Senior Network Engineer – Data Center & Cloud Connectivity (Tier 3 Lead

Senior, hands-on lead engineer to design, build and operate critical network infrastructure across data centers, colocation facilities and public cloud connectivity (Azure ExpressRoute, AWS Direct Connect). Own network solutions end to end: architecture standards, deployments, modernization, IaC automation and handoff to Network Operations. Also the Tier 3 escalation point in a globally distributed team at a regulated financial institution.

⚠️ Data center / colo experience is the key requirement. Office / campus / branch-only profiles are not a fit.

Key Responsibilities:
✅ Design and lead data center and colo network deployments
✅ Set architecture standards and patterns
✅ Build and run colo-to-cloud hybrid connectivity
✅ Automate with Terraform, Ansible and Python (GitHub Actions)
✅ Act as Tier 3 escalation: drive issues to resolution and document
✅ Hand off cleanly to Network Operations

Must-Haves:
🔹 7-10+ years of enterprise network engineering, core in data center / colocation infrastructure
🔹 Cisco Nexus and Catalyst, BGP/OSPF, fabric management (Cisco NDFC, Catalyst Center)
🔹 Palo Alto firewalls, SD-WAN, Infoblox / DNS
🔹 3+ years designing and operating Azure ExpressRoute and/or AWS Direct Connect and hybrid connectivity hubs
🔹 Hands-on automation: Terraform, Ansible and/or Python in GitHub / GitHub Actions (built, not just used)
🔹 Tier 3 escalation and full design → implementation → handoff lifecycle

Nice-to-Haves:
🔸 CCNP (strongly preferred, not required)
🔸 AZ-700, AWS Advanced Networking Specialty, Google Cloud networking
🔸 ThousandEyes, SolarWinds, Splunk, Grafana
🔸 CIS, NIST, SOC 2, hardening, audit support
🔸 Product owner / Agile, Azure DevOps
🔸 Vendor evaluations, roadmaps, architecture council
🔸 Financial services or regulated industry