Network Manager

Network: Cisco Routing and switching

Expert level: Needs to be Manager with total 10+ years of experience

Location: Preferred Chicago, IL but for right candidate remote is okay

Work Environment: Primarily office or hybrid work environment. Occasional travel to data centers or remote sites as required.

Job Summary: The Network Manager is responsible for leading the design, implementation, operations, and continuous optimization of the organization's enterprise network infrastructure across multiple data centres. This role combines deep technical expertise with people leadership, strategic planning, operational governance, and vendor management to ensure a secure, scalable, highly available, and high-performance network environment.

The Network Manager oversees a team of network engineers, sets architectural direction, serves as the senior escalation point for complex network issues, and partners with cross-functional stakeholders to align network capabilities with current and future business objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Network Strategy, Design, and Architecture

• Define, own, and maintain the enterprise network architecture, standards, and long-term roadmap across LAN, WAN, MAN, and data center environments.
• Provide architectural oversight for complex, multi–data center and hybrid network designs.
• Design scalable, resilient, and secure network architectures to support business growth and digital transformation.
• Review and approve high-level designs, technical specifications, and major network changes.
• Develop and maintain detailed network diagrams, standards, and design documentation.
• Collaborate with business leaders, application teams, cloud teams, and security teams to translate business needs into technical network requirements.

Network Implementation and Operations

• Oversee the deployment, configuration, and lifecycle management of enterprise network infrastructure, including: Routers, switches, firewalls, VPN concentrators, and load balancers.
• Ensure consistent configuration standards and operational best practices across all network environments.
• Establish and enforce operational processes, SLAs, KPIs, and change management procedures.
• Act as the senior escalation point for critical network incidents, outages, and complex troubleshooting.
• Lead root cause analysis (RCA), post-incident reviews, and implementation of preventive measures.
• Ensure effective disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity strategies for network infrastructure.

Team Leadership and People Management

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Network Engineers (L2/L3).
• Set performance expectations, conduct evaluations, and support individual development and certification goals.
• Foster strong collaboration, documentation discipline, and knowledge sharing within the team.
• Manage on-call rotations, workload distribution, and operational readiness.

Network Security and Compliance

• Partner with Information Security teams to design and enforce network security architecture and controls.
• Oversee implementation of network security mechanisms, including: Firewalls, IDS/IPS, segmentation, ACLs, encryption, and secure access.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory and industry standards such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, and internal governance frameworks.
• Oversee network-related security audits, vulnerability assessments, and remediation efforts.
• Support Zero Trust and least-privilege access models across enterprise and data center networks.

Technical Skills and Expertise

• Core Networking Technologies: Advanced knowledge of enterprise networking protocols and architectures, including: TCP/IP, BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, MPLS Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching and routing VLANs, trunking, STP, VPC, EVPN.
• Expertise in designing high-availability, redundant, and fault-tolerant network architectures.
• Data Center and Multi-Site Networking: Extensive experience supporting multi–data center environments and inter-DC connectivity.
• Knowledge of spine-leaf and data center fabric architectures.
• Understanding of load-balancing technologies (L4/L7 concepts) and traffic distribution strategies.
• Experience designing for disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity use cases.

Network Security Technologies

• Strong understanding of network security architecture and best practices.
• Experience with: Firewalls (including NGFW concepts), IDS/IPS, Network segmentation and access control.
• Hands-on or architectural oversight of: VPN technologies (site-to-site, remote access, IPSec, SSL), Encryption, authentication, and secure tunneling.
• Ability to align network security controls with compliance requirements and enterprise security frameworks.

Performance, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting

• Experience with enterprise network monitoring, logging, and management tools.
• Strong capability in advanced troubleshooting and root cause analysis.
• Ability to interpret traffic flows, latency, and throughput trends to drive optimization.
• Familiarity with ITIL-aligned incident, problem, and change management practices.

Vendor Platforms

• Hands-on and leadership experience with enterprise networking vendors such as: Cisco, Juniper, Palo Alto, Other leading hardware and security vendors.

Automation and Modern Networking (Preferred)

• Exposure to network automation, scripting, or orchestration concepts.
• Familiarity with hybrid and cloud-connected networking models.
• Understanding of configuration standardization and infrastructure lifecycle management.

Qualifications

• Required: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 12+ years of experience in enterprise network engineering and operations.
• 3–5+ years in a network leadership or management role.
• Proven experience managing large-scale, multi–data center network environments.
• Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

• Preferred: Professional certifications such as CCNP, CCIE, JNCIP, JNCIE, or equivalent.
• Experience leading network modernization or transformation initiatives.
• Financial and project management experience.