Principal Architect, Technology - IP Core & Metro

About Us We're building the fiber network you deserve. Consistently fast, refreshingly straightforward and giving you control. From our home base in Kirkland, Washington, we're connecting over one million homes and businesses across the states we serve with fiber internet that works the way it should. No gimmicks, no gotchas. Internet shouldn’t get in the way of life: it should make it better. Job Description This is a remote position. Position Title: Principal Architect, Technology – IP Core & Metro Base Salary: $155,000 to $230,000 annually DOE Bonus: Target annual bonus Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401k, flexible spending account, paid sick leave and paid time off, parental leave, quarterly performance bonus, training, career growth and education reimbursement programs. Ziply Fiber is a local internet service provider dedicated to elevating the connected lives of the communities we serve. We offer the fastest home internet in the nation, a refreshingly great customer experience, and affordable plans that put customers in charge. As our state-of-the-art fiber network expands, so does our need for team members who can help us grow and realize our goals. Our Company Values: Genuinely Caring: We treat customers and colleagues like neighbors, with empathy and full attention. Empowering You: We help customers choose what is best for them, and we support employees in implementing new ideas and solutions. Innovation and Improvement: We constantly seek ways to improve how we serve customers and each other. Earning Your Trust: We build trust through clear, honest, human communication. Job Summary The Principal Architect for IP Core & Metro is Ziply Fiber's authority on the routing and switching backbone — the BGP and MPLS fabric that carries every subscriber bit from the access edge to the internet. This role will design the core and metro network architecture, own capacity engineering from OLT handoff to upstream peering, and ensure the backbone is resilient, scalable, and operationally efficient as Ziply continues to expand. The Principal Architect sits at the center of the network: everything upstream of the subscriber edge and everything downstream of the transport layer runs through you. This is a senior independent contributor role for a routing engineer who goes deep on protocol mechanics, thinks rigorously about failure domains and traffic engineering, and has the operational experience to know where elegant design meets real-world constraints. Essential Duties and Responsibilities: The Essential Duties and Responsibilities listed below are a range of duties performed by the employee and not intended to reflect all duties performed. IP Core Architecture ● Own the IP core architecture: BGP topology design, iBGP/eBGP policy, MPLS/SR-MPLS label distribution, and traffic engineering across Ziply's backbone. ● Define core routing policy: BGP community strategy, path selection policy, route filtering, and prefix management across all peering and transit relationships. ● Architect Segment Routing (SR-MPLS) strategy: SID allocation, TE policy design, and migration path from legacy LDP/RSVP-TE where applicable. ● Own upstream peering and transit strategy: peering policy, Internet Exchange presence, transit provider diversity, and route optimization. Metro Ethernet & Aggregation ● Design metro Ethernet and aggregation ring architecture: topology, redundancy models, and handoff standards between access, aggregation, and core layers. ● Define OLT/DSLAM handoff to the IP core: aggregation design, VLAN tagging and QinQ standards, and QoS pass-through policy. ● Architect EVPN and L2VPN services across the metro fabric for business and wholesale customers. ● Define metro ring protection and fast-reroute strategy: BFD tuning, FRR timers, and documented convergence targets. Capacity Engineering & Traffic Management ● Own core-to-metro capacity engineering: traffic matrix modeling, link utilization thresholds, and upgrade triggers to stay ahead of subscriber demand. ● Define and maintain IP address management standards: core and metro IP addressing plans, BGP AS policy, and route summarization strategy. ● Own NetFlow/IPFIX telemetry architecture for traffic analysis: collector design, sampling policy, and integration with capacity planning and security tools. ● Collaborate with the Transport architect to ensure IP and optical layer integration is optimized — including traffic engineering across the DWDM layer. Peering, Transit & Interconnection ● Define and manage Ziply's peering strategy: public and private peering relationships, IX presence (Seattle IX, SIX, or equivalent), and route optimization. ● Own transit provider architecture: provider diversity, failover policy, and commercial alignment with capacity planning. ● Collaborate with the Subscriber Edge architect to ensure seamless BNG-to-core integration and consistent QoS policy end to end. Other Duties · Performs other duties as required to support the business and evolving organization . Required Qualifications: · High school diploma or GED. · Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, Telecommunications, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and directly relevant IP network architecture experience. · 10+ years of IP network engineering with expert-level routing and switching in a service provider, ISP, or large carrier environment. · Demonstrated senior independent contributor experience setting IP architecture standards, influencing technical direction, mentoring engineers, and driving cross-functional architecture decisions without direct people-management responsibility. · Deep BGP expertise: large-scale iBGP/eBGP design, route policy, community strategy, BGP-LS, path selection, and peering/transit architecture. · Strong MPLS proficiency: LDP, RSVP-TE, Segment Routing (SR-MPLS), and traffic engineering — including migration from legacy MPLS to SR. · Metro Ethernet and carrier aggregation experience: EVPN, QinQ, and ring-based aggregation topologies with fast-reroute and redundancy. · Track record designing and operating high-availability core networks: documented failure domain analysis, RTO/RPO targets, and convergence benchmarks. · Strong capacity planning skills: traffic matrix modeling, NetFlow/IPFIX analysis, and proactive upgrade planning. · Experience with router platforms from Nokia, Juniper, and/or Cisco in a carrier-grade production environment. · Experience creating architecture decision records, reference designs, routing standards, implementation patterns, operational runbooks, and governance processes for production IP Core and Metro platforms. Preferred Qualifications: ● Experience with SRv6 (Segment Routing over IPv6) in a service provider context. ● Familiarity with EVPN-VXLAN for metro and data center fabric integration. ● Background in network automation for routing infrastructure: NETCONF/YANG, gNMI, OpenConfig, or Ansible with network vendor modules. ● Experience at an Internet Exchange or with large-scale public peering programs. ● JNCIE-SP, CCIE-SP, or equivalent certification. ● Experience with routing security practices such as RPKI/ROA coordination, MANRS-aligned controls, route leak prevention, DDoS routing workflows, RTBH, or equivalent production routing-security practices. ● Experience presenting IP Core, Metro, peering/transit, capacity, or resiliency strategy to VP-level or executive audiences. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: · Ability to work independently and apply sound judgment and reasoning skills to a variety of situations. · Ability to multi-task and collaborate effectively with other personnel to meet deadlines. · Strong verbal and written communication, attention to detail, and organizational skills. · Ability to work within critical deadlines. · Ability to adjust to rapidly changing priorities and schedules. · Ability to provide excellent customer service. · Senior technical leadership skills with the ability to influence routing architecture, mentor technical teams, establish standards, and build alignment without direct people-management authority. · Strong analytical and systems-thinking skills with the ability to balance resiliency, scalability, routing security, convergence, traffic engineering, customer impact, operational supportability, and cost. · Executive presence and communication skills to explain complex IP Core and Metro architecture decisions clearly and credibly to Technology, Operations, Security, Product, vendors, and senior leadership. Work Authorization Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the US for any employer. Sponsorship is not available for this position. Physical Requirements The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Essential and marginal functions may require maintaining physical condition necessary for bending, stooping, sitting, walking, or standing for prolonged periods of time; most of time is spent sitting in a comfortable position with frequent opportunity to move about. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. Work Environment Work is performed in an office setting with exposure to computer screens and requires extensive use of a computer, keyboard, mouse, and multi-line telephone system. The work is primarily a modern office setting. At all times, Ziply Fiber must be your primary employer. Unless otherwise prohibited by law, employees may not hold outside employment nor be self-employed without obtaining approval in writing from Ziply Fiber. In holding outside employment or self-employment, employees should ensure that participation does not conflict with responsibilities to Ziply Fiber or its business interests. Diverse Workforce / EEO: Ziply Fiber is an equal opportunity employer. Ziply Fiber will consider all qualified candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status, and the presence of a non-job-related handicap or disability or any other legally protected status. Ziply Fiber requires a pre-employment background check as conditions of employment. Ziply Fiber may require a pre-employment drug screening. Ziply Fiber is a drug free workplace.