Senior Manager, Network Engineering

Position Summary

The Senior Manager of Network Engineering is responsible for defining and executing the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of Clayton’s enterprise network. This role provides leadership and oversight to the Network Manager, Home Building Group Network Team Lead, and Network Architect, ensuring a cohesive, scalable, and forward-looking approach to network design, performance, and security.

The ideal candidate is a strategic, execution-oriented leader with deep operational expertise in network engineering. They will drive innovation while maintaining operational excellence, ensuring that Clayton’s network infrastructure enables the business’s growth and resilience. Success in this role depends on fostering strong partnerships across Enterprise Technology Operations, Security, and other Technology teams to deliver integrated, reliable, and secure solutions.

Primary Responsibilities

• Team Development: Provide mentorship and coaching to network leaders and engineers, fostering professional growth, accountability, and high performance.

• Operational Excellence: Oversee network operations to ensure high availability, performance, and compliance with internal and regulatory standards.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner effectively with Security, Infrastructure, Cloud, and Application teams to deliver end-to-end technology solutions.

• Team Capacity Management: Working with our Portfolio team, Manage project intake, prioritization, and execution across network initiatives, including budget management, resource planning, metrics, and reporting.

• Continuous Improvement: Champion automation, standardization, and process optimization to increase network efficiency and reliability.

• Influence & Communication: Present strategies, roadmaps, and key initiatives to executive leadership and stakeholders; build alignment across teams through clear, persuasive communication.

• Innovation & Foresight: Stay informed on industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices to guide Clayton’s network modernization and transformation roadmap.

• Strategic Leadership: Develop and execute a comprehensive enterprise network strategy aligned with Clayton’s technology and business goals.

Qualifications

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

• 10+ years of progressive experience in network engineering, including 5+ years in a leadership role within a large, complex enterprise environment.

• Proven success leading distributed network teams across multiple domains (LAN/WAN, Wi-Fi, VoIP, SD-WAN, Cloud Networking, etc.).

• Demonstrated ability to lead complex cross-functional initiatives without direct authority.

• Strong organizational navigation skills; adept at influencing senior leaders and peers.

• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills with the ability to communicate complex technical concepts to business stakeholders.

• Deep technical understanding of enterprise networking technologies, including routing, switching, firewalls, VPNs, unified communications, and network performance monitoring.

• Experience developing and enforcing network policies, procedures, and standards in alignment with cybersecurity and compliance requirements.

• High integrity, discretion, and sound judgment when handling sensitive information.

• Comfortable operating in dynamic environments, balancing long-term strategy with immediate operational needs.

Skills & Competencies

Leadership & Management

• Proven ability to lead and develop high-performing, distributed technical teams.

• Skilled at balancing strategic planning with tactical execution.

• Strong mentoring and coaching mindset; invests in people growth and capability building.

• Experienced in managing through ambiguity and influencing without direct authority.

Technical Expertise

• Advanced knowledge of enterprise networking:Core Routing & Switching (Cisco, Aruba, etc.)Wireless Infrastructure (Aruba, Meraki, or equivalent)SD-WAN / Cloud Networking (Azure/AWS integrations, Prisma SD-WAN, or equivalent)Network Security (Firewalls, VPN, NAC, segmentation, Zero Trust)Voice & Unified Communications (Cisco UC, Teams Voice, etc.)Network Monitoring & Observability (SolarWinds, Datadog, Splunk, or similar)

• Understanding of automation and Infrastructure-as-Code (Python, Terraform, etc.) for network configuration and provisioning.

• Working knowledge of cloud networking architecture and hybrid connectivity (ExpressRoute, Direct Connect, VPN/Transit gateways).

Strategic & Analytical Thinking

• Ability to translate business objectives into scalable, secure, and resilient network strategies.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a data-driven approach to decisions.

• Skilled at risk assessment, prioritization, and capacity planning for enterprise-scale environments.

Communication & Collaboration

• Exceptional communicator who can simplify complex topics for non-technical audiences.

• Comfortable presenting to leadership and influencing strategic direction.

• Builds trusted partnerships across Infrastructure, Cloud, Security, and Application teams.

Business Acumen

• Understands the relationship between network performance, user experience, and business outcomes.

• Experience managing budgets, vendor relationships, and technology contracts.

• Pragmatic, outcome-oriented mindset focused on measurable business value.

Business Unit - B00023