Job Details

Lan Architect Sme

The LAN Architect SME will serve as the technical authority for Local Area Network infrastructure in support of USCIS Office of Information Technology (OIT). The SME will lead the design, modernization, implementation, optimization, and sustainment of enterprise LAN systems to ensure secure, scalable, resilient, and high-performance connectivity across USCIS facilities and hybrid environments. They will work closely with network, security, and cloud architecture teams to align LAN solutions with agency-wide objectives, policies, and best practices.

Responsibilities:

• Lead architecture/design efforts for enterprise LAN infrastructure: switches, VLANs, routing, access layer, aggregation, core layers, redundancy, high availability.
• Define enterprise LAN standards, policies, and best practices (including physical cabling, fiber, copper, cable management, structured cabling, maps).
• Perform capacity planning, performance analyses, modeling, and forecasting of LAN usage (bandwidth, latency, load, growth).
• Design solutions for both wired and wireless LAN environments, including integration with wireless access points, controllers, RF planning, and site surveys.
• Ensure secure LAN designs: network access control (NAC), segmentation, micro-segmentation, authentication (802.1X, RADIUS), secure management, patching.
• Support migration / refresh of legacy hardware; recommend and evaluate new LAN technologies, switches, routers, and related optical/transmission gear.
• Integrate with other domains: wide area network (WAN), Data Center / Campus networks, cloud connectivity, virtualization, software-defined networking (SDN), software-defined access (SDA).
• Work with the network operations center (NOC) to develop monitoring, operational procedures, troubleshooting guides, disaster recovery / business continuity plans specific to the LAN.
• Maintain detailed design documentation: logical and physical diagrams, configuration guides, change control, standard operating procedures.
• Provide subject matter expertise during procurement, vendor selection, RFPs, technical evaluation.
• Collaborate with security, compliance, and risk management to ensure architectures meet DHS, USCIS, and federal standards (e.g., FIPS, NIST, STIGs).
• Mentor and train engineering staff on LAN architecture, design, implementation, and best practices.
• Participate in enterprise architecture reviews, contribute to roadmap planning and align LAN elements with enterprise and mission needs.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Network Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• At least 8-12 years of hands-on experience designing, implementing, and managing enterprise LAN environments.
• Deep technical expertise in LAN technologies: switching, routing, VLANs, Spanning Tree Protocols, redundancy (e.g. MLAG, VPC), link aggregation, QoS, multicast, etc.
• Strong experience with network hardware (enterprise switches, routers), preferably with major vendors (Cisco, Juniper, Arista, etc.).
• Experience with network design tools and diagramming (Visio, etc.), and ability to develop logical and physical network models.
• Good knowledge of network security related to LAN: NAC, 802.1X, network segmentation, access control, management-plane security.
• Experience in high-availability / redundancy design and implementation.
• Strong troubleshooting and diagnostics skills (hardware, firmware, software, configuration).

Desired Qualification:

• Experience with software-defined networking (SDN), software-defined access (SDA), network automation (Ansible, Python, etc.).
• Experience integrating on-premises LAN with cloud infrastructure and hybrid environments.
• Experience in federal / DHS / USCIS or other government agency environment.
• Knowledge of IPv6, routing protocols (OSPF, BGP), multicast.
• Certifications such as CCNP, CCIE (or equivalent); or vendor-specific architecture certifications.
• Experience with wireless LAN site surveys, RF planning as part of LAN design is a plus.
• Familiarity with applicable federal security / compliance frameworks (NIST, FISMA, DHS policies, STIG).

Level / Seniority & Other Criteria:

• Must be comfortable making high-impact decisions, influencing senior leadership, and driving standards across the enterprise.
• Experience delivering under contract / government procurement environments.
• Excellent communication skills able to speak both to detailed technical staff and non-technical leadership.
• Ability to work in team-based, matrixed environment; sometimes across time zones.