24 Mar 2026 1675890 Network Architect - Telecommunications $140,000 - $160,000 Base Salary Wash[...]

Looking to design mission-critical networks that support national security and government operations?

Join a specialist team delivering secure, scalable, and resilient network solutions for U.S. civil, defence, and intelligence sectors, backed by over a century of technology innovation. This Network Architect role is a customer-facing, post-sales position focused on designing and delivering optical networking solutions. Working closely with government customers, internal teams, and product groups, you will lead the design and implementation of optical networks, develop Bills of Materials, and produce detailed documentation to support complex programmes. The role requires strong expertise in optical networking design, particularly across advanced optical platforms, along with the ability to operate both independently and collaboratively in high-impact environments.

Take the lead in shaping critical network infrastructure and deliver solutions that directly support mission success at the highest level!

Responsibilities

• Support post-sales execution (design/implementation, BoM creation and documentation) through broad technical/system level expertise in Classic-Nokia Optical Transport architectures
• Act as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in Classic-Nokia Optical Transport, be able to engage customers, present viable technical solutions, and articulate their value to our customers
• Contribute to the creation of customer network evolution plans, and competitively position our technol-ogy strategy, solutions, and products to address customer needs
• Identify short and longer-term solutions to address customer needs
• Address complex technical risks (e.g. solution/product roadmap availability) with mitigation plans and so-lutions which generate solid business impact
• Ability to support the NFS pre-sales during offer development phases (e.g. solution description, Scope of Work (SoW), pricing, configurations, Bill of Materials)
• Need to be able to work independently, and as a team member, and be responsible for acting as the technical lead when dealing with customers.
• Need to be energetic, results-oriented, and a self-starter.

Role Details

• Customer Location: Ft Meade, MD
• On-site frequency: 2-3 days per week with the ability to be on-site the day after a request comes in
• Candidate Location: Metro DC area (preferred)
• Travel: Will depend on location of candidate.

Required Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field or equivalent experience preferred
• At least 10 years’ experience in an Optical Transport role focused on optical solutions in a customer facing role (post or pre-sales) in telecom industry, government, or equivalent military experience
• Detailed understanding of Optical Line System, Transponder/Muxponder and pluggable optical tech-nology and network implementation
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to write documentation/technical papers and present to small groups
• Secret level security clearance, or the ability to obtain one
• This position is only open to U.S. citizens, who can obtain at least a Secret level security clearance, given the nature of our customer.

Salary

• $140,000 - $160,000 Base Salary