Network Engineer - Only W2

Overview Role: Network Engineer Location: Santa Clara, CA (Onsite/Hybrid) Job Type: W2 Contract Top skills required for this role Experience with network automation tooling: Ansible, Nornir, NAPALM, pyATS, Batfish, NetBox/Nautobot. Exposure to CI/CD pipelines (GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, Jenkins) applied to network configuration workflows. Knowledge of infrastructure as code concepts as applied to networking. Experience in a dedicated network validation or solutions engineering lab environment. Certifications CCNP / CCIE (Enterprise or Data Center), JNCIP, ACE, or equivalent professional level certification will help. Job Description / Responsibilities Lab Validation & Testing Receive network use cases from architecture, engineering, or business stakeholders and translate them into structured lab test plans covering functional, performance, resiliency, and failure-scenario testing Execute high-touch validation of enterprise networking technologies including switching, routing, wireless, SD-WAN, firewalling, and network automation platforms Deliver complete validation packages including: Logical and physical topology diagrams Device configurations (sanitized and version-controlled) Step-by-step test procedures and results Pass/fail summaries with root cause analysis for failures Go/No-Go recommendations with supporting evidence Perform rack and stack of lab equipment when required: cable management, power sequencing, console access setup, and physical layer verification Design & Documentation Produce clear, detailed lab reports that can be handed directly to production engineering teams for deployment Maintain up-to-date physical and logical topology documentation for all active lab topologies Document configurations using version control (Git) so all tested configs are traceable and reusable Build and maintain a library of validated reference architectures and design patterns Vendor Collaboration Partner with network vendors (Cisco, Arista, Juniper, Palo Alto, Aruba, etc.) to conduct joint proof-of-concept testing and feature validation Drive vendor-supported test engagements including bug reproduction, feature requests, and interoperability testing Evaluate new hardware and software releases against defined acceptance criteria before recommending adoption Manage loaner equipment logistics and coordinate lab access for vendor engineers Automation & CI/CD Write scripts (Python, Bash, Ansible) to automate repetitive lab tasks such as device provisioning, configuration push, test execution, and results collection Build or maintain CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions) for automated configuration validation and regression testing Develop test automation frameworks using tools such as pyATS, Robot Framework, Batfish, or NAPALM Integrate lab test results into reporting dashboards or ticketing systems to provide traceability from test run to design decision #J-18808-Ljbffr Saransh Inc