Network Engineer/Specialist (F5, BlueCat, VMware Avi)

Position: IP Services - Production Services Specialist
Location: 100% REMOTE
Employment type: Contract position
Customer domain: Financial Services

Business Justification / Exec Summary:

The role of the IP Services Production Services Specialist II is to act as the technical subject matter expert responsible for providing support where in-depth analysis of situations or data requires an evaluation of various factors to solve business-impacting network incidents. In addition, this role oversees projects and directs activities related to initiatives that Operations participates in.

Job Description:

The technology areas of focus for the IP Services Production Services Specialist II include (but are not limited to) Load Balancing and DDI (DNS, DHCP, and IPAM). Production Services Specialist II are expected to be well-versed in numerous networking protocols, technologies, and troubleshooting methodologies, including the use of proactive and reactive tools. The work is always in alignment with the current and approved Network Services Standards, Incident and Problem Management Policies & Procedures, and governance and management policies set forth by the firm.

This position will interface directly with internal stakeholders and external suppliers/providers, architecture, product engineering, product management, and business management. At times, they may interface with various levels of senior management. Strong communication and problem-solving skills are a must. The candidate must be able to work on their own and successfully in team settings in various sizes and locations. Adherence and use of standards, product sets, templates, systems, and artifacts are important to the success of the individual, the department, and the firm at large.

Key Responsibilities:

• Primarily responsible for operational support of Network IP Services products:
• F5 Networks, VMware ALB (Avi), BlueCat on-prem and Cloud Resolver
• As a secondary responsibility, the role will also work with other security-related network components such as Firewall, Proxy, and Content Inspection infrastructure.
• Proactive network reviews including
• Routine testing of disaster recovery scenarios, identification of vulnerabilities, and opportunities for improvement in observability across the network stack
• Work with senior team members to validate impacts and communicate to all stakeholders technical status updates
• Participate in the documentation of application flows, upstream/downstream impacts during outages, the customer experience in failure scenarios, contacts for various support needs, and ensure appropriate runbooks and wikis are up to date and available for use during triage
• Work ad-hoc reports and offline incidents at the direction of the senior team members or leadership
• Promote and enforce production governance during triage/testing and fix efforts, exercises judgment within defined procedures and practices to determine appropriate action.
• Adhere to design standards and global design authority processes and procedures; Debate them when necessary
• Assemble professional documents based on existing templates and ability to provide accurate work descriptions with assumptions and caveats.

Required Skills:

• Operational mindset: Prioritize, understand, and act with urgency to restore all incident-related work, act as an authoritative figure for the respective domain, and represent the Ops org during all calls (planned or unplanned)
• 7+ years of experience with network protocols, models, and technologies such as:
• Strong understanding of the upper (application) layers 5-7
• DNS, DHCP, SSL/TLS, HTTP/S, and SNMP
• Fundamental understanding of layers 1-4
• TCP/IP, Ethernet, ARP, and physical constructs
• F5 Load balancing (LTM, GTM, APM), BlueCat DNS/DHCP/IPAM, BlueCat Cloud Resolver, VMware Advanced Load Balancer, and Cloud support (private and/or public)
• Expert experience with troubleshooting complex networking problems
• Experience with JIRA and Confluence
• Understand configuration management with tools such as Forward Networks and HPNA
• Experience using (both proactive and reactive) advanced tooling; Inclusive of but not limited to NetScout, Wireshark, Splunk, SevOne, HPNA, and IBM Watson
• General experience in Network Automation tools and processes
• Self-starter/self-directed, organized and detail-oriented
• Strong technical acumen and analytical skills
• Excellent client interfacing skills
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and ability to work with all levels of management
• Experience aligning actions to business impact and service restoration
• Demonstrates ownership: Is accountable and can hold others accountable (professionally)
• Experience operating with colleagues across different time zones with a flexible approach to working hours (ability to work varied hours) to successfully interact and communicate on a global level

Desired Skills:

• Experience in Networking-related disciplines within a design, implementation, or operations role
• Relevant Industry certifications in Network Technologies
• Cloud and SDN experience
• Experience with SDN; VMware NSX, Arista CloudVision
• Experience with Azure and AWS (certification preferred but not required)
• Experience with automation tools such as Python, Ansible, YAML or Django, API calls (to ticketing systems and network devices), and frontend web development
• Experience of working within Financial Services (Insurance, Banking, Investment Banking)
• Experience with other network technologies
• WAN, MAN, LAN, Optical, Routing, Switching, Proxy/Threat Prevention, Firewall, and AAA