Design and engineer high-performance IP networks, focusing on routing architectures and carrier-grade services while leading network upgrades and troubleshooting.
AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.
At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD.
We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived.
We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD.
We’re hiring a Senior Technical Consultant with deep expertise in advanced routing, switching, and service provider technologies. You’ll design, build, and support high-performance, carrier-grade IP networks using BGP, OSPF/IS‑IS, MPLS, EVPN, and modern SP platforms. Ideal for engineers who enjoy solving complex routing challenges and working in large-scale environments.
Key Responsibilities:
- Design and engineer enterprise and service provider routing architectures (BGP, OSPF, IS‑IS, MPLS, EVPN).
- Support MPLS L2/L3 VPN services, VPLS/EVPN, and carrier-grade transport.
- Deploy and troubleshoot core/edge routers, transit/peering links, and high-scale BGP environments.
- Lead network upgrades, migrations, and new service turn-ups.
- Resolve advanced routing, performance, and stability issues.
- Implement routing security (prefix lists, RPKI, Max‑Prefix, CoPP).
- Participate in client-facing discovery sessions, design workshops, and architecture reviews to define enterprise networking project and design requirements
- Participate in creation of High-Level Design (HLD) and Low-Level Design (LLD) documents, network diagrams, implementation runbooks, and as-built documentation
- Develop migration and cutover plans with rollback procedures, change management workflows and conduct knowledge transfer sessions
- Manage project workstreams, track milestones and deliverables, and escalate risks proactively to project and account leadership
Required Qualifications:
- 7–10+ years in service provider, ISP, carrier, or large-scale enterprise networking.
- Expert-level knowledge of BGP, OSPF, IS‑IS, MPLS (LDP/RSVP‑TE/SR), EVPN.
- Hands-on experience with Cisco ASR/IOS-XR, Juniper MX/Junos, Nokia SR OS, or Arista platforms.
- Strong troubleshooting skills, packet analysis, and protocol debugging.
- Experience with QoS (DiffServ, HQoS) and traffic engineering.
- Excellent communication and documentation skills.
- Certifications such as CCNP/CCIE SP, JNCIP/JNCIE-SP, ARISTA ACE
- DWDM/optical networking familiarity is a plus
- Prior consulting, professional services, or managed services background with experience scoping engagements, writing SOWs, and managing client delivery timelines.
Why AHEAD:
Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between.
We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning.
USA Employment Benefits include:
- Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- 401(k)
- Paid company holidays
- Paid time off
- Paid parental and caregiver leave
- Plus more! See benefits https://www.aheadbenefits.com/ for additional details.
The compensation range indicated in this posting reflects the On-Target Earnings (“OTE”) for this role, which includes a base salary and any applicable target bonus amount. This OTE range may vary based on the candidate’s relevant experience, qualifications, and geographic location.
Top Skills
Arista
Bgp
Cisco Asr
Evpn
Ios-Xr
Is‑Is
Juniper Mx
Junos
Mpls
Nokia Sr Os
Ospf
AHEAD Chicago, Illinois, USA Office
401 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, United States, 60611
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