Principal Network Architect / Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Position Description Valiant Solutions is seeking a Principal Network Architect / Subject Matter Expert (SME) to serve as the senior technical authority for a nationwide enterprise network operations consolidation supporting our government customer. Today the customer's network is managed in silos by separate vendors and internal teams across cloud, WAN, LAN, and security, which slows incident resolution and stalls modernization. This role owns the end-to-end design that replaces that model: a single operating picture spanning campus LAN, a carrier MPLS WAN reaching roughly 50 sites, two enterprise data centers, and two public cloud platforms. The architect sets technical direction for the agency's Zero Trust and IPv6 programs, grounded in NIST SP 800-207, TIC 3.0 reference architectures, and the federal IPv6 mandate in OMB M-21-07. This is a hands-on senior engineering role rather than a management position, and it serves as the final escalation point for Tier 3 architectural root cause analysis. Named one of the Best Places to Work in the Washington DC area for 12 consecutive years , Valiant is proud of our employee-centric culture and commitment to excellence. If you are interested in learning more about Valiant and this opportunity, we invite you to apply now! This position is based in Silver Spring, MD, and allows for partial remote work (3 days onsite and 2 days remote). Remote work requires a high level of trust in our employees, and we strictly adhere to the details outlined in our Remote Work Policy below.  Responsibilities Transition, Consolidation, and Assessment  Lead the assessment and validation of the device inventory across Cisco Catalyst and Nexus switches, Cisco Firepower Threat Defense firewalls, Cisco ISE appliances, and Ubiquiti UniFi and Meraki switches. Direct the initial enterprise network assessment covering design, security, redundancy, and performance posture, and identify the gaps that block the target Zero Trust architecture. Drive knowledge transfer from incumbent staff and government engineers, capturing undocumented operational procedures and reconciling them against existing network standard operating procedures. Define the ITIL v4 aligned service management model that replaces tool-by-tool operation, and set the architecture for a consolidated monitoring dashboard aggregating MPLS WAN, data center fabric, and cloud telemetry. Assess the existing ServiceNow ITSM workflow used for network service requests and deliver written recommendations through the customer's review process. Network Design, Redundancy, and Tier 3 Engineering  Conduct the network design review within the first 90 days of performance and annually thereafter, identifying single points of failure in internet, DMZ, and cloud egress paths. Verify that the hot-hot aggregation design across the Seattle and Ashburn data centers survives the loss of any single circuit or backbone device without dropping internet or cloud connectivity. Plan and evaluate failover testing with the security team to confirm that backup paths activate automatically. Serve as the Tier 3 escalation authority for architectural root cause analysis, complex code upgrades, and disaster recovery execution. Review and approve Methods of Procedure before Change Control Board submission, including rollback plans and risk assessments, to protect the change success rate standard. Multi-Cloud and Carrier Architecture  Own BGP traffic engineering across the carrier MPLS backbone, transport circuits, and cloud interconnects to prevent suboptimal routing between on-premise and cloud workloads. Confirm that all cloud connectivity conforms to TIC 3.0 reference architectures so that cloud traffic is inspected and logged as required. Set Quality of Service policy on customer edge routers so that mission data and VoIP traffic receive priority across the wide area network. Act as the senior technical escalation point in carrier disputes, directing intrusive testing windows and vendor management escalation during circuit outages. Modernization and IPv6 Transition  Own the enterprise IPv6 transition plan and drive the enterprise from a roughly 5 percent dual-stacked endpoint baseline toward the 80 percent target, including cloud environments that are currently IPv4-only. Manage the interim dual-stack environment, keeping OSPFv3 and MP-BGP routing tables synchronized and stable. Maintain the enterprise IPv6 addressing plan and prefix allocation across sites, data centers, and cloud tenancies. Design NAT64 and DNS64 translation services if legacy IPv4-only applications are identified during migration. Identify End-of-Life and End-of-Support hardware and propose replacement paths that support TrustSec and native IPv6. Lead quarterly architecture reviews that adapt the design to changing traffic patterns such as increased cloud egress. Qualifications Experience and Education 8 years of progressive network architecture experience, including enterprise LAN, WAN, and data center design. Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Mathematics, Engineering, or a related field. Four additional years of relevant experience may substitute for the degree. Demonstrated experience acting as the senior technical authority for a nationwide or multi-site enterprise network. Experience consolidating fragmented, multi-vendor network operations into a single operating model. Technical Skills Deep routing and switching expertise across OSPF, OSPFv3, BGP, MP-BGP, and EIGRP redistribution in carrier-managed environments. Carrier-grade WAN design, including MPLS service management, Quality of Service policy, and circuit performance analysis using latency, jitter, packet loss, and availability metrics. Data center fabric design with Cisco Catalyst and Nexus platforms, including Data Center Interconnect tuning for storage replication. Multi-cloud network architecture