Wireless Architect

Job Title: Wireless Architect
Location: Warwick
Employment type: contract (Inside Ir35)

Detailed job Description:

Position Overview

We are seeking a Senior Technical Architect - Wireless to join our Technical Architecture team and help design, standardize, and evolve a large-scale global enterprise wireless environment.
This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced wireless engineer with CWNE or CCIE Wireless-level expertise who is looking to transition into architecture, as well as an architect who is relatively early in their architecture career.
The Senior Technical Architect - Wireless will work closely with Network Engineering and other Technical Architects to develop wireless architectures, high-level designs, standards, LLD templates, golden configurations, and implementation guidelines.
The organization is currently transitioning from Aruba to Cisco Meraki, providing the successful candidate with an opportunity to play a significant role in the architecture and standardization of the future wireless environment.
This is a Senior-level architecture position. The successful candidate will have meaningful technical ownership while working alongside experienced Principal Technical Architects who will provide mentorship and guidance.

Responsibilities

Wireless Architecture & Design

• Develop high-level designs for enterprise wireless LAN (WLAN) environments.
• Develop and maintain wireless reference architectures, standards, and design patterns.
• Design enterprise wireless solutions addressing coverage, capacity, RF performance, resiliency, security, and operational requirements.
• Evaluate wireless technologies and designs for scalability, performance, security, and operational effectiveness.
• Support the organization’s transition from Aruba to Cisco Meraki through architecture, design, standards, and technical guidance.
• Participate in wireless technology evaluations, proof-of-concepts, and architecture assessments.
• Contribute to wireless technology roadmaps and life cycle planning.

Wireless Engineering Standards

• Develop and maintain wireless LLD templates, golden configurations, and configuration standards.
• Establish standardized WLAN design and deployment practices that can be consistently implemented by Engineering.
• Develop standards for RF configuration, SSIDs, authentication, roaming, RF management, channel utilization, power, and other WLAN parameters.
• Partner with Network Engineering to validate and continuously improve wireless standards and configurations.
• Validate wireless configurations and implementations against approved architecture, standards, HLDs, LLDs, and golden configurations.
• Identify standards deviations and work with Engineering to resolve or formally document exceptions.

Wireless Security & Access Control

• Provide architecture and technical guidance for enterprise wireless authentication and access control.
• Design and support integration between wireless infrastructure and Aruba ClearPass and Cisco ISE.
• Develop standards for 802.1X, WPA2/WPA3-Enterprise, guest access, device onboarding, and network access policies.
• Work with Security and Network Engineering to ensure wireless solutions meet enterprise security requirements.

Technical Leadership

• Own assigned wireless architecture initiatives and deliverables.
• Review engineering designs and provide architectural guidance.
• Mentor wireless engineers and share technical knowledge.
• Create Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) and maintain architecture documentation.
• Collaborate with LAN/WAN, Security, Cloud, End User Computer, and other technical architects.
• Work with vendors and technology partners on wireless capabilities and solutions.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of enterprise wireless networking experience or equivalent depth of wireless engineering experience.
• Strong hands-on experience designing, implementing, troubleshooting, and optimizing enterprise WLAN environments.
• CWNE or CCIE Wireless-level expertise strongly preferred.

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