JOB PURPOSE: The Senior Manager of Network & Telecommunication Infrastructure leads and directs the teams providing day-to-day oversight and management of Rent-A-Center core and field data network, and telecommunications infrastructures.

The scope of responsibilities includes Manage the associated staff, daily operations, project contributions, financial/budget matters, asset management, procurement, and vendor management with the goal to provide best in class organizational support aiding in Rent-A-Center’s ability to meet the company objectives.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Oversees and directs all aspects of network/telecommunication infrastructure operations, including planning, designing, implementing, deploying, supporting and maintaining functions.
• Exercises leadership and day-to-day management of technical teams tasked with the operations of the data network, telecom network, partner call/contact center systems operations and services.
• Serves as the senior-level escalation point for Rent-A-Center staff that responds and resolves all operational issues.
• Develop & implement business and technology standards and best practices for the organization to support Rent-A-Center’s business objectives.
• Develop long-term strategic direction for the deployment of infrastructure to support network, video, and telco needs.
• Maintain 99.99% availability of the enterprise network and telecom infrastructure.
• Provide leadership and supervision, encourage professional development and mentor the Network & Telecommunication Services staff.
• Control, coordinate & provide guidance to the daily activities & long-term projects.
• Create, modify, and communicate network architecture plans including technical direction and budget allocations.
• Evaluate system architecture needs and make recommendations where appropriate.
• Perform analysis, diagnose, and resolve complex network-related issues when escalated to management level.
• Maintain vendor relationships with our partner ecosystems in order to evaluate and influence the development of selected infrastructures.
• Oversees the management of service level agreements (SLAs) with strategic partners.
• Ensure the effective utilization of currently deployed resources.
• Manages and ensures compliance across the estate for responsible infrastructures.
• Work with other IT managers to prioritize tasks, provide resources, and resolve conflict to ensure customer satisfaction.
• Performs other related duties as required.

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Extensive experience in the following areas – enterprise networking equipment, firewalls, load balancers, gateways, data and voice convergence, video services, and wireless technologies.
• Competent in network design, support and architecture, including the creation of very detailed network diagrams.
• Extensive experience with Meraki SD-WAN to include architecture of new enviroments and troubleshooting.
• Understanding of and adherence to the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Methodologies.
• Proven track record in advanced data communications and networking with switching and routing utilizing Cisco equipment.
• Strong understanding of Data Center technologies and infrastructure.
• Strong understanding of securing local and remote networks.
• Expert knowledge of Cisco, Palo Alto firewalls in a multi cloud environment, MS Windows, Unix, Visio, Cradlepoint family of products, Network Monitoring software and Cisco (switches, routers, VPN concentrators, Firepower firewalls, etc.), Ethernet (including 802.11x).
• Experience working with multi cloud networking with centralized firewall solutions including onprem datacenter integration. Integration experience using Megaport solution is preferred.
• Experience working in a multi cloud environment (AWS and Azure).
• Experience working with AWS networking technologies including Transit gateways, Direct Connect gateways, DNS resolvers & AWS VPN gateways with multi region configuration
• Experience working with Azure networking technologies including Azure VWAN, Express routes, VNET peering
• Strong leadership, planning and project management skills.
• Strong knowledge of Cisco ISE and its administration.
• Experience in telecom expense management processes and billing audits.
• Experience working with emerging technologies such as 5G wireless.
• Ability to travel up to 10% to remote locations within the United States.

• Ability to manage several large-scale projects simultaneously.
• In depth knowledge of Cisco Cloud Unified Communications and other cloud managed and hybrid VOIP systems, PSTN providers and the services they provide.
• Experience managing senior technical resources.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.