Senior Manager, Networking

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Senior Manager, Networking is a hands-on technical leader responsible for designing, building, and evolving Oportun’s enterprise networking capabilities across on-premises, cloud, and secure-access environments. Rather than operating as a traditional network support function, this team is focused on solution engineering: translating business, security, resiliency, and scalability requirements into modern network architectures, reusable patterns, automation, and production-ready platforms.

This leader will manage and develop a team of network engineers while remaining deeply engaged in architecture, engineering decisions, design reviews, implementation strategy, and complex technical problem solving. Working closely with Infrastructure, Information Security, Cloud Engineering, End User Computing, and application teams, the Senior Manager will establish engineering standards and deliver network solutions that improve availability, security, developer and employee experience, and operational simplicity. The role also owns the networking roadmap and drives modernization through cloud networking, Zero Trust, SD-WAN, observability, infrastructure as code, and automation.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Lead and develop a high-performing networking engineering team focused on architecture, solution design, implementation, automation, and modernization of Oportun’s enterprise network.
• Own the technical roadmap for enterprise networking, translating business and technology strategy into scalable architectures, engineering priorities, and multi-quarter initiatives.
• Architect and deliver solutions across routing, switching, wireless, VPN, firewalls, load balancing, SD-WAN, secure access, cloud networking, and hybrid connectivity.
• Establish reference architectures, engineering standards, reusable design patterns, and guardrails that improve consistency, resiliency, security, and speed of delivery.
• Drive network automation and infrastructure-as-code practices using technologies such as Python, Ansible, Terraform, PowerShell, APIs, and CI/CD workflows.
• Partner with Information Security, Cloud Engineering, Infrastructure, End User Computing, application teams, and business stakeholders to engineer solutions for new capabilities, migrations, office/site changes, cloud adoption, and security initiatives.
• Lead technical design reviews, proof-of-concepts, vendor evaluations, capacity planning, and complex troubleshooting; provide engineering direction for high-impact incidents when deep network expertise is required.
• Modernize Oportun’s networking platforms and services across technologies such as Cisco/Juniper, Aruba/Mist, Palo Alto, Zscaler, Aviatrix, Azure, and AWS, balancing technical debt reduction with new capability delivery.
• Build observability into network solutions by defining telemetry, performance measures, health signals, and actionable monitoring that enable proactive engineering and rapid fault isolation.
• Own engineering lifecycle practices including architecture documentation, design specifications, implementation plans, testing, validation, change readiness, and knowledge transfer to teams responsible for ongoing service support.
• Manage strategic vendor and service-provider relationships, including technology selection, technical performance, roadmap alignment, commercial planning, and lifecycle decisions.
• Lead hiring, coaching, performance management, and career development while creating a culture of technical ownership, experimentation, engineering rigor, and continuous improvement.

WHO YOU ARE / WHAT YOU BRING

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Minimum 8 years of progressively responsible network engineering experience, including designing and delivering complex enterprise network solutions.
• Demonstrated people leadership experience leading professional technical teams and developing senior-level engineers; experience leading managers and/or technical leads is strongly valued.
• Deep enterprise networking expertise across routing, switching, wireless, VPN, firewalls, load balancing, secure access, and hybrid/cloud networking.
• Hands-on architecture and engineering experience with technologies such as Cisco/Juniper, Aruba/Mist, Palo Alto, Zscaler, Aviatrix, Azure, and AWS.
• Experience translating business and security requirements into network architectures, detailed designs, implementation approaches, and technical roadmaps.
• Experience driving network automation, infrastructure as code, or API-based engineering using tools such as Python, Ansible, Terraform, PowerShell, or equivalent technologies.
• Strong experience with network resiliency, observability, capacity planning, performance engineering, and complex problem solving.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and communication skills, with the ability to influence architecture and engineering decisions across technical teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• CCNP/CCIE, Aruba, PCNSE, Zscaler, Aviatrix, cloud networking, or similar advanced technical certifications.
• Experience designing or modernizing SD-WAN, Zero Trust Network Access, SASE/SSE, cloud connectivity, or multi-cloud networking solutions.
• Experience with observability platforms such as ThousandEyes, LogicMonitor, SolarWinds, or similar tools.
• Experience implementing engineering workflows using Git, CI/CD, automated testing, configuration validation, or policy-as-code practices.
• Experience leading large-scale network transformation, migration, or platform modernization programs.
• Experience working in regulated industries.