What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Network Architect position at Mindlance?
Senior Network Architect
Location: MA (Hybrid)
The Opportunity
We are seeking a visionary Senior Network Architect to lead the evolution of our statewide infrastructure. With over 250 locations across Massachusetts—ranging from small community offices to large corporate hubs—our network is the backbone of our mission.
As we migrate on-premises applications to AWS, you will play a pivotal role in designing a resilient, scalable, and modern hybrid-cloud architecture. You will be the technical authority for our routing environment (EIGRP/BGP), security perimeter, and cloud connectivity strategies.
Core Responsibilities
- Architectural Strategy: Design and maintain a robust hub-and-spoke and mesh network architecture supporting ~ 250 sites across the Commonwealth.
- Hybrid Cloud Integration: Lead the design and optimization of high-speed, secure connectivity between on-premise infrastructure and AWS (Direct Connect, Transit Gateway, etc.).
- Routing & Switching: Manage and optimize a complex routing environment primarily utilizing EIGRP, complemented by BGP for external/cloud peering and targeted OSPF deployments.
- Security & Load Balancing: Oversee the integration of Fortigate Firewalls and manage application delivery via NetScaler and load balancers.
- Observability: Utilize SolarWinds and other monitoring suites to provide deep visibility into network health, performing proactive capacity planning and advanced troubleshooting.
- Modernization: Drive the transition from traditional hardware-centric models to Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Cloud-Native architectures.
Technical Profile
The ideal candidate is a Cisco expert with a "cloud-first" mindset and significant experience managing distributed site footprints.
- Networking: Expert-level command of Cisco IOS/XE/NX-OS. Deep mastery of EIGRP and BGP is important.
- Cloud: Proven experience architecting AWS networking environments (VPCs, Security Groups, Route 53, Direct Connect).
- Security: Hands-on experience with Fortigate (FortiOS) security appliances and VPN technologies.
- Traffic Management: Proficiency with F5 LTM/GTM or Citrix NetScaler for high availability.
- Monitoring: Experience using SolarWinds (NPM/NCM) for enterprise-wide alerting and reporting.
Qualifications
- Experience: 10 years in network engineering, with at least 4 years in a lead Architect or Principal role.
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, IT, or equivalent experience.
- Certifications: CCNP (Enterprise/Data Center) required; CCIE or AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional preferred.
- Soft Skills: Ability to translate complex technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders and lead cross-functional projects.