Network Architect, Optical Transport

Internet 2• US,

5d•$144,700 - $217,100

About The Position

Internet2 is seeking a Network Architect, Optical Transport to provide technical leadership for the optical layer of its national research and education network. The position defines the roadmap and long-term direction of the optical transport platform, including line systems, transponders, pluggable coherent optics, ROADM and spectrum architecture, fiber infrastructure, and supporting automation and telemetry systems. The role translates member and partner demand into capacity plans, network designs, technical specifications, budgets, and implementation strategies, and oversees solutions through testing, deployment, and operational support. It collaborates across architecture, engineering, network operations, software, security, and business development teams, and serves as a technical authority for engineers and NOC staff, the broader community, vendors, and standards organizations.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Optics/Photonics, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
At least 5 years designing, engineering, or operating coherent DWDM/ROADM transport networks at carrier, large-enterprise, or R&E-backbone scale.
Working knowledge of optical link engineering, including OSNR and margin analysis, chromatic dispersion and PMD, launch power and span budgets, amplifier design, and flexgrid/ROADM architectures.
Hands-on experience with pluggable coherent optics (400ZR/ZR+, OpenZR+, 800ZR) and IP-over-DWDM or routed-optical designs, including interaction with the routed layer.
Experience with fiber plant, including fiber characterization and acceptance (OTDR, loss and PMD/CD testing), dark-fiber IRUs, route diversity analysis, and colocation/cross-connect physical infrastructure, including DC power and cabling.
Experience delivering transport services (waves, spectrum, alien waves, OTN clients) and defining their technical specifications.
Experience operating in, or directly supporting, a 24x7 operations environment, including incident escalation and root-cause analysis.
Working familiarity with the routed layer (BGP, IS-IS, SR-MPLS, IOS-XR, or Junos) sufficient to design integrated optical and packet solutions.
Ability to produce clear written specifications, architectural documents, bills of materials, and budgets, and to present as a technical authority to peers, executives, and the community.
Cover letter highlighting directly relevant experience.

Nice To Haves

At least 10 years of experience in optical transport.
Hands-on experience with Ciena 6500/Waveserver and next-generation line systems under consideration.
Open and disaggregated optical experience, including open line systems, OpenROADM, OpenConfig optical models, TIP OOPT, and Transport API (TAPI).
Optical automation and telemetry experience, including streaming performance monitoring (gNMI), model-driven provisioning, Python, and familiarity with network automation frameworks such as NSO or Ansible.
Experience with optical planning tools (vendor planners or GNPy) and laboratory or digital-twin validation of designs and software changes.
Experience with submarine, international, or multi-domain transport and with the R&E community (regional networks, GNA-G, GÉANT, ESnet, and the Quilt).
Participation in standards or industry bodies such as OIF, OpenROADM MSA, TIP, or IETF.

Responsibilities

Develop and lead the strategy, roadmap, and architecture for Internet2’s optical transport platform, including optical systems, spectrum and routing design, protocols, supporting software, and long-term infrastructure planning.
Lead optical network growth and lifecycle planning by forecasting capacity needs, recommending expansions, managing fiber assets and provider relationships, and providing infrastructure requirements for colocation and hardware refresh initiatives.
Produce written specifications, planning documents, project plans, bills of materials, and budgets; brief the management team and executive leadership team as needed.
Define and maintain technical specifications for optical services offered to members and partners, including waves, spectrum, alien waves, and OTN clients; work with business development and software teams on ordering, provisioning, and reporting.
Lead the architecture and evolution of optical automation and telemetry platforms, including performance monitoring, model-driven provisioning, software integration, and collaboration with development teams on prioritization and release validation.
Oversee laboratory resources, evaluate emerging technologies and vendor solutions, validate network and software changes before deployment, and provide technical training and knowledge sharing for engineering teams.
Manage technical relationships with optical hardware and software vendors; support build-test, deployment, and NOC teams with escalations and problem resolution.
Review optical-layer incidents and reasons for outages, and apply architectural lessons to design, monitoring, and operating procedures.
Support the routing/peering architect and other platform leads with optical expertise for integrated designs; mentor transport and NOC engineers.
Participate in community technical discussions, meetings, webinars, and working groups, and contribute to standards and industry efforts including OIF, OpenROADM, TIP, and IETF.
Travel up to 25% per year.