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IT Network Lead/Manager

Location: Danbury, CT

Full Time Permanent Position

This position is part of the Company IT Network Group. The candidate will be responsible for managing the Network Group, implementing change management and ongoing maintenance of parts of the networking infrastructure for the WAN, DMZ and Internet Edge of the Company global, geographically diverse network and site presence. An in-depth understanding of high availability, disaster recovery, multi‑site architecture, data center design, virtualization, network and network security, bandwidth design, firewalls, load‑balance and traffic management technology is a must. The individual should be able to define strategy, system requirements and architecture by working with server, storage, network, database, application architecture and other teams as applicable. Hands‑on experience in designing multi‑site architecture and large data center solutions are preferred. Strong leadership and communication skills are essential. The role requires the ability to provide strategic and architectural guidelines as it relates to general networking and network security.

• Technical – The candidate must demonstrate an in‑depth understanding of IP networking including routing, switching and addressing concepts. They must have operational and deployment experience of firewalls and have been exposed to VPNs on those platforms. Preference will be given to candidates who have experience of Checkpoint firewalls and have any experience working with IPS platforms again with preference given to Cisco Firepower platforms. Pluses include any experience in the following areas: Performance Monitoring, WAN optimization, DMZ deployment environments, Linux and network switching.
• Critical Thinking – Candidates must demonstrate the ability to learn quickly, be able to solve problems independently, make well thought‑out recommendations.
• Security Standards – Must be a proponent of a monitored environment, promote adherence to processes and standards encompassing data and infrastructure security. They must be comfortable working within a change management system and demonstrate a proactive approach to life cycle management.
• Teamwork – Must promote a collaborative environment within and across IT teams.
• Communications Skills – Must be effective with oral and written communication and be able to present complex technical concepts in an informative way to non‑technical staff. They must be prepared to produce business presentable documentation for all change and project related work as required.
• Project Management – Must be organized, self‑sufficient and have the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously. Must have the ability to co‑ordinate with other teams to ensure that project workflow is effectively communicated.
• Leadership and Team Management – Taking lead in managing the network team, setting goals, building capabilities, coaching and providing feedback, driving change and innovating ideas.

• The candidate will manage the Network Group including providing team members with career development guidance, assignment and prioritization of workload, performance reviews, personal and professional development coaching and all other aspects of personnel management.
• Responsible for periodically organizing and driving the evaluation of the architecture and the plan for future enhancements of the network environment.
• Responsible for overseeing the evaluation and selection of new products and services.
• Responsible for taking a lead role in overseeing active projects including but not limited to developing plans and schedules, interfacing with vendors, training personnel, the acquisition of hardware/software and team management.
• Creates best practice technical architecture models utilizing knowledge of industry and technical trends.
• Identifies and evaluates technical architecture to ensure solutions satisfy business requirements and performance goals.
• Administer complex FW and IPS rule bases under change management. Lead the implementation of business critical changes or upgrades/updates.
• Document all diagrams, policies and procedures for newly deployed systems and review on yearly basis.
• Active participation in life cycle management ensuring that all owned infrastructure is kept secure using approved software updates. Assist with testing of all proposed software updates.
• Product lifecycle support for the platforms owned by the group including active monitoring for new patches, releases and hotfixes. Work with vendors as required.
• Own and deliver large scale projects across multiple geographic regions.
• Work closely with the various regional operations teams to ensure that the networking environment is actively monitored and any issues are addressed as quickly as possible.
• Participate in an On‑Call rotation and be available for out‑of‑office hours support when needed.
• Work with approved vendors when ordering equipment, services or renewing maintenance.
• Work with vendor support teams to resolve technical issues as required. Responsible for global support in geographically diverse corporation.
• Audit and review all system logs for issues and remedy or elevate as needed.
• Work with security to highlight and investigate incidents.
• Third level support for all firewall and IPS incidents.
• Lead role in Disaster Recovery activities owned by the group.

• 10+ years overall experience including: experience working with technical trends to assess the future direction of technology.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.