What are the responsibilities and job description for the Principal Network Solution Architect position at Zettalogix INC?
Job Details
Job Title Principal Network Solution Architect
Projected Start Date 01-12-2026
Projected End Date 12-31-2026
Location Washington, DC
Required Skills
Job Description
The Principal Network Solution Architect will act as a visionary and technical leader, driving the overall direction and definition of the enterprise network architecture to align with the client's business strategy. You will operate at both strategic and tactical levels, defining future-state network architecture, ensuring its effective adoption, and serving as a key Change Agent to challenge the status quo and integrate improved methods and newer technologies. This role involves end-to-end participation across the project lifecycle, from initial concept to implementation, requiring an expert-level background in routing, switching, data center, and enterprise network architectures, all while interfacing with senior business and IT stakeholders, including presenting to the Enterprise Architecture Review Council.
Key Responsibilities
Strategy & Vision: Drive the overall direction, guidance, and definition of the enterprise network architecture program, ensuring alignment with the client s long-term business strategy.
Architectural Design: Lead the creation of formal Conceptual and Solution Network Architectures and present these designs for review and approval to the Enterprise Architecture Review Council and senior leadership.
Stakeholder Management: Interface across all business and IT areas, acting as a visionary to proactively define directions for future IT projects and build consensus on proposed solutions.
Execution & Leadership: Conceive strategies and solutions, build consensus, and drive the execution of approved solutions across the entire project life cycle (kickoff, requirements, design, implementation).
Standards & Best Practices: Ensure all new applications and servers are built with network best practices, promoting reusability and supporting the established Enterprise Architecture framework.
Change Advocacy: Serve as a Change Agent, effectively challenging the status quo and guiding project teams to embrace improved methods and newer technologies.
Mentorship: Demonstrate the ability to think and operate on both the strategic and tactical levels, providing guidance and support to ensure short-term solutions complement long-term goals.
Required Qualifications
Experience: Fifteen (15) to twenty (20) years of experience in multiple IT areas, with ten (10) to fifteen (15) years of relevant technology network architecture experience.
Technical Expertise: Expert level hands-on routing and switching architecture and engineering capabilities across Data Center and enterprise network architectures.
Certification: Current CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert) certification.
Education: Bachelor s degree, specialized training, or equivalent work experience.
Communication: Excellent oral and written communication skills, with demonstrated ability to present complex architectural designs to senior staff and business leaders.
Project History: Demonstrated success at developing solutions that solve complex business problems.
Preferred Qualifications
Architectural Knowledge: Well-grounded in state-of-the-art principles of architectural modeling, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), and Enterprise Information Management.
Program Scale: Experience as a Network Solution Architect for two or more large-scale, heterogeneous IT programs.
Frameworks: Demonstrated knowledge of Enterprise Architecture (EA) frameworks.
Industry Context: Transportation Industry experience.
Advanced Networking: Broad IT experience in networking technologies beyond core routing and switching.