Network Engineer (Hybrid) with Security Clearance

Title: • Network Engineer Location

• Radford, Virginia (ON-SITE, Hybrid schedule) Clearance Required:
• Secret Certification Required:
• Security+ or IAT II MUST-HAVE Skills Required:
• Data Center experience
• Network Engineering / Architecture: Design, implement, and maintain networks
• Firewalls & Load Balancers Job Description:

We are seeking an experienced and motivated Senior Network Engineer to join our team. This role is pivotal to the implementation and sustainment of the switching, routing, firewall, load balancing, and network infrastructure underpinning globally dispersed datacenter environments. The successful candidate will engineer and sustain the transport layer that partners depends on, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their critical systems across physical, virtual, and containerized environments.

Position Duties: Network Engineering & Architecture

• Design, implement, and maintain scalable, high-performance network infrastructure.
• Translate current and future mission requirements into network architecture and engineering solutions, accounting for growth, capacity, and lifecycle refresh.
• Configure and deploy network devices including routers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, and associated network management tooling.
• Evaluate proposed system, network, and cluster configuration changes for operational and security impact, providing expert recommendations to ensure availability and compliance are maintained. Operations, Performance & Availability
• Monitor network performance and proactively identify and resolve issues to ensure optimal network operation.
• Conduct regular performance tuning and optimization activities to improve network efficiency and reliability.
• Implement network redundancy and failover mechanisms to minimize downtime and maximize availability.
• Provide Tier II and Tier III troubleshooting support in coordination with internal teams, mission partners, and external stakeholders. Security & Compliance Engineering
• Maintain the security posture of network devices to DoD standards by implementing DISA STIGs and SRGs, vendor best practices, and NIST standards.
• Analyze Cyber Tasking Orders (CTOs) and IAVMs, determine applicability to network platforms, and engineer the required changes.
• Develop and execute operational plans to remediate or mitigate vulnerabilities affecting network devices, serving as a technical lead for remediation efforts on the network stack.
• Monitor vendor security advisories and threat intelligence feeds to identify emerging vulnerabilities, zero-day threats, and actively exploited findings affecting network platforms.
• Support Risk Management Framework (RMF) activities by collaborating with ISSOs/ISSMs to produce and validate network-related artifacts, including network diagrams, hardware/software lists, scan results, and Ports, Protocols, and Services Management (PPSM) documentation in support of Authority to Operate (ATO) lifecycles. Collaboration, Documentation & Mentorship
• Document environment changes and follow established change and incident management processes.
• Develop project documentation to include standard operating procedures, project plans, and network diagrams.
• Collaborate with internal DevSecOps teams, cloud counterparts, and mission partners to translate high-level mission objectives into comprehensive technical network requirements.
• Train and mentor junior team members, elevating the technical depth of the broader network team.

Required Skills: • 5+ years of network engineering experience, including hands-on configuration and sustainment of switches, routers, firewalls, load balancers, and network management tooling within a data center environment. Capable of independently designing, deploying, and troubleshooting enterprise network infrastructure at the Tier II/Tier III level.

• Thorough, practical experience implementing and maintaining the security posture of network infrastructure, hardening devices against established security benchmarks and vendor guidance, evaluating proposed configuration changes for security impact, and leading vulnerability remediation efforts on network platforms in support of audit and compliance requirements.
• Proven ability to produce and maintain technical documentation, standard operating procedures, project plans, and network diagrams, and to mentor junior engineers, with the interpersonal, analytical, and written/verbal communication skills to work effectively across internal teams and mission partners.

Desired Skills: • Engineer-level experience with the Cisco Nexus line (9K, 7K, 5K, and 2K) and the Cisco Catalyst line.

• Engineer-level experience with Palo Alto firewalls.
• Engineer-level experience with F5 load balancers.
• Experience with network automation and scripting using Ansible and Python.
• Experience interfacing with cloud environment counterparts (AWS, Azure, private cloud).
• Experience working in DevSecOps environments and integrating network changes into CI/CD pipelines.
• Familiarity with container networking constructs (CNI, service mesh, ingress) in Kubernetes or OpenShift environments.
• Experience utilizing monitoring, telemetry, or data visualization tooling to build operational and executive-level network dashboards.
• Proven ability to work independently as a self-starter, capable of initiating and executing complex network engineering tasks without significant day-to-day guidance. • This position requires an active DoD Clearance (Secret, Top Secret, Top Secret/SCI) or the ability to be obtain an (Interim Secret, Interim Top Secret)
• Because an active or interim DoD clearance is required, U.S. Citizenship is required o Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms.  If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following:

 Medical, dental & vision
 Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
 Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
 Short and long-term disability
 Health Spending Account (HSA)
 Transportation benefits
 Employee Assistance Program
 Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)