Senior Manager, Networking

About the role

The Senior Manager, Networking leads and shapes the technical direction of Oportun's enterprise network, driving solutions that span on-premises, cloud, and secure-access environments. Rather than functioning as a traditional support role, this position is centered on solution engineering, where business, security, resiliency, and scalability requirements are transformed into modern network architectures, reusable patterns, automation, and production-ready platforms. The role owner manages and develops a network engineering team while remaining deeply hands-on in architecture, design reviews, implementation strategy, and complex problem solving. Close collaboration with Infrastructure, Information Security, Cloud Engineering, End User Computing, and application teams ensures networking decisions align with and enable critical enterprise functions. The Senior Manager establishes engineering standards and delivers network solutions that improve availability, security, developer and employee experience, and operational simplicity. This role owns the networking roadmap and accelerates modernization through cloud networking, Zero Trust, SD-WAN, observability, infrastructure as code, and automation.

Key facts

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, security, and wide area networking that support current operations and future growth.

- Partner with Infrastructure, Information Security, Cloud Engineering, End User Computing, and application teams to define and implement networking standards and best practices.

- Translate complex requirements into network designs that balance performance, security, scalability, cost, and operational simplicity.

- Drive modernization initiatives including cloud networking, Zero Trust access, SD-WAN, observability, infrastructure as code, and automation to reduce manual effort and increase reliability.

- Define and evolve architecture patterns and reusable solutions that enable consistent delivery of networking capabilities across the organization.

- Oversee design reviews, implementation planning, and technical validation to ensure solutions meet business needs and operational standards.

- Mentor network engineers, facilitate technical growth, and foster an inclusive culture where diverse perspectives strengthen outcomes.

- Collaborate closely with security and compliance stakeholders to ensure network solutions align with risk policies, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices.

- Contribute to incident response, postmortem analysis, and continuous improvement efforts to enhance network reliability and operational excellence.

- Communicate technical strategies and roadmaps to both technical and business stakeholders, aligning networking initiatives with enterprise objectives.

- Evaluate emerging technologies and tools, recommending adoption where they provide measurable improvements in agility, efficiency, or security.

- Enable developer and employee experiences by providing reliable, performant, and self-service network capabilities that support day-to-day workflows and innovation.

Requirements

- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

- 10+ years of progressive experience in enterprise networking, including design, implementation, and operations across on-premises and cloud environments.

- Demonstrated expertise in routing, switching, wireless, security, and wide area networking technologies.

- Hands-on experience with cloud networking services and architectures on at least one major public cloud platform.

- Strong proficiency with network automation, infrastructure as code, and modern observability practices and tools.

- Deep understanding of network security principles, Zero Trust architectures, and secure access frameworks.

- Experience with SD-WAN technologies and modern wide area network design and operations.

- Proven ability to lead and develop technical teams, set engineering standards, and drive architecture reviews.

- Excellent communication skills to articulate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

- Demonstrated history of delivering complex network solutions in regulated, mission-critical, or high-availability environments.

- Commitment to fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and learning-oriented team culture.

- Willingness to engage in hands-on technical work, design reviews, and implementation details alongside the team.

Nice to have

Preferred experience with large-scale, global network infrastructures and multi-site environments.

Familiarity with financial services environments, compliance frameworks, and risk management practices.

Knowledge of emerging networking paradigms such as intent-based networking, SASE, or secure access service edge.

Experience mentoring engineers, conducting technical interviews, and driving organizational process improvements.

Practical notes

This is a full-time remote position based in the United States. The role requires regular collaboration across multiple internal teams and may involve on-call responsibilities for network incidents.