Network Operations Senior Manager

Maricopa County • Phoenix, AZ

2d • $122,500 - $187,500 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Data Networking Senior Manager is accountable for the reliable, secure, scalable, and cost-effective operation of the enterprise data network. The role leads teams responsible for day-to-day management, engineering, lifecycle planning, and continuous improvement across Data Center Core, Internet Edge, cloud connectivity, WAN/SD-WAN, campus LAN, wireless, and associated network-management platforms. The manager combines people leadership with technical depth to review designs, validate operational decisions, lead major incidents, and ensure engineering work is deliberate, documented, and measurable.

The position oversees enterprise network service ownership, staff development, operational standards and metrics, incident leadership, project and program delivery, data center and core networking, engineering governance, documentation, Internet and cloud connectivity, WAN/SD-WAN, LAN and wireless services, lifecycle and technical debt management, vendor and carrier performance, budget and resource planning, and cross-functional partnerships. The role reports no direct reporting relationship in the posting.

Requirements

• Six years of experience related to the area of assignment.
• Two years of supervisory or management experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field.
• A combination of post-secondary education and/or job-related experience may substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis.

Nice To Haves

• Significant experience leading enterprise network engineering and operations in a large, complex environment.
• Strong working knowledge of enterprise routing and switching, including BGP, OSPF, VLANs, segmentation, high availability, QoS, and troubleshooting methodology.
• Practical leadership experience with Cisco Catalyst, Nexus, ACI, enterprise wireless, and network-management/observability platforms.
• Experience operating WAN/SD-WAN, Internet edge services, carrier connectivity, VPN technologies, and resilient cloud connectivity.
• Experience with ITIL-aligned incident, problem, change, service request, configuration, and continual-improvement practices.
• Demonstrated ability to lead major incidents, drive root-cause analysis, and implement sustainable corrective actions.
• Experience managing technical staff, senior/principal engineers, vendors, budgets, service providers, and lifecycle programs.
• Ability to review architectures and implementation plans to identify risk, challenge assumptions, and ensure supportability.
• Knowledge of automation and API-driven network operations, such as Python, Ansible, and REST APIs, is strongly preferred.
• Cisco professional-level certification or equivalent demonstrated expertise is preferred; expert-level certification is desirable but not required.

Responsibilities

• Own the availability, performance, capacity, reliability, security, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and supportability of the enterprise network across data centers, Internet services, cloud connectivity, WAN/SD-WAN, campus LAN, wireless, and network-management platforms.
• Lead day-to-day network operations, engineering, lifecycle planning, and continuous improvement, using service metrics and trend data to identify risk and improve reliability.
• Lead, coach, and develop engineering staff; establish accountability and measurable ownership; delegate effectively; build succession depth; and support certification and technical growth.
• Establish operating standards for monitoring, incident response, problem management, change control, service requests, maintenance, configuration management, documentation, and vendor escalation.
• Review operational metrics and use trend data to drive root-cause analysis and corrective action.
• Lead critical network incidents, ensuring rapid triage, clear ownership, effective escalation, disciplined communication, service restoration, post-incident review, and documented corrective actions.
• Manage network projects and programs, including scope, milestones, ownership, dependencies, schedules, budgets, risks, acceptance criteria, leadership reporting, documentation, and operational handoff.
• Lead Cisco data center networking, including ACI/Nexus environments, core routing and switching, segmentation, redundancy, high availability, inter-data-center connectivity, and integration with compute, storage, firewall, and virtualization platforms.
• Require peer review, implementation and rollback planning, validation, and documentation for material network changes; review architectures and implementation plans for risk, supportability, and completeness.
• Ensure network diagrams, standards, runbooks, IP/VLAN documentation, configuration standards, procedures, escalation paths, inventory, CMDB information, and recovery procedures are maintained and auditable.
• Oversee reliable Internet connectivity and cloud network access, including BGP/ECMP design, DDoS readiness, edge resiliency, routing policy, addressing, NAT where applicable, carrier diversity, and connectivity to platforms such as Azure and AWS.
• Lead WAN and SD-WAN services, including branch connectivity, routing, path diversity, failover, carrier coordination, backup services, and performance management across critical sites.
• Ensure stable, secure, and supportable campus switching and enterprise wireless services, including access/distribution architectures, WLAN controllers, access points, segmentation, QoS, authentication dependencies, and capacity planning.
• Maintain hardware and software lifecycle plans, code currency, vendor-defect awareness, vulnerability coordination, end-of-support/end-of-life tracking, refresh roadmaps, and technical-debt reduction plans.
• Drive standardization and automation where they reduce operational risk and manual effort.
• Hold carriers, OEMs, managed-service providers, and integrators accountable for performance, incident ownership, contractual obligations, escalation, SLA attainment, and corrective actions.
• Develop resource, maintenance, lifecycle, and project forecasts; manage operating and capital expenditures within approved budgets; and identify variances and opportunities to simplify services, reduce costs, and improve reliability.
• Partner with network security, compute, storage, cloud, telecommunications, Security/GRC, application teams, service management, and business stakeholders to coordinate dependencies, risks, and operational handoffs.
• Translate complex technical conditions into concise risk, impact, and decision statements for leadership.
• Perform other job duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Tuition reimbursement.
• Hybrid and alternative work schedule options.
• Opportunities for growth and development within Maricopa County.
• Low-cost, high-value healthcare for the employee and qualifying dependents.
• Child care benefits, including access to the on-site Maricopa County Kids Club.
• Paid vacation, sick time, and parental leave.
• Extensive wellness program, including an incentive.
• Enrollment in the Arizona State Retirement System, a defined retirement benefit requiring an 11.98% monthly contribution rate, with a 100% employer match on Day 1.

What This Job Offers

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