Network Architect

Overview

A Network Architect is responsible for designing and governing network architecture that supports business services.

This includes translating requirements into scalable, secure, and resilient designs, and making informed trade-off decisions across cost, risk, and performance.

Responsibilities

Core Responsibilities

• Architecture and Design
• Design enterprise network architecture across data center, WAN, cloud, and hybrid environments
• Define standards, patterns, and reference architectures
• Ensure scalability, resiliency, and security by design
• Trade-off and Decision Making
• Balance performance, cost, risk, and operability
• Evaluate competing approaches (e.g., overlay vs underlay, vendor vs open solutions)
• Make design decisions at the system level rather than the device level
• This is a key differentiator compared to a technical project manager or engineer
• Vendor and Technology Neutrality
• Evaluate technologies across multiple vendors (e.g., Cisco, VMware, Juniper) and open source.
• Avoid designing around a single vendor’s constraints or bias
• Select solutions based on best architectural fit
• Complex Programme Delivery
• Lead architecture across large, multi-domain programmes
• Collaborate with infrastructure, security, cloud, and application teams
• Own end-to-end design coherence rather than isolated components
• Typically involves large-scale enterprise or highly regulated environments with multi-region and high-resilience requirements
• Stakeholder Management (Conflict Handling)

• Align stakeholders across security, operations, business, and vendors
• Manage conflicting requirements such as:
• Security vs usability
• Cost vs resiliency
• Speed vs governance
• Drive decisions to closure through effective communication
• Governance and Standards
• Define and enforce network standards
• Review designs to ensure alignment with architectural principles
• Provide guidance to engineering and delivery teams
  
  

• Technical (Core Expectations)
• Strong fundamentals:
• Routing and protocols: BGP (mandatory), OSPF, TCP/IP
• Data center networking and fabric design
• Network security principles (e.g., segmentation, access control)
• Modern enterprise stack:
• Software-defined networking (e.g., NSX)
• VXLAN and overlay networking
• Hybrid cloud networking
• Network automation (e.g., Python, APIs)
• Platform expertise:
• Strong Linux and networking integration
• Ability to troubleshoot network issues at the operating system level
• Y working with containers and infrastructure tooling
• Experience
• Proven delivery of complex, enterprise-scale projects
• Preferably within financial services or similarly regulated environments
• Experience with:
• High availability and disaster recovery designs
• Multi-region and data center interconnects
• Secure access models
• Soft Skills (Critical for the Role)
• Strong ability to articulate trade-offs
• Confidence in constructively challenging stakeholders
• Clear communication across both technical and non-technical audiences
• Ability to drive decisions, not just facilitate discussions
• Anti-Patterns (What This Role Is Not)
• Not a technical project manager
• Not limited to facilitating discussions
• Not focused solely on explaining architecture without making decisions