Director of Network Engineering

Hotwire Communications • Fort Lauderdale, FL

4d

About The Position

The Director of Network Engineering directs the Network Engineering and Regional Engineering teams, providing hands-on technical leadership and serving as the technical owner and escalation resource for network engineering activities. The role leads team development and performance management, maintains the availability, performance, and security of network infrastructure, and partners with Technology/Architecture and Cyber Security teams. It leads the transition toward automation- and AI-driven network operations, including automation, observability, source-of-truth capabilities, and AIOps, with measurable operational goals.

The position oversees network expansion, new site and market turn-ups, strategic projects, operational procedures, disaster recovery, business continuity, and the department’s annual budget. It is the highest technical escalation point for complex network issues and ensures timely outage communications, documented root-cause analyses, and corrective actions. The role also owns IP address management, network change management, on-call and alerting strategy, and vendor and technical assistance center relationships. Contract engineering resources may be onboarded and managed as needed.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technologies, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of experience, education, and training.
• Strong understanding of technical troubleshooting methodology.
• Ability to facilitate problem-solving among administrative groups with varying needs and priorities, and to communicate effectively with administrative users, technical staff, and senior management.
• Knowledge of applicable laws, guidelines, or regulations as they relate to IT.
• 10+ years of service provider or large-scale network engineering experience, including 5+ years leading multi-team or regionally distributed engineering organizations.
• Deep hands-on expertise with BGP, IS-IS/OSPF, MPLS/SR-MPLS, and multicast in a service provider environment.
• Hands-on experience with carrier-class routing platforms, such as Cisco IOS-XR, and carrier-grade NAT.
• Experience with IP address management at scale, including subnet allocation, ARIN policy, and IPv4/IPv6 address planning.
• Experience with monitoring and NMS tools, such as flow analysis and streaming telemetry, and ITSM change management platforms.
• Experience scaling a service provider network through significant customer and footprint growth.
• Demonstrated success leading engineering teams through adoption of network automation and modernized operating practices.
• Proven record of leading outage response and writing executive-ready RCAs.
• Strong executive communication skills, including the ability to translate complex technical issues, risks, and plans into clear business terms for senior leadership.

Nice To Haves

• Python or other scripting experience for network automation.
• Familiarity with NetBox, Nornir/NAPALM, or Cisco NSO/Crosswork.
• Experience applying AI/ML or AIOps tools to network monitoring, troubleshooting, or operations.
• Background in fiber-to-the-home, MDU, residential and commercial broadband, or IPTV delivery.
• Experience with managed Wi-Fi platforms.

Responsibilities

• Direct the Network Engineering and Regional Engineering teams, providing hands-on technical leadership and acting as technical owner and escalation resource for network engineering activities.
• Lead team mentoring, coaching, career development, and performance management; set priorities, align regional field work with network standards, and develop team automation and software skills.
• Maintain the availability, performance, and security of network infrastructure devices and services in partnership with Technology/Architecture and Cyber Security.
• Lead the transition to an automation- and AI-driven operating model, building network automation, observability, and source-of-truth capabilities and applying AIOps with measurable goals.
• Scale out the network through capacity expansion and new site and market turn-ups, implementing designs and standards established by Technology/Architecture.
• Research industry best practices and new technologies and develop network strategies and solutions.
• Plan, create, execute, and complete strategic projects aligned with business needs, continuity, and growth; ensure departmental goals and project milestones are met.
• Serve as the highest technical escalation point for the NOC, Regional Engineering, and support teams on chronic, complex, or unknown network issues; ensure timely outage communications and resolution, documented RCAs, and tracked corrective actions.
• Prepare executive reports and operational KPIs on network capacity, trends, health, and performance, including IPv4/IPv6 utilization, subnet allocation for DHCP-served properties, and CGNAT resource consumption, with thresholds and escalation triggers.
• Collaborate with operations and the launch team, and communicate project progress to stakeholders and service partners as appropriate.
• Establish operational best practices, policies, and procedures for network implementation and support, aligned with Technology/Architecture standards.
• Prepare and present the department’s yearly budget.
• Prepare and lead network disaster recovery and business continuity planning to ensure high availability and network resiliency.
• Own IP address management, including ARIN resource requests, RPKI/IRR hygiene, IPv4 conservation, IPv6 dual-stack planning and deployment, and utilization policies, with handoffs to teams configuring router interfaces and DHCP services.
• Manage vendor and TAC relationships, including case escalation, software defect tracking, and software lifecycle and version compliance.
• Own the network change management process, including MOP standards, change review, and maintenance window coordination through the ITSM platform.
• Define on-call and alerting strategy with the NOC so alerts are actionable, prioritized, and routed appropriately.
• Onboard and manage contract engineering resources as needed.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Comprehensive healthcare, dental, and vision plans.
• 401(k) retirement plan with company match.
• Paid vacation, sick time, and additional holidays, including the employee’s birthday.
• Paid volunteer time.
• Paid parental leave.
• Hotwire service discounts for employees living on a property serviced by Hotwire, including discounted high-speed internet, video, phone, and security service offerings.
• Employee referral bonuses.
• Exclusive entertainment discounts and perks.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director