Consultant Systems Engineer - Network

Role Summary

We are seeking a Lead Network Engineer to design, build, implement, and support enterprise WAN solutions, with a strong focus on SDWAN, telco/vendor management, and advanced routing technologies (MPLS, OSPF, BGP). This role requires a senior, handson expert who can independently work with stakeholders, translate business and technical requirements into scalable WAN architectures, and own the full lifecycle of WAN services across multiple WAN clouds.

Key Responsibilities

Stakeholder Engagement & Requirements Discovery

• Act as the primary technical owner for WAN and SDWAN initiatives.
• Independently engage with business, application, security, cloud, and infrastructure stakeholders to collect requirements and constraints.
• Translate business needs (performance, resiliency, cost, security) into technical WAN designs and delivery plans.
• Clearly articulate design options, tradeoffs, risks, and recommendations to both technical and nontechnical audiences.

WAN & SDWAN Architecture and Design

• Design enterprisescale WAN and SDWAN architectures, including:
  • Multiregion, multivendor SDWAN deployments
  • Hybrid WAN models (MPLS, Internet, LTE/5G)
  • Active/active and highavailability designs
• Develop HighLevel Designs (HLD), LowLevel Designs (LLD), network diagrams, and operational runbooks.
• Design and validate routing architectures using:
  • MPLS, OSPF, BGP (including traffic engineering and failover)
  • Route redistribution, segmentation, and policybased routing
• Ensure WAN designs align with security, cloud connectivity, and application performance requirements.

Implementation & Delivery

• Lead handson implementation of:
  • SDWAN platforms (vendoragnostic or specific to your environment)
  • WAN routing and site turnups (branches, data centers, cloud edges)
• Manage and coordinate:
  • New site deployments and migrations
  • MPLS to SDWAN transformations
  • WAN upgrades and technology refreshes
• Validate configurations through testing, cutover planning, and postimplementation support.
• Ensure standardized, repeatable deployment approaches.

WAN Operations & Expert Troubleshooting

• Provide L3/L4 expert support for complex WAN and SDWAN issues.
• Troubleshoot advanced problems related to:
  • Routing instability (OSPF/BGP)
  • MPLS and Internet circuit performance
  • SDWAN path selection, SLA, and application routing
• Lead incident, problem, and change management activities.
• Perform root cause analysis (RCA) and drive longterm corrective actions.
• Continuously optimize WAN performance, resiliency, and cost.

Telco & Vendor Management

• Own relationships with telecom service providers and SDWAN vendors.
• Manage:
  • Circuit ordering, provisioning, and decommissioning
  • SLAs, escalations, and performance reviews
  • Cost optimization and contract alignment
• Act as the technical authority during vendor troubleshooting and negotiations.

Governance, Documentation & Standards

• Define WAN standards, design patterns, and best practices.
• Maintain accurate documentation, diagrams, SOPs, and knowledge articles.
• Ensure compliance with enterprise architecture, security policies, and audit requirements.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Serve as the WAN / SDWAN Subject Matter Expert (SME).
• Mentor junior engineers and review designs and configurations.
• Collaborate closely with security, cloud, and application teams to ensure seamless connectivity.

Required Qualifications

• 10 years of experience in enterprise network engineering.
• Strong handson experience in WAN and SDWAN design, implementation, and operations.
• Deep expertise in routing technologies:
  • MPLS, OSPF, BGP
• Proven ability to independently lead initiatives from requirements gathering through production support.
• Solid understanding of:
  • TCP/IP, QoS, latency, jitter, packet loss
  • High availability and resiliency design
• Strong troubleshooting skills in large, complex WAN environments.

Preferred / NicetoHave Skills

• Experience with leading SDWAN vendors (e.g., Cisco, Fortinet, VMware, Versa, Palo Alto).
• Exposure to cloud WAN connectivity (Azure/AWS/GCP).
• Automation or scripting for network operations (Python, APIs, templates).
• Experience managing global WAN environments with multiple carriers.