Director, Network Architecture and Engineering (Remote)

Description

The company makes thermal management and mission-critical building systems, and helps customers cut energy use and carbon emissions. Its customers include data centers, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing and higher education.

The company has been operating for more than 140 years. It pairs technology and lifecycle services with a field organization to deliver results for customers.

This is a senior role that sets the global direction for the company's network infrastructure and leads the architecture and engineering group behind it.

You will work with Network Operations, Cyber Security, Enterprise Architecture, Cloud, Infrastructure, business stakeholders, program teams and strategic service providers to make sure network solutions create business value while meeting security, performance, resilience and supportability needs.

Success looks like a network strategy, target architecture and standards framework that teams actually adopt, consistent compliance with those standards, predictable delivery, stronger readiness and documentation, more automation and reuse, deeper Zero Trust coverage, effective vendor oversight, and a strong team with succession plans.

Responsibilities

• Set and maintain the global network strategy, target architecture, architectural principles and multi-year roadmap.
• Serve as the senior design authority for enterprise networking and give clear direction on major investments and transformation programs.
• Create reference architectures and approved design patterns for WAN, SD-WAN, LAN, wireless, cloud networking, internet connectivity and related services.
• Turn business and technology needs into secure, scalable and supportable network solutions.
• Assess emerging technologies and recommend adoption when they bring measurable business, security or operational value.
• Keep network architecture aligned with enterprise architecture, cyber security strategy and wider technology goals.
• Own enterprise network standards, design principles, reference architectures, engineering patterns and technical policies.
• Set and maintain global standards for WAN, SD-WAN, LAN, wireless, cloud networking, internet connectivity, security integration, automation and observability.
• Lead architecture and engineering design reviews to confirm solutions follow approved standards and direction.
• Govern technical exceptions and design variances through documented review, risk assessment, approval and mitigation.
• Drive consistency across platforms, configurations, deployment methods, testing, documentation and handover.
• Work with Cyber Security and Enterprise Architecture to build security-by-design and Zero Trust principles into network standards.
• Act as the final technical authority on network architecture standards and engineering practice.
• Lead and grow a global team of network architects and engineers.
• Direct delivery of strategic projects, including network transformation, SD-WAN, campus LAN and wireless, cloud connectivity, SASE, data center networking, segmentation, internet and enterprise connectivity.
• Own the delivery process from requirements and high-level design through low-level design, build, testing, deployment, validation, handover and closure.
• Make sure projects meet agreed scope, schedule, budget, quality and technical standards.
• Provide technical leadership and executive oversight for complex, high-risk and business-critical implementations.
• Work with project and program managers on delivery plans, dependencies, resourcing, risks, milestones and acceptance criteria.
• Manage engineering demand, resource planning, prioritization and workload across the architecture and engineering portfolio.
• Set engineering methods, quality controls, peer review practices, testing standards and implementation readiness criteria.
• Confirm designs are documented, security reviewed, tested, supportable and moved into production operations.
• Lead problem solving and decisions when projects hit design, integration, performance or delivery issues.
• Lead lessons learned and continuous improvement across project execution and engineering practice.
• Work with Cyber Security and Enterprise Architecture to design networks around Zero Trust principles.
• Build identity-aware access, least-privilege connectivity, segmentation, micro-segmentation, strong policy enforcement and continuous verification into design standards.
• Guide adoption of Network Access Control, Secure Access Service Edge and Zero Trust Network Access where they fit.
• Make sure every network project completes the required security architecture, threat, risk and compliance reviews.
• Design for cyber resilience by limiting lateral movement and reducing the impact of security events.
• Promote secure-by-design practices across internal teams, partners and service providers.
• Drive adoption of network automation, orchestration, APIs, infrastructure as code and modern engineering practices.
• Find ways to simplify designs, standardize deployments, cut manual work and raise engineering quality.
• Use observability and data to improve design decisions, validation and service outcomes.
• Build a culture of innovation, technical curiosity, disciplined experimentation and continuous improvement.
• Provide technical leadership and governance across strategic vendors, managed service providers and systems integrators.
• Set engineering standards, design expectations, documentation requirements and acceptance criteria for partner-delivered work.
• Make sure supplier designs fit enterprise standards, security requirements and the long-term network strategy.
• Give technical input to sourcing, requests for proposal, statements of work, commercial evaluations and solution assurance.
• Hold partners accountable for technical quality, outcomes, knowledge transfer and improvement.
• Maintain senior vendor relationships to shape roadmaps and resolve material technical issues.
• Make sure architectures are resilient, scalable, secure and meet business availability needs.
• Identify architectural and engineering risks such as single points of failure, design weaknesses, capacity limits and supportability gaps.
• Make sure projects include resilience, performance, monitoring, testing, rollback and recovery requirements.
• Work with Network Operations so solutions are ready to run, with clear documentation, training and service transition plans.
• Use operational experience, incident trends and service performance to improve standards.
• Build trusted relationships with senior technology leaders, business stakeholders and delivery partners.
• Explain complex technical topics as business impacts, options, recommendations and investment decisions.
• Present strategies, roadmaps, designs, risks, business cases and program updates to senior leadership.
• Align Architecture, Engineering, Operations, Cyber Security, Cloud, Infrastructure and program teams.
• Mentor technical leaders and build succession, capability and career development across the function.
• Set clear objectives, priorities and accountabilities for architecture and engineering teams.
• Build an inclusive, high-performing culture centered on ownership, quality, collaboration and customer outcomes.
• Coach senior architects, engineers and emerging technical leaders.
• Assess capability needs and shape workforce, partner and sourcing strategies to match.

