and roadmap. Additionally, the Lead Infrastructure Architect ensures a strong infrastructure posture by collaborating with various departments and locations to understand communications requirements in order to develop and implement solutions based on available systems and technology. This role also oversees the procurement and lifecycle management of communication circuits and legacy systems integration.

Major Responsibilities Include (but are not limited to):

• Creates technical design and engineering solutions to support a forward-looking enterprise telecommunications architecture which effectively and efficiently meets telephony and voice communications requirements.
• Ensures systems are designed to efficiently achieve a high level of availability, as defined by IT leadership, related to the specific services and business requirements.
• Leads installation, configuration, and optimization of Cisco Packaged Contact Center Enterprise (PCCE), Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM), and Session Border Controllers.
• Programs and manages desktop phones from Cisco and other manufacturers.
• Orders, provisions, and maintains communication circuits (e.g., MPLS, SIP trunks, PRI, Ethernet) with various vendors.
• Manages POTS lines, including lifecycle tracking, troubleshooting, and migration planning.
• Implements and supports analog-to-cellular modem solutions for legacy systems and remote connectivity.
• Collaborates with cross-functional teams to integrate voice systems with enterprise applications.
• Provides Tier 3 support and troubleshooting for complex voice infrastructure issues.
• Develops and maintains documentation for system architecture, configurations, and procedures.
• Evaluates emerging technologies and recommends improvements to existing systems.
• Ensures compliance with industry standards, security policies, and regulatory requirements.
• Employs strong communications and organizational skills to design and maintain processes and procedures that ensure that timely, actionable, and critical information is presented to leadership.
• Ensures broad and current technical awareness by establishing and maintaining technical and professional relationships with appropriate organizations of strategic importance to Company.

Education and Experience

• 8 years of experience in telecommunications architecture and engineering required.
• 8 years of hands-on experience with Cisco and related PBX platforms, contact center Cisco Packaged Contact Center Enterprise, Ribbon Session Border Controllers, and desktop phone programming across multiple manufacturers preferred.
• Experience managing telecom circuits, POTS lines, and analog-to-cellular modem deployments required.
• Experience with cloud-based voice solutions and hybrid environments.

Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities

• Expert-level knowledge of CUCM, PCCE, and Session Border Controllers required.
• Proficiency in desktop phone programming and provisioning (Cisco, Polycom, Yealink, etc.) required.
• Solid understanding of VoIP protocols, SIP, QoS, and network infrastructure required.
• Familiarity with scripting and automation tools (e.g., Python, PowerShell).
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Expected to model Company’s Talent Framework Behaviors, the foundation for HOW we do our jobs at Company. At a minimum, incumbents should be able to demonstrate their ability to progressively develop and exhibit these skills at a proficient level:
• Company’s People First Values: Safety, Integrity, Ownership, Adaptability
• Operational Excellence/Execution: Exerts personal effort and enables the team to achieve performance goals and exhibits a continuous improvement mindset
• Decision Making: Makes informed, objective, timely, and ethical decisions
• Talent Management: Takes initiative to develop self and team, acts with a mindset of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and creates an environment to attract top talent
• Strategic Mindset: Demonstrates sound strategic thinking, knows the business, exercises judgment, influences, and persuades.

Licenses, Certifications, and/or Testing

• Cisco certifications (e.g., CCNP Collaboration, CCIE Collaboration)
• Avaya certifications (e.g., ACIS, ACSS)
• Must possess and maintain a valid driver’s license

Working Conditions

Office environment with both in-office and remote working conditions.