Principal Architect, Network Practice
Location: Remote. Central time zone preferred; open to all time zones.
Travel: Less than 50% travel per month
Employment type: W2 role
Communication: Candidates must have outstanding communication skills.
Role Description The Principal Architect (PA) will primarily support the Solution Architects to build pipeline in products and services associated with their focus technologies.
The Network
Practice PA position is a network focused role that drives standards for modern Network Automation and Multi-Cloud Network Architecture. They have the ability to communicate highly technical concepts in order to be clearly understood by customers and technical peers alike. The PA will deliver billable services in the Plan and Design phases of a project but can also deliver services in the Implement phase, when necessary, especially where new technology is being deployed. The PA helps position EVT Services for supporting the solutions they focus on. The PA is a technical leadership role in the architecture area of expertise they support. The PA will cover mostly large Enterprise accounts across the business. They will mentor/support other Solution Architect’s and PS Engineers in opportunities that require their area of expertise on an as needed basis.
A day in the life of a PA:
Connect the business needs of the customer(s) with technical delivery plan(s); together with the Solution Architects (SAs), they will own the definition of the technical design to meet the objectives and requirements of the higher-level business needs of the customer(s)
Advise the technical delivery teams on network automation architecture
Perform peer reviews, guidance, and contribute to best practices collateral and content/code
Work with fellow Engineers and Architects to build automation designs, including developing a tech stack, developing proper levels of abstraction, and guidance on best practices
Lead customer calls with technical peers and articulate the pros and cons of a given solution in a consumable manner to executive leadership
Translate manual workflows into high-level and low-level designs
Develop well-written technical documentation that documents solutions built for customers
Quickly adopt new technologies and continuously demonstrate technical excellence
Role Responsibilities:
Engage with customers to determine requirements needed to meet customer goals
Develop presentations and proposals for customer opportunities
Provide pipeline tracking for all opportunities
Provide lead pre-sales support for practice focus area
Maintain vendor programs or certifications as needed by management
Prepare and present demos and training sessions for practice focus area
Develop responses to RFQs and RFPs as needed
Assist in review of designs with Cisco and other manufacturers in their practice focus area
Develop SOW or technical scope of large SOW
Provide accurate resource to services Level of Effort (LOE) scoping
Perform delivery work as needed for customers related to area of focus services
When needed, lead other project engineers and take project direction from Services PM
Provide high quality documentation as needed
Assists with other duties as directed
Role Requirements:
In depth knowledge of full-stack architectures inclusive of ITSM (ServiceNow) Enterprise-driven workflows, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and CI/CD deployment models, Enterprise Network Orchestration & Automation, Source of Truth, ChatOps, Network Observability, and knowing how open source can lead or compliment a given architecture
Experience in a customer-facing, consulting role with an understanding of the environment and challenges of IT operations in the typical large corporation
Ability to break down complex concepts and present them in an organized and concise way, for varied levels of IT management
Ability to make good decisions on usability, such as naming, user experience, complexity tradeoffs, layout, mapping technical solutions to customers’ skillsets, etc.
Comfortable with context switching and working on multiple projects at the same time
Experience with CI/CD and how it could be applied to network automation
Experience with concepts around data management including IaC and Source of Truth strategy
Deep experience with Cloud Service Providers and Cloud network constructs, AWS and Azure preferred
Deep experience with Terraform, Ansible and/or Python automating networking devices
Familiar with tools and libraries such as pytest, Nornir, Netmiko, NAPALM, Batfish, Salt, Robot Framework
Familiar with traditional Git workflows for working in a collaborative environment
A strong understanding of Source of Truth automation strategy
CCNP or higher networking knowledge
Maintain Cisco Specialization roles as needed by management
A minimum of 8-10 years’ experience with providing consulting services for organizations
Strong experience designing technology solutions for Fortune 500 companies
Knowledge and familiarity with other EVT practice areas including DevOps, Cloud, Security, ServiceNow, and Enterprise Infrastructure
Strong coordination and lead role skills
Exceptional attention to detail and strong organizational skills
Strong understanding of how clients use technology to meet business objectives
Strong work experience with Microsoft Visio or LucidChart, Excel, Word and Powerpoint
Preferred experience with Cisco online tools and Netformx DesignExpert
What you bring:
Passion for customer experience and success
Keen interest in helping customers throughout their automation journey
Honesty and empathy to those around you on a daily basis
A focused and solution-oriented approach necessary to see projects through to completion
Confidence and decisiveness in moving the ball forward while being flexible and open
Ability to demonstrate the latest technology in a way that resonates with customers
Role Performance Metrics The PA will have a Product and Services revenue goal to be determined by management.
The revenue goals will be measured ongoing for billable and annually for product.
60% Professional Services billable utilization target (annual goal).