Principal Solutions Architect - Network

SHI International; Texas; Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Diversity commitment

Professional growth opportunities

Health and financial benefits

Job summary

SHI International is seeking a Principal Network Solution Architect to act as a senior technical authority, guiding discovery, strategy, architecture, and delivery of complex enterprise networking solutions across campus, data center, cloud, and hybrid environments.

You will translate business priorities into scalable roadmaps, provide governance, mentor teams, and collaborate with executives, sales, and delivery resources to drive successful outcomes.

Qualifications

• Experience leading architecture assessments and design sessions.
• Ability to translate business goals into scalable network roadmaps.
• Strong governance and mentoring capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture assessments, workshops, and design sessions for large customer environments.
• Design secure, scalable, and resilient network solutions (routing, switching, wireless, load balancing, segmentation, VXLAN/EVPN, SD-WAN, Cloud WAN, firewalls, VPN).
• Develop current/future state architectures and implementation roadmaps.
• Provide governance during deployment, migration, and optimization.
• Mentor architects and engineers; communicate with executives and technical teams.

Skills

Leadership

Executive communication

Collaboration

Problem solving

Adaptability

Self-leadership

Tools

VXLAN/EVPN

SD-WAN

Cloud WAN

Firewalls

VPN

Job description

About Us

Since 1989, SHI International Corp. has helped organizations change the world through technology. We've grown every year since, and today we're proud to be a $16 billion global provider of IT solutions and services.

Over 17,000 organizations worldwide rely on SHI's concierge approach to help them solve what's next. But the heartbeat of SHI is our employees - all 7,000 of them. If you join our team, you'll enjoy:

• Our commitment to diversity, as the largest minority- and woman-owned enterprise in the U.S.
• Continuous professional growth and leadership opportunities.
• Health, wellness, and financial benefits to offer peace of mind to you and your family.
• World-class facilities and the technology you need to thrive - in our offices or yours.

Job Summary

The Principal Network Solution Architect serves as a senior technical authority and trusted advisor for enterprise networking. This role leads the discovery, strategy, architecture, and delivery of complex solutions spanning campus, branch, data center, cloud, and hybrid environments. The architect translates business priorities and risk considerations into scalable technical roadmaps, reference architectures, and implementation plans while guiding customers, sales teams, delivery resources, and technology partners toward successful outcomes.

The position combines deep hands‑on expertise with consultative leadership. The architect is expected to influence executive and technical stakeholders, provide architectural governance, shape service offerings, mentor other consultants, and remain accountable for solution quality across the engagement lifecycle.

Architecture & Technical Leadership

• Lead architecture assessments, discovery workshops, design sessions, and technical decision‑making for large or complex customer environments.
• Design secure, resilient, scalable, and supportable solutions across routing, switching, wireless, load balancing, segmentation, VXLAN/EVPN, SD‑WAN, Cloud WAN, firewalls, VPN, SSE, and SASE.
• Develop current‑state assessments, future‑state architectures, transition roadmaps, standards, reference designs, and implementation strategies.
• Provide technical governance during deployment, migration, upgrade, troubleshooting, and optimization activities, including review of high‑level and low‑level designs.
• Identify architectural risks, dependencies, constraints, and tradeoffs, and present practical recommendations aligned to customer objectives.
• Serve as the escalation point for complex design and delivery issues and guide teams toward timely resolution.

Customer Advisory & Engagement Leadership

• Act as a trusted advisor to customer executives, technology leaders, architects, engineers, and operations teams.
• Connect business goals, security requirements, operational needs, and financial considerations to clear network architecture decisions.
• Lead technical workstreams and multidisciplinary teams while remaining accountable for quality, scope alignment, and customer outcomes.
• Create and deliver executive briefings, architecture presentations, whiteboard sessions, workshops, and written recommendations for technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Produce and maintain professional design, deployment, operational, and knowledge transfer documentation.

Sales, Practice & Market Leadership

• Partner with sales and presales teams on opportunity discovery, qualification, solution strategy, scoping, estimates, statements of work, and customer presentations.
• Shape and continually improve Network service offerings, delivery methods, reusable intellectual property, and quality standards.
• Build relationships with strategic technology partners and represent SHI through webinars, conferences, meetups, and customer events.
• Monitor industry direction, emerging technologies, and market behavior; translate relevant trends into practical customer and practice recommendations.
• Coach and mentor architects, consultants, and engineers; promote consistent architecture practices and continuous improvement.

Behaviors and Competencies

• Adaptability: Demonstrates agility in dynamic environments, proactively anticipating change and adjusting strategies to address evolving business and technical needs.
• Executive Communication: Effectively communicates complex technical concepts to both technical and non‑technical audiences, influencing decision‑making at all levels.
• Documentation & Governance: Produces and maintains high‑quality architectural documentation, ensuring clarity, consistency, and adherence to standards.
• Leadership: Leads by influence, mentoring teams, driving technical excellence, and fostering innovation across projects and initiatives.
• Problem Solving: Anticipates risks, identifies root causes, and architects innovative, forward‑thinking solutions to complex challenges.
• Collaboration: Drives cross‑functional alignment, enabling teams to work cohesively toward shared outcomes.
• Self‑Leadership: Demonstrates initiative, continuous lear