Senior SAO Orchestration Architect – Cisco NSO

We are looking for a Senior SAO Orchestration Architect with 10+ years of experience in network automation, service orchestration, and telecom/network software engineering. The candidate should have strong hands-on expertise in Cisco NSO, YANG, Python, NETCONF/RESTCONF, APIs, and cloud-native technologies .

The role involves architecting and implementing scalable Service Activation and Orchestration solutions, integrating NSO with OSS/BSS, inventory, assurance, SDN controllers, and ITSM platforms, while providing technical leadership to engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities

Design and lead Cisco NSO-based Service Activation and Orchestration solutions.

Develop scalable YANG models, NSO service packages, templates, and reusable workflows .

Lead Python-based network automation and orchestration initiatives.

Design and implement integrations using REST APIs, NETCONF, RESTCONF, XML, and JSON .

Integrate Cisco NSO with OSS/BSS, inventory, assurance, SDN controllers, and ITSM systems .

Define orchestration architecture, standards, governance, and best practices.

Design and manage microservices and API-based architectures .

Deploy and manage containerized orchestration workloads using Kubernetes, OpenShift, and Docker .

Collaborate with customers and stakeholders on solution architecture and technical design.

Conduct architecture reviews, estimation, solution planning, and technical discussions.

Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership across development and automation teams.

Support CI/CD and DevOps practices for network automation solutions.

Mandatory Skills

10+ years of experience in Network Automation, Service Orchestration, or Telecom Software Engineering.

Strong hands-on Cisco NSO architecture and development experience.

Expertise in YANG, NETCONF, RESTCONF, XML, and JSON .

Advanced Python programming for network automation.

Strong knowledge of REST APIs, Microservices, and API Gateway integration .

Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, OpenShift, and Docker .

Strong networking fundamentals: MPLS, BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, VPN, Routing & Switching .

Good experience with Linux, Git, CI/CD, Jenkins, and DevOps .

Experience in integrating orchestration platforms with enterprise/network systems.

Strong architecture, troubleshooting, communication, and stakeholder-management skills.

Good to Have

EVPN-VXLAN, Segment Routing, SDN, and NFV .

Kafka, Helm, ArgoCD, gRPC, Prometheus, and Grafana .

AWS, Azure, or GCP networking and automation.

Experience with Telecom OSS/BSS transformation programs.

Experience with cloud-native network orchestration platforms.

Leadership Expectations

Own end-to-end solution architecture and technical delivery.

Lead architecture and design discussions with customers.

Drive technical decisions, standards, and best practices.

Mentor and guide engineering teams.

Participate in estimation, solutioning, architecture reviews, and technical governance.

Act as a senior technical point of contact for orchestration and network automation solutions.

Education & Certifications

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.

Preferred certifications: CCIE, Cisco NSO Certification, CKA/CKAD, or Red Hat OpenShift Certification .