Network Architect

Littelfuse (NASDAQ: LFUS) is a diversified industrial technology manufacturing company shaping solutions for the safe and efficient transfer of electrical energy. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, USA, we serve customers across industrial, transportation, and electronics markets worldwide. With approximately 16,000 employees we design and manufacture innovative technologies that support electrification, energy efficiency, and advanced automation. Our global reach is matched by a culture that empowers innovation and long-term growth. Guided by our principles We Care, We Succeed With Our Customers, and We Own the Outcome, we work collaboratively, think boldly, and deliver solutions that move industries forward.

The Network Architect is the technical design authority for Littelfuse's global enterprise network. This role defines secure, resilient and scalable architectures across manufacturing, R&D, distribution, corporate and cloud environments, then works with engineering, security, cloud and local IT teams to turn those designs into repeatable standards and successful implementations.

This is a hands-on architecture position rather than a purely advisory role. The successful candidate will combine strategic thinking with deep technical execution: creating high-level and low-level designs, leading proofs of concept and design reviews, validating configurations, guiding migrations, mentoring engineers and serving as an escalation point for the most complex network and connectivity issues.

About Your Job:
Create a globally consistent network architecture that improves security, resilience, cloud readiness, operational simplicity and business continuity while supporting the realities of manufacturing sites.

Key Responsibilities include:

Architecture, Strategy and Standards

• Own and evolve global reference architectures for WAN, LAN, WLAN, internet edge, firewalls, remote access, cloud connectivity and network services.

• Translate business, security and operational requirements into practical roadmaps, design principles, approved patterns and lifecycle standards.

• Define the target architecture for SASE, SD-WAN, Zero Trust network access and secure branch connectivity, including coexistence and migration from legacy services.

• Establish a standard site blueprint for manufacturing, R&D, distribution and corporate locations, including resilient connectivity tiers, segmentation patterns and technology selection criteria.

• Act as design authority for major network changes, ensuring solutions are supportable, cost-effective, secure and aligned with the global strategy.

Cloud and Hybrid Connectivity

• Design resilient Azure network architectures, including hub-and-spoke connectivity, routing domains, BGP policy, VPN/ExpressRoute integration, cloud firewalls, load-balancing dependencies and high availability across regions.

• Identify and resolve routing asymmetry, overlapping path, failover and convergence risks across cloud hubs, branch connectivity and security enforcement points.

• Define secure connectivity patterns between Azure, AWS, SaaS platforms, business partners, internet-facing services and the global enterprise network.

• Partner with Cloud, Cybersecurity and Application teams to ensure network architecture supports availability, performance, observability and recovery requirements.

Network Security and Segmentation

• Architect firewall, VPN and remote-access solutions using Palo Alto Networks technologies and related cloud-delivered security services.

• Develop scalable IT/OT segmentation and zone-based security patterns for manufacturing environments in partnership with Cybersecurity and OT stakeholders.

• Advance network access control and identity-based access using technologies such as Cisco ISE, 802.1X and complementary edge-security controls.

• Ensure designs follow least-privilege, defense-in-depth and secure-by-design principles while remaining practical for local operations.

Campus, Branch and Wireless Architecture

• Define and maintain standards for switching, routing and wireless solutions across a mixed Cisco and Meraki estate.

• Design resilient branch connectivity using appropriate combinations of DIA, broadband, private connectivity, cellular/5G and satellite services based on site criticality and regional availability.

• Guide wireless architecture and optimization, including RF design fundamentals, capacity, coverage, client steering, authentication and troubleshooting of complex user-experience issues.

• Create repeatable deployment patterns for new sites, acquisitions, site expansions, technology refreshes and data-center exit activities.

Reliability, Performance and Operational Excellence

• Set architecture requirements for availability, failover, monitoring, capacity and performance; validate that implemented solutions meet the intended design.

• Improve observability using platforms such as SolarWinds, cloud-native telemetry, vendor portals, logs, flow data and APIs.

• Lead technical root-cause analysis for major or recurring incidents and convert findings into durable architecture, configuration and process improvements.

• Optimize application experience for collaboration, voice, video and other business-critical traffic through sound routing, QoS, path selection and security-service design.

• Provide senior technical escalation support during high-impact incidents and planned migrations when architecture-level decisions are required.

