Network Architect SME (Hybrid - Suitland, MD)

Client Requirements: Applicants MUST BE U.S. Citizens and be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.

The CTG Experience

At Capital Technology Group (CTG), our teams are passionate about modernizing how the federal government delivers software. We partner with federal agencies to build secure, scalable, and mission-driven solutions that make a meaningful impact on millions of people. Recognized by The Washington Post as a Top Workplace in 2025 and 2026. CTG fosters a culture rooted in our core values. Our values guide how we work together and support one another, creating an environment where employees feel trusted, empowered, and encouraged to grow both personally and professionally.

About the Role

We are seeking a Subject Matter Expert (SME) Network Architect to join our team supporting the U.S. Census Bureau on a large-scale federal modernization program. This is a senior, hands-on technical role responsible for designing, engineering, implementing, and modernizing secure, resilient network and cloud infrastructure supporting mission-critical systems and shared services across cloud and on-premises environments.

The successful candidate will combine deep networking and cloud engineering expertise with enterprise architecture responsibilities, translating mission and technical requirements into scalable, secure, highly available cloud and hybrid infrastructure solutions. This role remains hands-on throughout the engineering lifecycle, from architecture and technical design through configuration, implementation, automation, migration, testing, troubleshooting, and operational transition.

You'll produce technical designs and architecture artifacts, including physical and logical diagrams, while working directly with cloud, platform, network, security, and engineering teams to implement and support the environments those designs represent. The role will also support current-state assessments, target-state architecture, modernization roadmaps, architecture governance, and technical gap analysis.

This is a hybrid role based out of Suitland, MD. Candidates must be U.S. citizens and able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.

You Will Get To

• Design, engineer, implement, and support secure, resilient enterprise cloud, network, and hybrid infrastructure solutions supporting mission systems and shared services.
• Develop and implement secure connectivity solutions spanning cloud and on-premises environments.
• Translate mission, technical, security, and architecture requirements into implementable infrastructure and network solutions.
• Produce and assess physical and logical architecture diagrams, routing and segmentation designs, interfaces, connectivity, capacity, availability, resiliency, and monitoring requirements.
• Provide senior-level hands-on engineering throughout the infrastructure lifecycle, including design, configuration, implementation, automation, migration, testing, troubleshooting, deployment, and operational support.
• Configure, integrate, and troubleshoot cloud and hybrid infrastructure components and services.
• Ensure solutions meet requirements for scalability, availability, security, performance, interoperability, maintainability, cost effectiveness, and operational support.
• Provide technical guidance to engineers and resolve complex cloud infrastructure, networking, connectivity, performance, and cross-domain issues.
• Support infrastructure automation, infrastructure as code (IaC), network automation, software-defined networking, and repeatable deployment approaches.
• Support cloud adoption, migration, and modernization initiatives involving legacy infrastructure, hybrid environments, and shared enterprise services.
• Define and maintain cloud and network architecture standards, reference patterns, configurations, and technical decisions.
• Support target-state cloud and network architecture, technology standards, and modernization roadmaps.
• Align solutions with enterprise architecture governance, approved standards, and repository requirements.
• Assess current-state environments to identify technical gaps, technical debt, lifecycle risks, single points of failure, capacity constraints, and performance bottlenecks.
• Evaluate infrastructure and architecture options based on cost, performance, scalability, resiliency, security, and operational supportability.
• Participate in technical, architecture compliance, security, engineering, phase-gate, and implementation-readiness reviews.
• Evaluate proposed technical or architectural deviations and provide recommendations based on technical risk and architectural impact.
• Coordinate across cloud/platform, network, cybersecurity, identity, endpoint/mobility, application, data, ITSM, carrier, and provider teams.
• Support testing, migration, deployment, operational transition, and post-implementation stabilization.
• Validate implemented solutions against approved designs, security requirements, and architecture standards.
• Maintain architecture, technical decisions, risks, dependencies, configurations, diagrams, and engineering documentation in approved repositories.
• Communicate technical approaches, root cause, remediation options, risks, and tradeoffs to engineers, architects, program managers, and leadership.

Who You Are

• A strategic, hands-on network architect who enjoys solving complex cloud, infrastructure, networking, and modernization challenges.
• Experienced translating mission and technical requirements into secure, scalable, resilient, and implementable architecture solutions.
• Comfortable working across engineering, security, architecture, compliance, and delivery teams in complex enterprise environments.
• A clear communicator who can explain technical approaches, risks, recommendations, and tradeoffs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, Cybersecurity, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 12+ years of IT experience, including significant hands-on cloud, infrastructure, or network engineering experience and responsibility for enterprise-scale solutions.
• Demonstrated senior-level experience designing, engineering, implementing, migrating, and supporting enterprise cloud and hybrid infrastructure environments.
• Strong understanding of cloud infrastructure, cloud networking, hybrid connectivity, infrastructure engineering, and enterprise network architecture.
• Strong networking fundamentals, including TCP/IP, routing, switching, segmentation, DNS/DHCP/IPAM, load balancing, resiliency, capacity, performance, monitoring, and security.
• Experience producing and implementing technical cloud and network designs, including physical and logical architecture diagrams.
• Experience designing and implementing secure connectivity between cloud and on-premises environments.
• Experience configuring, integrating, testing, troubleshooting, and supporting cloud, network, and hybrid infrastructure.
• Experience integrating cloud infrastructure with enterprise network, security, identity, application, and data services.
• Experience with infrastructure as code, infrastructure/network automation, or automated infrastructure deployment and configuration.
• Experience supporting cloud migration, infrastructure modernization, or hybrid environment initiatives.
• Experience assessing current-state environments and identifying technical gaps, technical debt, lifecycle risks, single points of failure, capacity constraints, and performance issues.
• Experience supporting target-state architecture, modernization roadmaps, enterprise standards, or reference architectures.
• Experience participating in technical, security, architecture, compliance, and implementation-readiness reviews.
• Ability to evaluate technical or architectural deviations and assess technical risk and architectural impact.
• Ability to troubleshoot complex cloud infrastructure, network, connectivity, performance, availability, security, and cross-domain technical issues.
• Strong documentation and communication skills, with experience presenting technical designs and tradeoffs to engineers and leadership.
• U.S. Citizenship Required.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.

Nice to Have

• Direct U.S. Census Bureau, federal, government, or large distributed enterprise cloud/network experience.
• Experience engineering cloud infrastructure supporting mission-critical applications, platforms, or shared services.
• Experience with enterprise cloud migration and hybrid cloud modernization initiatives.
• Experience with advanced cloud networking, hybrid connectivity, network automation, infrastructure as code, and automated infrastructure deployment.
• Experience with software-defined networking, zero trust, SASE/SSE, and observability.
• Experience implementing highly available, scalable, resilient, and secure cloud infrastructure environments.
• Experience with enterprise architecture repositories, technology standards, reference architectures, and modernization roadmaps.
• Experience with cloud cost optimization and infrastructure capacity planning.
• Relevant cloud, cloud networking, Cisco, Juniper, SD-WAN, wireless, security, infrastructure, or architecture certifications.

Salary

We are committed to offering a competitive salary for this position, with an estimated range of $115k–$140k annually. Please note that this range is intended to provide a general idea of what to expect. The final offer may vary based on experience, skills, and other factors.