Executive Director, Global Network Architecture

This is a Full Time Job

Executive Director, Global Network Architecture

The Lead for Global Network Architecture and Engineering is the senior member of the Global Network Services team accountable for defining network strategy and creating advanced networking solutions to support business requirements that align to that strategy and achieve the goals and vision of IT. The role must facilitate the effective application and operation of those network solutions.

Drive technology strategy by developing and maintaining a multi-year architecture strategy for the network, translating business and information technology (IT) strategy into target architecture, roadmap, architecture standards and guidelines and governing adherence to standards.

Create advanced networking solutions to support business requirements that align to that strategy and achieve the goals and vision of IT. The role must facilitate the effective application and operation of those network solutions.

This position requires an emphasis on long-term planning and development of the network environment, development of roadmaps and strategy, proactive evaluation and assessment of new networking technologies and their applicability to the organization, development of supportable and efficient technical solutions and development of technical standards, policies and procedures.

Core Responsibilities:

Staff Management
• Lead global Network Architecture and Engineering team
• Manage a performance enhancement culture by actively coaching and mentoring direct & indirect reports, providing regular feedback and developing employees for wider roles and responsibilities to foster professional growth and development
• Staff management tasks such as resource management, staff, development, and training, employee reviews, definition of team members' responsibilities, accountabilities.
• Promote ownership, effectiveness and team work
• Ensure suitable technical skill and capability within the team
• Ensure sufficient resource availability for operating and supporting the architecture and engineering efforts.
• Plan and adapt staffing levels to most effective levels, including facilitating the utilization of external resources (GNS, off-shore, external professional services) for standard operationalized tasks and changes.
• Manage a development research and development budget.

2. Network Architecture and Design:
• Align architectural strategies with business requirements by understanding business needs, participating in business planning, evaluating impact of new technological capabilities to IT system framework and performing gap analysis to ensure architectural structure facilitates business objectives and eliminates security risks
• Collaborate with relationship managers and business leaders to identify new technology requirements, system rationalization, modernization and decommissioning strategies
• Provide guidance to project teams and solution architects related to their solution design, estimates and implementation strategies
• Monitor solution design processes and procedures by evaluating opportunities for process improvement, providing constructive feedback and recommendations and sharing technical knowledge to enhance solution design capability
• Define the network strategy and roadmap.
• Lead the longer term evolution of the network environment
• Identify and evaluate new systems, technologies and services and develop them to an operational capability
• Enable standards and policies to reduce repeated effort for deployment and operations
• Monitor the development of new standards within the data and voice networking industry with particular attention to the impact on the SPE networking environment.
• Work with business and product leaders to understand business requirements and help them understand how technology tradeoffs influence strategy.
• Establish and maintain key relationships with business partners, other IT groups and service providers
• Technical communications and consulting
• Analyze business and market needs and translate them into actionable architectural requirements.
• Develop business cases for strategic concepts that will become products and services.
• Operate as lead architect within a team of technical leads, each with individual specializations, to create a coherent and advanced architecture and offering
• Continually assess the existing environment and identify opportunities for improving solutions and service

4. Develop and maintain project plans for medium to large sized system projects

5. IT Operations Support:
• Act as the highest resource for problem determination and resolution and assist network engineers with the diagnosis of complex network issues.
• Participate in the development of operational procedures and policies.
• Participate in the change control, production acceptance and event management processes.
• Communicate change requests, issues and resolutions, event status as well other important matters to all areas of IT and customer departments.
• Develop the knowledge base and expertise of the GNS organization.

6. Provide oral and written status reports to IT management and customers

Education and Training Requirements:
• CCIE
• CISSP
• Detailed knowledge of Cisco hardware platforms, switching, routing (including EIGRP, BGP), IOS, IPv4, IPv6, TCP, cabling infrastructure, firewalls, remote access systems, wireless, MPLS VPN, multicast, WAN acceleration, wide area networking technologies, DNS/DHCP/NTP, authentication technologies, 802.1x, spanning-tree, layer 2 security, RADIUS/TACACS, QoS, load-balancing.
• Strong awareness of non-networking IT disciplines such as Windows and Linux server systems, clustering, storage area networks, RSA, information security, PKI, Active Directory, multi-tiered application architecture.
• Minimum 10 years employment in the IT industry working with a major systems and vendors.
• Minimum 8 years experience with Cisco based network environments
• Minimum 5 years experience with multi-tiered network infrastructure environment
• Minimum 3 years experience of defining and realizing major technology initiatives (+12 month duration)
• Previous IT management / project management experience across multiple IT disciplines.
• Two or more years of entertainment experience is a plus.
• Experience with Cisco Call Manager Systems is a plus
• Bachelor degree or equivalent experience preferred.

Specialty - Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

Knowledge of:
• All major networking and related technology concepts
• Proficient in all major Cisco networking products, including LAN, WAN and Security platforms
• IP and VoIP network design and routing architectures
• Expert level capability in a number of network technology areas
• Operational and support functions and associated challenges in managing a network environment
• Information Security as applied to networking and other IT domains

Skill In:
• Proven ability to create and maintain complex network architectures and solutions
• Creating technical diagrams, presentations and other networking documentation
• Developing standards, policies and procedures
• Technical troubleshooting and problem determination
• Strong interpersonal skills. Ability to work effectively with team members, clients and other IT areas
• Strong written and oral communications
• Comprehensive network design experience
• Proficient project manageme

[more...]