Design Governance, Delivery and Technical Leadership

• Produce clear high-level designs, low-level designs, diagrams, bills of material, decision records, standards, migration approaches, test plans and operational handover documentation.

• Lead architecture reviews, technical workshops, proofs of concept and vendor evaluations; present recommendations, trade-offs, risks and investment needs to technical and business stakeholders.

• Partner with Network Engineering, Cybersecurity, Cloud, Infrastructure, Enterprise Architecture, local IT and external service providers throughout the solution lifecycle.

• Mentor engineers, improve troubleshooting discipline and raise the quality and consistency of network design and documentation across the team.

• Support commercial and lifecycle decisions through technical due diligence, total-cost considerations, licensing analysis and vendor performance evaluation.

• Remain hands-on enough to review configurations, validate routing and security behavior, test failover and assist with difficult implementation issues.

About You:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.

• Typically 8+ years of progressive enterprise network engineering experience, including at least 3 years performing architecture, lead design or principal-level responsibilities.

• Demonstrated experience designing networks for a global, multi-site enterprise; manufacturing or other business-critical operational environments are strongly valued.

• Expert-level understanding of TCP/IP, IPv4/IPv6, BGP, OSPF, route redistribution and policy, QoS, NAT, VPN technologies, high availability, failure domains and asymmetric routing.

• Strong hands-on experience with enterprise firewalls and secure remote access, preferably Palo Alto Networks and Prisma Access technologies.

• Strong cloud-networking experience in Microsoft Azure, including hybrid connectivity, routing, security controls, load-balancing dependencies and multi-region resiliency.

• Solid experience with enterprise routing, switching and wireless technologies; Cisco and/or Meraki experience is preferred.

• Practical understanding of SASE, SD-WAN, Zero Trust, network segmentation, NAC and identity-aware access.

• Ability to create high-quality architecture documentation and communicate complex technical decisions clearly to engineers, leaders and non-technical stakeholders.

• Professional fluency in English and Spanish, both written and spoken, to support global collaboration and effective partnership with the Matamoros site.

• Ability to participate in planned off-hours changes or critical-incident support when business needs require it.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced certification such as CCNP Enterprise or CCIE; Palo Alto Networks PCNSE; or relevant Microsoft Azure networking/security certification.

• Experience evaluating or implementing Cato Networks, Prisma SD-WAN, or a comparable enterprise SASE/SD-WAN platform.

• Experience with Cisco ISE, 802.1X, IT/OT segmentation and security architecture in manufacturing environments.

• Experience connecting Azure and AWS environments and designing secure inter-cloud or partner connectivity.

• Network automation or infrastructure-as-code experience using Python, Ansible, Terraform, Git, APIs or similar tools.

• Experience with Microsoft Teams network readiness, voice/video traffic engineering or unified communications.

• Experience leading global migrations, data-center exits, acquisitions, site integrations or large-scale network refresh programs.

• Experience running structured vendor selections, proofs of concept and technical/commercial comparisons.

Critical Competencies

• Architecture with execution: Turns strategy into designs that can be built, tested, operated and supported.

• Systems thinking: Understands end-to-end dependencies across cloud, security, applications, identity, carriers and physical sites.

• Technical judgment: Makes clear decisions based on risk, reliability, complexity, cost and business impact.

• Ownership: Drives ambiguous, cross-functional technical problems through to a documented and sustainable outcome.

• Influence without authority: Builds alignment across engineering teams, security, cloud, site IT, vendors and leadership.

• Communication: Explains complex network concepts in concise, decision-ready language for different audiences.

• Continuous improvement: Simplifies the environment, removes technical debt and makes standards easier to adopt and operate.

What Success Looks Like

• A clear and adopted target architecture exists for global WAN, cloud connectivity, security enforcement, campus networking and branch resilience.

• Major network initiatives use consistent design standards, documented decisions, validated failover behavior and defined operational ownership.

• Cloud and site connectivity become more resilient, observable and predictable, with fewer routing asymmetry and escalation-driven surprises.

• Security segmentation and access controls improve without creating unnecessary operational complexity for manufacturing locations.

#LI-KRL

At Littelfuse, we support employee growth and development. Guided by our culture principles, our teams work together to deliver value for customers and make a positive impact in the communities where we operate. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where everyone has the opportunity to grow and contribute. We offer competitive compensation and benefits, performance-based incentives, flexible work arrangements, and development opportunities.