Senior Network Strategist & Architect — Cloud & Zero Trust

Riverside Research Institute; Dayton (OH); On-site; USD 140,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Riverside Research Institute seeks an experienced Network Strategist to lead the design, modernization, and long-term planning of enterprise networking for NASIC at Wright Patterson AFB, OH. You will influence engineering, operations, cybersecurity, and leadership teams to align strategy with business goals.

The role requires deep technical expertise, strong analytical and communication skills, and the ability to drive multi-year roadmaps across LAN/WAN, SD-WAN, cloud networking, and security

Qualifications

• Top Secret clearance with SCI adjudication required.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, IT or related field.
• 8+ years of hands-on network engineering, architecture, or strategy experience.
• Expert-level understanding of enterprise networking technologies including routing, switching, wireless, BGP/OSPF/EIGRP, MPLS, SD-WAN, VPN, DNS/DHCP/IPAM.
• Strong experience with modern architectures such as SASE, ZTNA, SD-WAN, cloud networking (AWS, Azure, GCP), and micro-segmentation.
• Proven ability to lead multi-year roadmap development and strategic planning.
• Experience collaborating with cybersecurity, cloud teams, and infrastructure leadership.
• Strong analytical and communication skills; ability to convey complex solutions to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Investigate hardware and software technologies to design network configurations for cloud transition.
• Deliver a monthly Network Strategy Posture Report with architectural designs and standards.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure engineering artifacts are delivered and FYDP requirements tracked.
• Develop and maintain enterprise network strategy (LAN/WAN, SD-WAN, wireless, data center, cloud networking).
• Assess current-state networks and define multi-year evolution roadmaps.
• Lead network modernization initiatives (zero trust, segmentation, automation, observability).
• Partner with cybersecurity on SASE, firewall architecture, and secure access approaches.
• Evaluate new technologies and vendors with business case support.
• Translate strategy into actionable designs, standards and implementation plans.
• Drive capacity planning, resilience, and performance improvements across global networks.

Skills

Top Secret clearance

SCI adjudication

Enterprise networking

BGP/OSPF/EIGRP

SASE/ZTNA/SD-WAN

Cloud networking (AWS/Azure/GCP)

Roadmap development

Leadership

Communication

network security collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Engineering/IT

Master’s degree (preferred)

Tools

Python

Ansible

Terraform

Networking tooling

Job description

Riverside Research Institute seeks an experienced Network Strategist to lead the design, modernization, and long-term planning of enterprise networking for NASIC at Wright Patterson AFB, OH. You will influence engineering, operations, cybersecurity, and leadership teams to align strategy with business goals.

The role requires deep technical expertise, strong analytical and communication skills, and the ability to drive multi-year roadmaps across LAN/WAN, SD-WAN, cloud networking, and security