Principal Architect, Technology - Subscriber Edge

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 - Subscriber Edge 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 Subscriber Edge is Ziply Fiber's technical authority for how subscribers connect, authenticate, and experience the internet. This role owns the BNG architecture, cloud-hosted RADIUS platform, DHCP/DNS, CGNAT, IPv6, Speed Test infrastructure, and the subscriber policy systems — Walled Garden, DDoS mitigation, and business service IP management — that operate at the scale of over a million broadband subscribers across copper and fiber networks. This is a deeply hands-on senior independent contributor role with broad operational scope. Reporting to the VP, Network Architecture & Engineering, this role serves as the senior Subscriber Edge architecture authority responsible for setting standards, influencing technical direction, and guiding engineering teams through complex design, migration, and production-readiness decisions without direct people-management responsibility. This role is expected to lead through technical influence by creating repeatable architecture patterns, decision records, reference designs, governance models, and operational readiness expectations that allow subscriber-edge platforms to scale consistently across existing and future markets. 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. BNG & Subscriber Session Management ● Design and own the BNG architecture supporting PPPoE and IPoE session models for residential and business subscribers across fiber and copper access networks. ● Define aggregation routing architecture: lead vendor RFPs, evaluate equipment, coordinate with procurement, and produce installation and deployment documentation for engineering and planning teams. ● Own IPv6 dual-stack and IPv6-only transition architecture: DHCPv6-PD, SLAAC, and lab validation prior to production rollout. ● Design and maintain CGNAT architecture: NAT44, port-block allocation, logging compliance, and capacity planning. RADIUS, DHCP & Subscriber Policy ● Own the RADIUS platform architecture for subscriber authentication and management — including cloud-hosted deployments (Google Cloud or equivalent) at the scale of 1M+ broadband subscribers. ● Lead large-scale RADIUS migrations: design, implementation, tooling requirements, and full cutover execution across both copper and fiber subscriber bases. ● Design and implement Walled Garden solutions using RADIUS-based policy enforcement to block and redirect subscribers to self-service and billing portals. ● Own DHCP and DNS infrastructure: high-availability topology, policy enforcement, lease management, and integration with provisioning and OSS/BSS systems. Business Services & IP Management ● Design and own static IP offerings for business services: IP address management (IPAM), allocation policy, provisioning workflows, and supporting tooling requirements. ● Define subscriber IP edge design standards for business and enterprise services, including layer 2 and layer 3 handoff models and QoS policy frameworks. Speed Test Infrastructure ● Architect and own Ziply's Speed Test server network: 100 Gigabit distributed infrastructure with anycast routing, geographic placement across Internet drain locations, and Ookla platform integration. ● Define Speed Test measurement methodology: test protocols, result accuracy standards, and capacity planning across a geographically diverse, highly available server footprint. ● Ensure Speed Test infrastructure supports both subscriber self-service and network operations use cases, with integration into subscriber experience analytics and network performance platforms. DDoS & Network Security ● Own DDoS detection and mitigation architecture: Arbor (or equivalent) deployment, traffic monitoring, scrubbing center integration, and incident response playbooks. ● Define subscriber edge security posture: traffic anomaly detection, abuse management, and coordination with the Security organization on edge-facing threats. 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 subscriber-edge architecture experience. · 10+ years of broadband, ISP, service provider, or telecommunications network architecture experience with deep expertise in subscriber-edge platforms, BNG, RADIUS, DHCP/DNS, CGNAT, IPv6, subscriber policy, DDoS mitigation, and large-scale migration or modernization programs. Demonstrated senior independent contributor experience setting Subscriber Edge architecture standards, influencing technical direction, mentoring engineers, and driving cross-functional architecture decisions without direct people-management responsibility. · Proven experience designing, modernizing, or migrating large-scale RADIUS or subscriber authentication platforms, including cloud-hosted or highly available deployments, for broadband environments spanning fiber, copper, or related subscriber access networks. Strong BNG expertise: PPPoE/IPoE session management, subscriber authentication, RADIUS integration, and large-scale aggregation routing design. · Hands-on IPv6 experience: dual-stack architecture, DHCPv6-PD, SLAAC, and lab-to-production validation workflows. · Experience designing and operating subscriber policy systems: Walled Garden, CGNAT, DHCP/DNS, and business service IP management. · Track record running vendor RFPs for network equipment: requirements definition, vendor evaluation, procurement coordination, and deployment documentation. · Experience with DDoS mitigation platforms (Arbor or equivalent): detection, scrubbing, and operational runbook development. · Strong technical documentation skills — able to produce deployment guides, architecture standards, and tooling requirements that engineering and planning teams can execute against. Preferred Qualifications: ● Experience with anycast routing for distributed infrastructure (Speed Test, DNS, or CDN use cases). ● Familiarity with Ookla Speedtest platform integration and 100G server network design. ● Background in network automation for subscriber edge: NETCONF/YANG, gNMI, or Ansible-based configuration management for BNG and aggregation routers. ● Experience with programmable or disaggregated BNG (vBNG) architectures. ● JNCIE-SP, CCIE-SP, or equivalent certification. ● Experience supporting subscriber environments at or near 1M+ broadband subscribers. ● Experience presenting Subscriber Edge, RADIUS, BNG, IPv6, CGNAT, DDoS, or subscriber-experience architecture strategy to VP-level or executive audiences. ● Experience with compliance-sensitive subscriber systems, including CGNAT logging, lawful request support processes, abuse-management workflows, or equivalent production controls. 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 subscriber-edge 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, subscriber experience, security, compliance, operational supportability, and cost. · Executive presence and communication skills to explain complex Subscriber Edge architecture decisions clearly and credibly to Technology, Operations, Security, Product, Customer Experience, 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.