Sr. Network Architect

About the Company

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is the leading entertainment and sports agency, with global expertise in filmed and live entertainment, digital media, publishing, sponsorship sales and endorsements, media finance, consumer investing, fashion, trademark licensing, and philanthropy. Distinguished by its culture of collaboration and exceptional client service, CAA’s diverse workforce identifies, innovates, and amplifies opportunities for the people and organizations that shape culture and inspire the world. The trailblazer of the agency business, CAA was the first to build a sports business, create an investment bank, launch a venture fund, found technology start-up companies, establish a philanthropic arm, build a business in China, and form a brand marketing services division, among other innovations. Named Most Valuable Sports Agency by Forbes for eight consecutive years, CAA represents more than 2,000 of the world’s top athletes in football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, in addition to coaches, on-air broadcasters, and sports personalities and works in the areas of broadcast rights, corporate marketing initiatives, social impact, and sports properties for sales and sponsorship opportunities. Founded in 1975, CAA is headquartered in Los Angeles, and has offices in New York, Nashville, Memphis, Chicago, Miami, London, Munich, Geneva, Stockholm, Shanghai, and Beijing, among other locations globally.

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Network Architect to define and own the architecture, strategy, and technical roadmap for the enterprise network infrastructure that connects CAA's global offices, data centers, and cloud environments. As the senior technical authority for networking, you will set the target-state architecture for routing, switching, and network security, establish design standards and reference architectures, and guide complex infrastructure projects from concept through delivery. You will serve as the top escalation point for the most challenging network issues, mentor engineers, and partner with engineering, security, and business stakeholders to align the network roadmap with CAA's growth. This is a high-impact role for an experienced architect who thrives on solving difficult problems in a fast-moving, high-visibility environment.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the target-state architecture for enterprise LAN, WAN, and wireless networks across global offices and data centers.
• Partner with Security and lead the design and configuration of Palo Alto and ASA firewalls, including security policies, NAT, and threat prevention.
• Architect SD-WAN, VPN, and cloud connectivity (AWS and/or Azure) to ensure secure, reliable, and scalable performance.
• AIOps and AI-driven network assurance (Palo Alto AIOPs / Cloud manager).
• Network architecture for AI service consumption (OpenAI/Bedrock).
• Establish design standards for routing and switching (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, VLANs, VXLAN) on Cisco (Catalyst and Meraki).
• Define the network security architecture, including firewalls, NAC, segmentation, and zero-trust principles.
• Set standards for network health, capacity planning, and performance, and own root-cause analysis on complex incidents.
• Lead the network architecture for infrastructure projects, including office build-outs, migrations, and technology refreshes.
• Develop and maintain reference architectures, design standards, network diagrams, and documentation.
• Define the network automation and configuration-management strategy using Python, Ansible, Terraform, or similar tooling.
• Mentor network engineers, set technical direction, and serve as the tier-3 escalation point for the most complex issues.
• Participate in an on-call rotation and respond to critical outages outside of business hours as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 15+ years of network engineering experience in enterprise or service-provider environments, including significant network design and architecture ownership.
• Deep, design-level knowledge of routing and switching protocols (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP) and enterprise platforms (Cisco Catalyst and Meraki).
• Working experience with network security, firewalls (Palo Alto, or Cisco), and segmentation.
• Comfortable using GenAI tools for configuration validation, documentation, and automated testing.
• Design-level experience with SD-WAN and cloud networking in AWS and/or Azure.
• Solid understanding of network monitoring, packet analysis, and performance troubleshooting.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate across teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Industry certifications such as CCIE, CCNA or CCNP, or cloud certifications (Azure, AWS).
• Experience with network automation using Python, Ansible, or Terraform.
• Familiarity with media and entertainment workflows or high-bandwidth production environments.
• Experience supporting global, multi-site organizations with 24x7 availability requirements.

Location

This role is Hybrid, based in our Nashville office.

Compensation

The annual base salary range for this position is as follows: Nashville, TN - $188,000 - $207,000. This position is also eligible for benefits and a discretionary bonus. Ultimately, wages may vary based upon factors including, but not limited to, relevant experience, time in role, business sector, and geographic location, among other criteria.

Benefits

• Medical (company pays 80%-100% of cost)
• Basic Life and AD&D Insurance (company pays 80%-100% of cost)
• Telemedicine (company pays 80%-100% of cost)
• Employee assistance and mental health counseling in person, virtually or through text (company pays 80%-100% of cost)
• Paid Vacation / Holidays (company pays 80%-100% of cost)
• Paid Sick Time (company pays 80%-100% of cost)
• Paid Parental Leave and Other Paid Leaves of Absence (company pays 80%-100% of cost)
• NICU leave (company pays 80%-100% of cost)
• Bereavement resources (company pays 80%-100% of cost)
• Adoption Benefits (company pays 80%-100% of cost)
• Educational Assistance (company pays 80%-100% of cost)
• Mental Health Resources (company pays 80%-100% of cost)
• Employee Assistance Plan (company pays 80%-100% of cost)
• Dental Insurance (voluntary)
• Vision Insurance (voluntary)
• 401K Plan (voluntary)
• Flexible Spending Accounts (Health Care and Dependent Care) (voluntary)
• Health Savings Account (voluntary)
• Voluntary Life and AD&D Insurance (voluntary)
• Commuter Benefits (Employee Perks)
• Other Statutory Mandated Benefits