Lead Engineer Change Management

Highly experienced and strategic Senior SD-WAN / SASE / Network Infrastructure Change Management Lead to oversee enterprise-level SD-WAN change initiatives.

This role combines technical leadership, process governance, and stakeholder collaboration to ensure all SD-WAN changes are implemented smoothly, securely, and with minimal disruption to business operations.

The ideal candidate brings deep SD-WAN / Networking / Security knowledge, a strong change management background, and proven experience in leading global change programs.

Key Responsibilities :

- Own and drive the change management strategy across global enterprise environments.

- Lead planning, governance, and execution of high-impact changes, including lab testing, rollouts, migrations, upgrades, and policy changes.

- Collaborate with network architecture, engineering, operations, security, and third-party vendors to align change activities with strategic goals.

- Provide leadership in Change Advisory Board (CAB) sessions, presenting change plans, risk assessments, and rollback strategies.

- Ensure alignment with ITIL best practices and enterprise ITSM processes.

- Develop and enforce change control policies, standard operating procedures, and compliance requirements.

- Monitor and report on change KPIs, success rates, trends, and lessons learned; drive continuous improvement initiatives.

- Mentor and guide junior change leads or coordinators; provide escalation support for complex changes and incidents.

- Influence change automation strategies and help integrate DevOps/network automation tools (e.g., Ansible, CI/CD pipelines, Jira, ServiceNow) into change workflows.

- Serve as the escalation point for post-change incidents, leading root cause investigations and resolution planning.

Required Qualifications :

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

- 5+ years of experience in network infrastructure specialising in SD-WAN/networking and Security technologies (Cisco Viptela, Versa, Fortinet, VMware, etc.)

- 3+ years of experience in IT change management, preferably in large-scale, global enterprises.

- Certified in ITIL v3 or v4 (Expert level preferred).

- Deep understanding of enterprise networking, WAN transformation, and hybrid cloud connectivity.

- Proficient in ServiceNow or equivalent ITSM tools.

- Strong analytical, communication, and leadership skills with experience interfacing at the executive level.

Preferred Skills :

- Network certifications such as CCNP/CCIE, SD-WAN Specialist, or equivalent.

- Familiarity with network automation, scripting (Python/Ansible), and CI/CD tools.

- PMP or Agile certifications are a plus.

- Experience in regulated industries (e.g., finance, healthcare) is highly desirable.