IT Network System Architect - Wireless Communications

City of Mesa•Mesa, AZ

About The Position

This at-will, non-classified, non-merit-system position provides architectural leadership, analysis, and design to ensure assigned City of Mesa information systems and their supporting infrastructure meet current needs and evolve with changing application requirements. The architect follows the Enterprise Architecture methodology, develops current- and future-state documentation, roadmaps, and transition plans, defines and communicates technical standards, gathers customer and IT-team feedback, and coordinates architecture across related technologies and information systems. The role also analyzes technology environments and industry trends, identifies deficiencies, plans migrations, consults on and oversees implementations, evaluates hardware and software, documents architecture work, and leads communications that support architecture adoption. Day-to-day technical staff activities may be supervised or coordinated by assignment. Assigned to the City of Mesa Department of Innovation and Technology’s Wireless Communications Team, this position plans, forecasts, designs, installs, maintains, and optimizes wireless communications infrastructure and related subscriber equipment for the City and members of the TOPAZ Regional Wireless Cooperative (TRWC). The role supports public safety Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems and related infrastructure, backhaul networks, radio-site hardening, propagation modeling, coverage analysis, and ERCES standards. It translates operational requirements into technical solutions and contributes to reliable, resilient system growth and upgrade projects. The role requires a combination of relevant education, training, and experience equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in a specified or related field, as well as extensive IT design and implementation experience. A valid Arizona Class D driver’s license and successful background investigation are required by assignment. The FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License is required within six months of hire for this position.

Requirements

Any combination of training, education, and experience equivalent to graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Quantitative Systems, Management Information Systems, or a related field such as Engineering or Geography, depending on assignment.
At least 5 years of design and implementation experience in IT, with deep knowledge in at least one technical discipline: network design, application development, middleware, servers and storage, database management, or security.
Exposure to multiple and diverse technical configurations, technologies, and processing environments.
FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License required within six months of hire.
Valid Class D Arizona Driver’s License by hire or promotion date, depending on assignment.
Successful completion of a background investigation; this position requires investigation through the City of Mesa Police Department, Arizona Department of Public Safety, and Federal Bureau of Investigation before employment begins.
Ability to support public safety LMR systems and translate operational needs into technical solutions.
Experience with professional-level system design, procurement, installation, and quality control.
Strong communication, collaboration, and leadership skills.

Nice To Haves

Experience with public safety LMR supporting infrastructure, backhaul networks, radio-site hardening, propagation modeling, coverage analysis, and ERCES standards.
Familiarity with public safety communications cooperatives such as TRWC, contracts, and budget support.
Industry certifications.
Three to five years of technical, project leadership, and/or project management experience; may be required by assignment.
Customer service experience.
Teamwork.
Supervisory experience, depending on assignment.

Responsibilities

Plan, forecast, design, install, maintain, and optimize the City’s wireless communications infrastructure and related subscriber equipment for the City and TRWC members.
Follow the Enterprise Architecture development methodology and develop documentation of current and future states, roadmaps, and transition plans.
Define, communicate, and document standards and technology for the assigned discipline.
Solicit feedback from internal customers and IT teams about information-system performance and recommend improvements.
Explain how assigned-discipline architectures interact with and integrate into other technologies and information systems.
Analyze the current technology environment, identify critical deficiencies, and recommend improvements.
Analyze technology industry and market trends and determine their potential impact on the assigned discipline.
Define high-level migration plans to address gaps between current and future states, generally in coordination with IT budgeting or capital planning.
Oversee, direct, or consult on technology implementations across projects and operations, especially shared solutions spanning technology areas.
Consult on system and infrastructure harmonization projects and identify when enterprise roadmaps need changes to meet project needs.
Oversee and facilitate research, evaluation, and selection of hardware and software technology and product standards, and design standard configurations.
Document architecture design and analysis work, potentially including project postmortems and metric collection.
Lead communications needed to support architecture success and adoption.
Supervise and coordinate technical staff day-to-day activities when assigned.
Deliver LMR system growth and upgrade projects, with a focus on network reliability and resiliency.