Principal Network Architect

Brightspeed•Charlotte, NC

23h

About The Position

Brightspeed is seeking a Principal Network Architect for Transport to develop tactical and strategic solutions that support the company’s vision and establish architecture standards. The role covers engineering, design, deployment, optimization, and lifecycle support for Brightspeed’s optical and packet transport infrastructure. The architect works with Network Architecture, Lab, Planning, Operations, Field Engineering, vendors, and other technical teams to ensure the transport network has the capacity, resiliency, performance, and reliability needed for broadband, voice, Ethernet, enterprise, mobile backhaul, and network infrastructure services. The position serves as a technical subject matter expert across optical and packet transport technologies and platforms. It contributes engineering designs and documentation, supports deployments and complex troubleshooting, evaluates technologies and vendor solutions, and advises teams and leadership on transport requirements and investment priorities. The role also assesses the existing transport environment and identifies opportunities to improve capacity, reliability, operational efficiency, scalability, and cost effectiveness.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline; equivalent telecommunications experience may be considered.
15+ years of telecommunications network engineering experience, with significant experience in optical or packet transport networks.
Strong working knowledge of DWDM, CWDM, OTN, ROADM, Ethernet, MPLS, and carrier-grade transport technologies.
Experience engineering and supporting carrier-class optical platforms, preferably including Ciena 6500, Nokia GX, Fujitsu 9500, or comparable transport systems.
Experience with metro, regional, long-haul, and backbone transport network architectures.
Experience developing detailed network engineering documentation, including diagrams, equipment requirements, port and fiber assignments, bills of material, implementation packages, and Methods of Procedure.
Experience with fiber characterization and optical test equipment such as OTDRs, optical power meters, spectrum analyzers, and Ethernet/transport test sets.
Familiarity with test platforms from vendors such as VIAVI, EXFO, or Spirent, or equivalent.
Experience identifying design, capacity, performance, resiliency, interoperability, and support risks and developing mitigation strategies.
Strong troubleshooting and analytical skills, including the ability to isolate complex issues across fiber, optical, transport, Ethernet, and packet layers.
Understanding of telecommunications facilities, including racks, power, grounding, fiber distribution, patch panels, DC power systems, and environmental requirements.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree.
Telecom, cable, or Internet Service Provider industry experience.

Responsibilities

Serve as a technical subject matter expert for optical and packet transport technologies, including DWDM, OTN, ROADM, Ethernet, and high-capacity wavelength services.
Support metro, regional, and backbone transport networks for broadband, voice, enterprise, mobile backhaul, and network infrastructure connectivity.
Support transport platforms and technologies from vendors such as Ciena, Nokia, Cisco, Fujitsu, Infinera, and Ribbon.
Develop engineering packages, bills of material, equipment configurations, fiber and port assignments, rack requirements, and implementation documentation.
Translate network strategy and capacity requirements into executable transport engineering designs with Network Planning and Architecture.
Partner with Operations, Field Engineering, and implementation teams to enable deployment, commissioning, monitoring, and support of transport solutions.
Provide technical support for complex transport incidents, chronic issues, performance degradation, and escalations.
Assist Operations in troubleshooting optical impairments, high loss, degraded wavelengths, equipment failures, fiber-related issues, and network alarms.
Support migrations, equipment replacements, capacity augments, technology upgrades, network grooming, and legacy platform retirement.
Develop and maintain transport engineering standards, design guidelines, approved configurations, operational best practices, and network documentation.
Evaluate transport technologies, platforms, optics, and software releases through technical analysis, lab testing, proof of concept, and field validation.
Work with Network Architecture and the Brightspeed lab to validate platforms, optics, configurations, and network designs before production deployment.
Participate in vendor technical reviews and assess proposed solutions for compliance, interoperability, scalability, reliability, and lifecycle considerations.
Identify technical risks involving capacity, fiber availability, equipment lifecycle, interoperability, resiliency, and performance, and develop mitigation strategies.
Provide technical guidance and recommendations to Network Planning, Architecture, Operations, Product, and leadership on transport requirements and investment priorities.
Assess the existing transport environment and identify opportunities to improve capacity, reliability, operational efficiency, scalability, and cost effectiveness.