Job Title: Director/VP - IP Planning

Job Summary

The Director/VP of IP Planning is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction, development, and execution of the organization’s IP address management strategies. This executive-level position involves setting high-level policies and ensuring the efficient use of IP address space across the organization’s entire network infrastructure. The Director/VP will also manage a team of IP planners and collaborate closely with senior leadership and stakeholders to align the IP strategy with organizational goals. This role requires a deep understanding of both technical IP management and broader business objectives, ensuring that network resources are optimized to support organizational growth, regulatory compliance, and network security.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership: Lead the development of the organization’s IP address strategy and network architecture to align with future business growth and technological advancements.
• Governance & Policy Development: Establish and enforce IP address management policies, best practices, and governance frameworks to ensure consistent and efficient IP utilization across the enterprise.
• Cross-Departmental Collaboration: Collaborate with engineering, IT operations, network security, and executive leadership to ensure IP planning aligns with overall business goals, security, and compliance requirements.
• IPv6 Adoption Strategy: Drive the global IPv6 adoption, ensuring that both short-term and long-term transition plans are in place, mitigating IPv4 exhaustion and ensuring a smooth transition across the organization’s network infrastructure.
• Vendor and Regulatory Relations: Manage relationships with ISPs, regulatory bodies (e.g., ARIN, RIPE), and external vendors for IP address acquisitions, allocations, and ensuring regulatory compliance with regional and global IP standards.
• Budget and Resource Allocation: Oversee the budgeting and resource allocation for IP planning projects, ensuring cost-efficiency while maintaining network performance and security.
• Network Performance & Security: Ensure that IP addressing strategies support the organization’s network performance, security, and scalability requirements. Collaborate with security teams to ensure IP address management complies with network security protocols, firewalls, and intrusion prevention systems (IPS).
• Risk Management: Conduct thorough risk assessments related to IP address allocations, IPv6 readiness, and network scalability, ensuring that potential issues are identified early and mitigated.
• Team Leadership & Development: Manage and mentor a team of IP planners and network architects, providing guidance, training, and fostering a collaborative, innovative work environment.
• High-Level Reporting: Provide regular, comprehensive reports to the executive team on the status of IP planning, network scalability, IPv6 migration progress, and other key performance indicators.

Skills and Knowledge Required

• Executive-level expertise in IP address management, network design, IPv6 migration, and scalable network architectures.
• Strong understanding of global IP address governance, working knowledge of IETF, ARIN, RIPE, and other regional registry policies.
• Deep expertise in IP routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, MPLS), DNS, DHCP, and network security policies.
• Proven experience in managing large-scale IP-related projects and working with diverse technical teams across multiple regions.
• Strong background in business strategy alignment, managing budgets, and delivering ROI through network infrastructure investments.
• Ability to influence and drive change at the organizational level and engage with stakeholders at all levels.

Educational Qualifications

• Master's degree in Telecommunications, Computer Science, Network Engineering, or a related field.
• Certifications (Preferred): Cisco CCIE, Juniper JNCIE, or equivalent; PMP, TOGAF (for leadership and enterprise architecture).

Key Focus Areas

• Strategic IP Planning & Network Governance.
• IPv6 Strategy & Global Adoption.
• Cross-Functional Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement.
• Budget & Resource Management for Network Infrastructure.

Experience

• 10+ years of experience in IP planning, network engineering, or telecommunications, with at least 5-7 years in a senior leadership role.
• Proven experience in leading IP strategy, managing large-scale network projects, and driving IPv6 migration.
• Strong history of managing cross-functional teams, budgets, and collaborating with senior executives.

Tools and Equipment

• Enterprise-level IPAM Tools (e.g., Infoblox, BlueCat, Men&Mice, SolarWinds).
• Network Design Tools (e.g., Cisco DNA Center, Juniper Contrail).
• Advanced Network Security & Monitoring Solutions.
• Project Management Software (e.g., Jira, MS Project, Asana).

Other Requirements

• Strong leadership capabilities, with a track record of leading and developing high-performing teams.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Global perspective, with the ability to handle international IP addressing and regulatory requirements.