Principal Network Architect

Brightspeed•Charlotte, NC

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 engineers, designs, deploys, optimizes, and supports the lifecycle of Brightspeed’s optical and packet transport infrastructure. It works with Network Architecture, Lab, Planning, Operations, Field Engineering, vendors, and other technical teams to ensure the transport network delivers the capacity, resiliency, performance, and reliability needed for broadband, voice, Ethernet, enterprise, mobile backhaul, and network infrastructure services. The architect serves as a technical subject matter expert, creates detailed engineering designs and implementation documentation, supports deployments and operations, and provides technical assistance for complex incidents. The role also evaluates and validates new technologies and platforms, maintains engineering standards, assesses network risks, and advises teams and leadership on transport requirements and investment priorities.

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 Ciena 6500, Nokia GX, Fujitsu 9500, or comparable transport systems.
Experience with metro, regional, long-haul, and backbone transport network architectures.
Experience producing 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 or transport test sets.
Familiarity with test platforms from VIAVI, EXFO, Spirent, or equivalent vendors.
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 serving broadband, voice, enterprise, mobile backhaul, and network infrastructure connectivity.
Support transport platforms and technologies from strategic suppliers, including Ciena, Nokia, Cisco, Fujitsu, Infinera, and Ribbon.
Develop engineering packages, bills of material, equipment configurations, fiber and port assignments, rack requirements, and implementation documentation.
Work with Network Planning and Architecture to turn network strategy and capacity requirements into executable transport engineering designs.
Partner with Operations, Field Engineering, and implementation teams to ensure transport solutions can be deployed, commissioned, monitored, and supported.
Provide technical support for complex transport incidents, chronic network issues, performance degradation, and escalations.
Assist Operations in troubleshooting optical impairments, high loss, degraded wavelengths, equipment failures, fiber-related issues, and transport network alarms.
Support network migrations, equipment replacements, capacity augments, technology upgrades, network grooming, and legacy platform retirement.
Develop and maintain transport engineering standards, design guidelines, approved configurations, and operational best practices.
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 network performance, and develop mitigation strategies.
Create and maintain network engineering and operations documentation, including guidelines and configurations.
Provide technical guidance and recommendations to Network Planning, Architecture, Operations, Product, and leadership on transport requirements and investment priorities.
Assess the transport environment and identify opportunities to improve capacity, reliability, operational efficiency, scalability, and cost effectiveness.