Senior Network Architect/Engineer
Location: Boston, MA (Hybrid role)
Contract Only W2
Role Summary:
We are seeking a Senior Network Engineer to serve as the primary architect and internal Point of Contact (POC) for our currently outsourced and future network infrastructure. In this role, you will serve as the "in-house expert," translating business requirements into technical directives for our future network service provider. You will oversee project lifecycles, for example, the future network configuration of a new oncology hospital, ensure the quality of changes, and act as the final internal escalation point for complex network issues that require deep institutional knowledge.
With a strategic focus on both project leadership and technical excellence, you will collaborate closely with internal stakeholders to define the scope and requirements for network initiatives, ensuring each project is executed to meet organizational standards and delivered on schedule. As the senior escalation point, your responsibilities will include reviewing critical network changes, validating configurations for new services such as SD-WAN, firewalls, and VPNs, and maintaining performance SLA and security benchmarks in partnership with our service provider.
Your role will be pivotal in upholding the integrity and reliability of our network infrastructure across all Dana-Farber sites while driving innovation and continuous improvement alongside our service provider and their partners.
Key Responsibilities: 1. Strategic Project Leadership (POC)
- Serve as the technical lead and POCfor all internal network-related projects (e.g., office expansions, data center migrations, cloud integrations).
- Work with project managers and stakeholders to define project scope, technical requirements, and success criteria.
- Ensure projects are delivered on time by the outsourced provider while maintaining alignment with internal standards.
- Escalation & Technical Oversight
- Act as the Tier 3/4 internal escalation pointfor high-priority network outages or chronic performance issues.
- Review and approve complex Change Requests (CRs)submitted by the service provider to ensure they don't impact business continuity.
- Validate the configuration and deployment of new services (SD-WAN, Firewall policies, VPNs) to ensure they meet security and performance benchmarks in collaboration with Information Security.
- Vendor Collaboration & Governance
- Maintain a collaborative relationship with the outsourced network service provider, holding them accountable to SLA/SLOs.
- Conduct regular architectural reviews of the provider's work to ensure technical debt is minimized.
- Bridge the gap between internal security policies and the provider s operational execution.
- Architecture & Roadmap
- Maintain the long-term network roadmap, ensuring the infrastructure scales with the company s growth.
- Evaluate emerging technologies (SASE, Zero Trust, Cloud Networking) and determine their feasibility for our environment.
Why This Role is Unique
Unlike a traditional "hands-on-keyboard" role where you spend 100% of your time in the CLI, this position empowers you to be a strategic influencer. You will have the authority to shape the future network services while leveraging an outsourced team to handle the day-to-day administrative heavy lifting.
Education and Experience Requirements:
- A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science / Information Systems or Electrical Engineering is required.
- Experience working with Healthcare Organizations is highly desired, as familiarity with industry-specific compliance and operational requirements will be beneficial.
- Deep knowledge of Enterprise Networking (Routing/Switching, BGP, OSPF), Cisco and Palo Alto hardware/applications, Security (Firewalls, IDS/IPS), and Cloud Infrastructure (AWS/Azure/Google Cloud Platform).
- Proven experience working with Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and holding external teams to high technical standards.
- CCNP (Enterprise/Security), CCNA, or CCIE level knowledge is highly preferred.
- Exceptional ability to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical business leaders.
- Familiarity with Agile or Waterfall methodologies to track deliverables across multiple teams in collaboration with project managers.
- Proven knowledge and hands-on experience with AWS and Azure networking is desirable. Certification would be an asset.
- Solid understanding of VxLAN and Cisco Nexus fabric is desirable.
- Deep understanding of network micro-segmentation.
- Knowledge of dynamic routing protocols (OSPF, BGP4, and EIGRP) and enterprise class switches-router management (Cisco 6509, Nexus 7000, 3560G, 3750G, 2800, 2900, 3800, 3900, 7200, and 9000 series), large-scale switch fabric design, and configuration and management (6500 / Nexus series).
- In-depth knowledge of TCP/IP, IP Routing, MPLS, HSRP, VRRP, BGP4, OSPF, SSL VPN, QoS, RSA authentication, SNMP, POS, PPP, NAT/PAT, TACACS+, NAC, DS3, and OC-3/12 is essential.
- Thorough understanding of LAN Switching (L2 -L3), including VLANs, Private VLANs, Trunking, EtherChannel, VTP, and Spanning Tree.
- Familiarity with enterprise firewall management: Cisco PIX/ASA, Palo Alto NGFWs, Cisco Network Access Control (in-band and out-of-band), and WAN Technologies (DS and OC circuits, MPLS / BGP / VRF, and VPN over the internet - IPSEC / GRE / DVPN).
- WAN cache and compression technology, W2K12-K19 Domain, DHCP, and DNS Server management.
- Experience with current best practices in IT standards, principles, and CIS/NSA security practices.
Best Regards,
Shrishti | Business Unit Head | Pioneer Consulting Services LLC
3490 US Highway 1, Building 16, Suite 105 | Princeton, NJ 08540
Email ID: |