Director Network Engineering

Populus is searching for a Director Network Engineering who will be considered the subject matter expert of the team. The Director Network Engineering will provide exceptional vision and leadership while managing a team of engineers to implement new solutions, improve existing services, and secure/prevent/respond to events that disrupt business and/or technical operations. The Director Network Engineering is a critical role that shares cross functional ownership of overall system uptime, customer experience, and establishing and meeting service levels that align with business and IT strategies.

Major Responsibilities

• Directs the Network Engineering team chartered with the delivery and support of multiple locations and platforms running in a 24/7 environment.
• Lead the development of network team strategy/roadmap and ensure its integration with broader IT and enterprise strategic plans.
• Provide technical leadership and detailed direction for networks, telecommunications, administration, and data centers.
• Must attract, retain, and develop qualified technical talent (the team) with required skills and capabilities to effectively create, manage and maintain a zero-trust network.
• Expected to be a thought leader and constantly generate new ideas on ways to improve the current environment.
• Responsible for the effective and efficient delivery of internal and third-party networks and various systems across the enterprise
• Responsible for all Next Gen UTM firewall, routing, switching, VPN and associated systems/tools in data center, DR data center and retail store environment.
• Responsible for ensuring devices and platforms are updated/patched and follow PCI-DSS 4.0 standards.
• Responsible for delivering and/or maintaining system and environment level documentation, diagrams, and inventory.
• Responsible for quarterly reporting of capacity planning to ensure system and environment thresholds are within tolerable ranges.
• Manage vendor partners and review vendor contracts, scope of work documents, technical specifications, service level agreements, etc. for technology service providers; negotiate renewals and new contracts.
• Stays current on new technologies and Information Security; provide recommendations on existing and emerging technologies.
• Enables cost-effective and innovative shared technology solutions.
• Establish and maintain appropriate performance measures; drive continuous proactive improvement.
• Responsible for locating and documenting technical debt and providing suggestions on solutions to address.
• Acts as a trusted advisor to VP of Technology, peers, and cross functional teams. Builds and maintains relationships with IT and business leaders.
• Identifies preventative measures to minimize the likelihood of a system disruption and coordinates implementation of these measures with the appropriate departments. This includes, but is not limited to, metrics, and dashboards for early detection of faults and anomalies.
• Co-own responsibility for and partners with GRC Program Manager (and others) in the development, review, and update of disaster recovery and business continuity plan. Includes documentation for governance, procedures to maintain continuous DR technical readiness, run books for fail-over and return-to-normal in the event of a disruption to the environment.
• Once per quarter plans and coordinates tabletop exercises and live testing of disaster recovery fail-over/return-to-normal capabilities. Provides connectivity coordination during an actual event to ensure compliance with process and timely resolution.
• Ensures seamless transition between networking team and support organizations for timely closure of problem tickets. Identifies and analyzes issues to eliminate bottlenecks, especially as it relates to access and account creation for new hires and non-employee personnel.
• Ensures proactive monitoring and corrective actions are in place through dashboards, metrics, continuous improvement initiatives and processes required for stable operations.
• Develops key performance indicators and performs continuous process improvement.
• Manages key day-to day (or as needed) updates with various teams to ensure service integration delivery meets or exceeds expectations.
• Responsible for proper configuration and zero trust implementation of layer 2 east-west traffic controls using software defined networking in a Hyperconverged environment.
• Responsible for proper configuration and zero trust implementation of north-south network traffic; including but not limited to firewalls and associated products and all end points at corporate office, data center, remote workers, IPSEC VPN tunnels, SSL VPN client groups and members, SaaS, IaaS, 800 retail locations and all additional functions utilizing network.

Key Competencies

• Excellent problem-solving skills and strong attention to detail.
• Ability to drive and deliver solutions independently and within a team environment.
• Strong communication, facilitation, and collaboration skills with business and technical communities.
• Dependable, transparent, self-motivated, and organized.
• Highly self-motivated, self-directed, and attentive to detail while ensuring your leader (VP, Technology) is kept informed. Effectively prioritizes and executes tasks in a high-pressure environment.
• Excellent written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Highly seasoned professional with sound management judgment and strong verbal and written communication skills, and diplomacy in handling sensitive information.
• Advanced interpersonal skills to engage with peers, customers, and senior management to achieve excellent partnership and results.
• Exceptional organizational and project management skills, including the ability to plan, schedule, and successfully carry out multiple projects at the same time to successful conclusion is required.
• Demonstrated ability to operate in a fast-paced environment, with a sense of urgency and attention to detail.
• Effective team player that can resolve conflict and offer win-win solutions to complex business challenges.

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in designing and managing complex networks, with at least 5 years involving the delivery of infrastructure services and operational excellence.
• 3+ years of experience in a manager or director role (based on network engineering) in a 24 x 7 production environment.
• Experience with a broad spectrum of technologies including advanced networking concepts, Microsoft stack, backup maintenance, custom application support, analytics, system integration, disaster recovery and data security systems.
• Demonstrated experience in transforming teams through process improvement, performance management, realignment and hiring to achieve higher performance levels.
• Experience leading a team where customer experience was a priority.
• Experience researching and troubleshooting IT issues and products and present ideas in business-friendly and user-friendly language is required.
• Experience in network planning, enterprise network architecture, capacity planning, Network evolution, strategic planning, or deployment.
• Experience in backup technologies and processes.
• Experience with system testing processes, to identify and close gaps in technical design for hardware and software.
• Candidates will also need to be well versed on how to properly secure complex enterprise networks using best practices while partnering with the Information Security team and others within Populus.

Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the major responsibilities. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, stand or walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; stoop or bend; and talk or hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 lbs. Must have appropriate vision to see up close, and at a distance with ability to adjust vision and focus.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work: This is a full-time position, days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT. This position might require after hours and weekend work.

Work Environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in some work environments can be moderate.

Disclaimer: The above information on this description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted, as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

EEO Statement: Populus Financial Group is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. In compliance with applicable law, Populus Financial Group does not discriminate against any applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender or transsexual individual), national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services, genetic information, pregnancy status, or any other protected classification. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, training, promotions, discipline, compensation, benefits, and termination of employment.