Network Architect

SAIC•Washington, DC

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Network Architect supports the Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Technology’s Enterprise Infrastructure Directorate through the Vanguard Program. The role translates business needs into telecommunications requirements, designs, and orders across voice, data, VoIP, RoIP, LAN, WAN, and video. It provides senior engineering design and architecture support for enterprise solutions involving physical and virtual networking, server hosting, and storage, with a focus on security and operational readiness. The position is hybrid, with the number of onsite days determined by the government. The successful candidate provides technical leadership and guidance for global network infrastructure and helps teams plan and execute IT service enhancements. The role includes developing concepts of operations, requirements, system architecture and designs, interface and data architecture, testing and validation plans, performance analyses, lifecycle cost estimates, and decision analyses. The architect works with government clients on data center and overseas infrastructure initiatives, and designs, engineers, and deploys enterprise solutions for more than 100,000 users.

Requirements

A bachelor’s degree in systems engineering, information technology, or a related field and 12 years of experience; or a master’s degree in a related technology field and 10 years of network or system management experience; or 16 or more years of general engineering experience emphasizing LAN/WAN engineering and support.
Knowledge and experience in network or system engineering and security, including routers, switches, and VPNs.
Experience designing and implementing VoIP and Wi-Fi.
Experience with global network operations, network or system integration, and network or system hardware.
Strong emotional intelligence and interpersonal and executive-level communication skills.
Ability to work in a multivendor network environment.
Working knowledge of IP subnetting, IP routing, and troubleshooting IP-related issues.
Knowledge of data center architecture and designs for large-scale data centers.
Knowledge of integrated converged stack infrastructure, such as VCE Vblock or FlexPod.
Knowledge and experience with large-scale Storage Area Network systems, including design, build, and operation.
Knowledge and experience with VMware, including design, build, and operation.
Knowledge of IP networking, VPNs, switching, and routing.
Knowledge of Software Defined Data Center concepts and principles.
Knowledge of Microsoft file systems, operating systems, and applications, and experience with Microsoft operating systems.
Systems engineering background and understanding of Cloud Computing Reference Architecture.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Must be a U.S. citizen and hold an active Top Secret clearance, with the ability to obtain TS/SCI.
Must be willing to travel in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and, if required, within and outside the continental United States (not to exceed 10%).
Must be willing to support rotational on-call coverage after normal working hours.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Nortel/AVAYA and Cisco PBX products.
Familiarity with setting up, configuring, and maintaining network monitoring tools.
Knowledge of network security and infrastructure protection, and an active CISSP certification.
Familiarity with the Department of State environment, including data and voice networks, IT systems, policies and procedures, the Foreign Affairs Handbook (FAH), and the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM).
VMware VCP 5+ certification and working knowledge of SRM, VCOPS, SMVI, and VCAC.
Design knowledge and experience with Cisco network components, including switches and routers; certifications such as CCNA-DC or CCNP; and Cisco 7000/5000/1000 training.
Design knowledge of Cisco UCS and HP blade technologies, and experience maintaining server or blade hardware, including replacing failed components.
Design knowledge of EMC Storage Area Network arrays and associated storage systems, and working knowledge of Recover Point, Viper, and VCE Vision.
Design knowledge and experience with Virtual Desktop Infrastructures.
ITIL v4 Foundations certificate.
Current and active PMP certification from PMI.
Prior experience working within the Department of State.

Responsibilities

Provide senior-level engineering design and architecture support for enterprise solutions using physical and virtual networking technologies, server hosting, and storage.
Develop white papers for technical system solutions and incremental roadmaps.
Work with customers to establish functional needs and priorities, and develop or update roadmaps.
Translate customer needs into hardware and software requirements.
Provide technical direction to project teams throughout the software development lifecycle.
Assist in developing enterprise policies and directives.
Participate in functional and user acceptance testing to verify that products meet customer needs.
Conduct Technical Exchange Meetings.
Review and document the functionality of existing legacy applications.
Create technical specifications and white papers as required.
Communicate project activities and status regularly to government points of contact.
Plan, research, evaluate, and recommend new equipment and related technologies.
Develop contingency plans for infrastructure-related software or hardware failures.
Support the DT Bureau Enterprise Infrastructure Directorate as a senior member of the Vanguard team.
Travel within the Washington, DC metropolitan area and, if required, within and outside the continental United States, not to exceed 10%.
Support a rotational on-call posture after normal working hours in response to technical support requests.