Platform Technical Lead, Enterprise Network Services

National Grid•Syracuse, NY

10d•$187,000 - $246,000•Hybrid

About The Position

National Grid is seeking an innovative, adaptable, and results-oriented Platform Technical Lead for Enterprise Network Services (ENS), part of its Technology & Innovation organization. ENS operates in the UK and northeastern United States, delivering high-uptime LAN, WAN, internet connectivity, and voice services across multiple technologies at more than 1,000 sites for approximately 35,000 colleagues. The team works closely with security, property, and critical national infrastructure (CNI) and operational technology teams. The role owns the technical direction and health of the ENS platform, guiding its evolution from its current state toward the organization’s future needs. The lead is responsible for platform lifecycle, resilience, value, and coherence, ensuring investment choices, service evolution, and delivery outcomes align with business priorities, security requirements, and measurable operational value. The position provides architectural leadership, establishes standards and governance, drives modernization and automation, and advises leaders on technology innovation and strategic opportunities. The role can be based in Northboro, Massachusetts, or Syracuse, New York. Candidates may also reside in Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, or Maine. National Grid uses a hybrid work structure in its New York and Massachusetts service territory: employees may work remotely or from the office as needed, with office attendance encouraged for work requiring substantial collaboration. The company works with employees to foster flexible schedules. The role does not include visa sponsorship now or in the future; candidates must be able to work without current or future visa sponsorship. Salary ranges are $210,000–$246,000 per year in Massachusetts and $187,000–$219,000 per year in Upstate New York.

Requirements

At least 10 years of progressive experience in the network domain across operations, engineering, and architecture, with significant expertise leading technology strategies.
Formal academic qualifications in a relevant technical discipline, or equivalent experience.
Proven hands-on experience building and operating production network automation and systems integrations.
Python network automation experience, including tools such as Netmiko, NAPALM, Nornir, Scrapli, or ncclient; structured parsing and test frameworks such as Cisco pyATS/Genie and TextFSM; and Linux and shell scripting.
Experience with model-driven programmability using NETCONF, RESTCONF, and YANG data models, and streaming telemetry using gNMI.
Experience with vendor and controller APIs across network estates, such as Cisco Catalyst Center, Meraki Dashboard, Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, Cisco ISE, Infoblox, F5, NetBrain, and ThousandEyes.
Experience integrating with ServiceNow, including ITSM, ITOM, Telecom Network Inventory, CMDB, scripted REST APIs, and CSDM-aligned CMDB data; REST APIs, webhooks, event-driven workflows, bots, Microsoft Teams ChatOps, and AI or agentic architecture for ticket deflection.
Strong working knowledge of infrastructure-as-code tools, including Ansible (including Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform) and Terraform/OpenTofu, with Jinja2 templating and YAML/JSON data models.
Experience with Git-based workflows and CI/CD pipelines such as GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps, or Jenkins, including automated testing, peer review of every change, and taking prototypes and MVPs into production.
Experience with network source-of-truth platforms such as NetBox or Nautobot, including golden configuration, drift, and compliance management.
Experience with pre-change validation and network digital-twin testing tools such as Batfish, Containerlab, or Cisco Modeling Labs; secrets management such as HashiCorp Vault; and containers such as Docker.
Solid understanding of multi-vendor enterprise network technologies and operations, and shift-left KPIs such as automated versus manual change, auto-remediation rate, alert-to-incident ratio, MTTD/MTTR, and self-service adoption.
Experience designing infrastructure solutions audited against cybersecurity frameworks such as ISO/IEC 27001, NCSC CAF, NIST, and CIS.
Ability to lead in a matrixed environment across the US and UK, aligning teams to shared objectives and fostering collaboration.
Demonstrated experience managing technology lifecycle, technical debt, platform health, total cost of ownership, investment trade-offs, and measurable benefits realization.
Experience providing design authority and delivery assurance across complex programs, strategic suppliers, and cross-platform integrations.
Strong understanding of Zero Trust network architecture, identity-aware access, segmentation, SASE, and governance of security exceptions and technical risk.
Must be able to work without current or future visa sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

Exposure to emerging Cisco capabilities such as Cisco Cloud Control, AgenticOps (AI Canvas, Agentic Workflows, Deep Network Model, Cloud Control Studio), ThousandEyes Agentic Actions, Splunk Agent Builder, unified Meraki and Catalyst Center management, and MCP servers.
Experience with OT systems, especially utility systems, and OT/IT convergence patterns.
Certifications such as CCNP or CCIE Automation (formerly Cisco DevNet), Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Network Automation, or HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate.

Responsibilities

Define and drive the technical vision, strategy, and multi-year roadmap for the Enterprise Network Services platform.
Partner with network platform owners and operational stakeholders in the UK and US to align technology strategy with business objectives.
Lead network modernization, including standardization, consolidation, lifecycle management, and OT/IT convergence.
Provide architectural leadership across SD-WAN, LAN, Wi-Fi, voice, network security, observability, and management platforms.
Serve as the primary interface between Enterprise Architecture, Solution Architecture, and the network domain.
Establish and govern architecture standards, design patterns, technical guardrails, and technology governance processes.
Define technology selection criteria, architecture exception processes, technical debt management, and production-readiness standards.
Ensure network services integrate with cloud, cybersecurity, identity, endpoint, workplace, data, and service management platforms.
Own platform health, resilience, performance, availability, capacity planning, and technology lifecycle management.
Develop and track KPIs for reliability, security, compliance, cost efficiency, automation, service quality, and business value realization.
Partner with Finance, Procurement, and platform leaders to build investment cases and optimize technology, supplier, and cloud-network spend.
Lead vendor and supplier architecture reviews, aligning solutions with enterprise standards and minimizing technology lock-in.
Shape reusable network services and standard consumption models for scalable, repeatable business solutions.
Embed Zero Trust, segmentation, SASE, secure-access, and threat-management principles into network architecture.
Provide architecture assurance and governance for major programs, ensuring solutions meet standards, support models, and operational requirements.
Lead the ENS Zero-Ops, automation, and AI strategy to increase self-service and reduce manual engineering and operational work.
Oversee data, automation, and AI architecture, including systems integration, network orchestration, governance, and automated change controls.
Design and implement integrations using APIs, scripting, webhooks, ServiceNow, automation platforms, and AI-enabled workflows.
Establish modern engineering practices, including CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, automated testing, and software-defined network management.
Mentor engineering teams, evaluate emerging technologies, and advise leadership on network innovation, market trends, risks, and strategic opportunities.