Automation Architect

Network Reliability & Automation Architect
Pyramid Level: P4C
Experience: 8+ years in Enterprise Networking, Network Observability, Automation or Site Reliability Engineering
Job Summary
We are looking for an experienced Network Reliability & Automation Architect to define and implement the observability and automation strategy for one of the world's largest enterprise networks.
The role combines deep expertise in enterprise networking, network observability and automation engineering to improve network reliability, reduce operational complexity and enable autonomous operations. The architect will be responsible for designing how the network is observed, how operational intelligence is derived from telemetry, and how automation is used to diagnose, validate and remediate operational issues.
The successful candidate will serve as the technical authority for network reliability, observability architecture and automation, working closely with Network Operations, Engineering and Platform teams to continuously improve service resilience and operational efficiency.

Key Responsibilities
Network Reliability Engineering

• Define the enterprise network observability strategy across campus, data centre, WAN, cloud and wireless environments.
• Design service-centric observability models that measure the health, availability and performance of critical business services.
• Define network health indicators, service health models, reliability metrics and operational SLOs.
• Design methodologies for event correlation, topology-aware fault isolation, root cause analysis and service impact assessment.
• Drive initiatives to reduce alert noise, eliminate blind spots and improve operational signal quality.
• Lead reliability reviews, operational readiness assessments and post-incident improvement initiatives.

Observability Architecture

• Architect telemetry collection across SNMP, Syslog, NetFlow/IPFIX, Streaming Telemetry, APIs and cloud-native telemetry sources.
• Design topology and dependency models that accurately represent network and service relationships.
• Define standards for monitoring coverage, alert quality, telemetry validation and dashboard design.
• Architect integrations between observability platforms, ITSM, CMDB, IPAM, knowledge graphs and notification systems.
• Ensure completeness, accuracy and continuous validation of network inventory and topology information.

Automation Architecture

• Architect reusable automation frameworks using Ansible, AWX/Automation Controller and Python.
• Design automation for diagnostics, configuration management, compliance validation, software lifecycle management and incident remediation.
• Build automation patterns that support closed-loop operations and human-assisted remediation.
• Define standards for reusable playbooks, modular automation components and testing frameworks.
• Architect CI/CD pipelines for automation content using Git, Jenkins, GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps.

Technical Leadership

• Establish engineering standards, governance and best practices for observability and automation.
• Mentor engineers across Network Operations, Observability and Automation teams.
• Review architecture, code and operational designs.
• Evaluate emerging technologies including AI-assisted operations, predictive analytics and autonomous network operations.
• Serve as the primary technical advisor for large-scale network transformation initiatives.

Required Skills
Enterprise Networking
Deep understanding of enterprise network architecture including:

• Campus Networks
• Data Centre Networks
• WAN and SD-WAN
• Wireless LAN
• Internet Edge
• Cloud Networking
• Firewalls
• Load Balancers
• DNS, DHCP and IPAM

Strong knowledge of:

• TCP/IP
• BGP
• OSPF
• MPLS
• VXLAN/EVPN
• QoS
• Multicast
• High Availability technologies

Network Observability
Strong experience designing and operating enterprise observability platforms including:

• Telemetry architecture
• Network monitoring
• Service dependency modelling
• Event correlation
• Root cause analysis
• Service impact analysis
• Topology modelling
• Health-state modelling
• Knowledge Graphs
• SLO and reliability engineering

Experience with one or more platforms such as:

• SolarWinds
• Cisco Catalyst Center
• Arista CloudVision
• AppNeta
• OpenText NNM
• Splunk
• Moogsoft
• BigPanda
• ThousandEyes
• New Relic

Network Automation

• Expert knowledge of Ansible and AWX/Automation Controller.
• Strong Python development skills.
• Experience building automation for multi-vendor network environments.
• API integration using REST, NETCONF, RESTCONF and vendor SDKs.
• CI/CD using Git, Jenkins, GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps.
• Infrastructure-as-Code and Network-as-Code principles.
• Kubernetes and container platforms.

Software Engineering

• Python
• Git
• Linux
• Docker
• Kubernetes
• Database technologies including Neo4j and MongoDB
• Event-driven architectures and messaging platforms

Preferred Qualifications

• Cisco CCNP Enterprise or CCIE
• Cisco DevNet Professional
• Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation
• ITIL Foundation
• Experience with AI-driven Operations (AIOps), Knowledge Graphs or autonomous operations platforms.
• Experience designing observability and automation for enterprise environments exceeding 10,000 network devices.