Requirements

• Expert knowledge of SASE, enterprise WAN, SD-WAN, routing and switching, campus LAN, wireless LAN and enterprise internet connectivity.
• Strong understanding of data center networking, load balancing and application delivery.
• Knowledge of core network services, including DNS, DHCP and IP address management.
• Proven expertise in network architecture methods, high-level and low-level design, engineering standards and design assurance.
• Experience designing highly available, resilient and scalable networks for complex global organizations.
• Strong knowledge of hybrid and multi-cloud networking across Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform.
• Understanding of cloud interconnect, direct connectivity, transit architecture, cloud routing and secure connectivity patterns.
• Knowledge of Secure Access Service Edge, software-defined networking and modern branch and campus designs.
• Deep understanding of Zero Trust architecture and how it applies to enterprise networking.
• Knowledge of identity-aware networking, least privilege, segmentation, micro-segmentation and continuous verification.
• Experience with Network Access Control, Zero Trust Network Access, secure remote access and security policy integration.
• Understanding of network security architecture, threat mitigation, vulnerability risk reduction and cyber-resilient design.
• Ability to turn security requirements into practical network standards and engineering controls.
• Knowledge of network automation, orchestration, APIs, infrastructure as code and configuration management.
• Experience with network observability, monitoring, telemetry, performance analysis and service validation.
• Strong understanding of project engineering, implementation planning, testing, change readiness and operational handover.
• Experience defining engineering methods, quality gates, technical acceptance criteria and documentation standards.
• Proven ability to lead architecture and engineering teams spread across regions and time zones.
• Experience delivering large, complex network projects and transformation programs.
• Demonstrated success governing managed service providers, technology vendors and systems integrators.
• Strong financial and commercial judgment, including business cases, budget planning, supplier evaluation and value management.
• Excellent executive communication, influence, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Extensive progressive experience in enterprise networking, including significant architecture, engineering and technical leadership.
• Proven experience leading complex global network delivery in a large enterprise.
• Demonstrable experience setting technical standards, reference architectures and engineering governance.
• Experience leading and developing senior technical professionals.
• Preferred: master's degree in a relevant technology, engineering or business discipline.
• Preferred: advanced certifications such as CCNP, CCIE, Aruba, Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud or equivalent.
• Preferred: experience supporting manufacturing, industrial, critical operations or other highly distributed business environments.
• Preferred: experience working within a multi-vendor, managed-service delivery model.
• You are a strategic thinker who can turn long-term direction into clear standards, priorities and deliverable plans.
• You are a credible technical leader who challenges constructively and makes timely, evidence-based decisions.
• You are delivery-focused, with strong ownership, discipline and attention to quality.
• You are a collaborative communicator who builds alignment across technical, operational and business teams.
• You stay calm and decisive amid ambiguity, competing priorities and complex delivery risk.
• You are committed to developing people, strengthening technical capability and building an inclusive culture.

Conditions

Remote, open nationwide, or on site in Milwaukee, WI.

Travel of about 15%.

Base salary range is $160,000 to $190,000, set by education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, internal equity and market data.

The posted range is target pay, but candidates whose background goes beyond it are encouraged to apply.

Technology-assisted tools, including artificial intelligence, may help screen and evaluate applicants, but human reviewers make all final hiring decisions.

Benefits

• A bonus plan that rewards individual, group and company performance.
• A competitive benefits package.