Senior Network Engineer

Senior Network Engineer

The Senior Network Engineer plans, designs, installs, and manages a complex, multi-vendor, dual-stack enterprise network. The environment includes extensive use of Cisco and Juniper routing and switching platforms (including campus, data center, and WAN technologies). The position works with internal teams, Internet service providers, and external partners to define technical requirements for network infrastructure. The Senior Network Engineer resolves complex networking issues and provides high-level support to IT staff, and uses programming skills to build network automation and tooling. This role participates in an on-call rotation with other network engineers and must be able to respond to incidents on Penn's campus within one hour. This position is not eligible for remote work and requires a regular on-campus presence. The engineer leverages network management tools, evaluates new technologies, and helps define network policies and standards. The role may supervise staff or lead major network projects.

Job Responsibilities:

• Maintain performance and capacity of a large-scale, multi-vendor network by monitoring, troubleshooting, and resolving problems as they occur.
• Design, implement, and support enterprise routing and switching solutions using Cisco Catalyst and Nexus platforms and Juniper routing and switching devices in campus, data center, and WAN environments.
• Define standards, methods, and best practices for network routing, switching, automation, and monitoring across a heterogeneous infrastructure.
• Engineer and support dual-stack (IPv4 and IPv6) routing using dynamic routing protocols such as BGP, OSPF, and IS-IS, including policy design and integration with external peers and service providers.
• Plan, implement, and maintain network overlays and related technologies (e.g., MPLS, VXLAN, and similar encapsulation/overlay mechanisms) to support multi-tenant and segmented services in both campus and data center environments.
• Build automation using Python and related tools to improve network deployment, configuration management, and operational workflows.
• Work closely with campus partners and internal teams to plan projects, integrate services, and resolve complex network problems.
• Provide daily maintenance, including changes, modifications, or improvements, as part of the ongoing administration of the network.
• Plan for growth in throughput and overall capacity, and plan for technological advances and changes in requirements due to the evolution of computing systems.
• Stay current with networking technologies, industry best practices, and emerging standards through research and training.
• Bridge the gap between design and operations to ensure solutions are scalable, supportable, and aligned with business needs.
• Provide technical leadership and participate in strategy planning.
• Demonstrate a strong verbal presence in meetings, contributing perspectives, asking questions, and driving technical discussions forward.
• Build trust quickly with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Participate in a shared after-hours on-call rotation for critical network incidents, including occasional early-morning, evening, or weekend work as required to support maintenance and incident response.
• Go beyond solving the issue: Mentor, collaborate with, and train operations staff, and more junior engineers as necessary.
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Science and 3 to 5 years of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience is required.
• Expert knowledge of networking: IPv4 & IPv6, dynamic routing protocols such as BGP & OSPF, overlay technologies such as MPLS & VXLAN.
• Experience with network management and monitoring tools, specifically Cisco Catalyst Center.
• Proven experience managing large enterprise networks.
• Experience with Linux administration and Python scripting skills.
• Experience with open-source tools and automation frameworks (Nautobot, Netbox).
• Experience with Cisco and Juniper enterprise-grade networking equipment.
• Experience building relationships with peers and partner teams to ensure alignment on network strategy, execution and strategic goals.
• Ability to define and enforce standards, methods, and best practices.
• Ability to take ownership of initiatives from concept through implementation and operational support.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills for cross-functional initiatives.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred:

• Experience with network automation tools such as Nautobot or Netbox.
• Experience with Solidserver, Cisco Catalyst Center (DNA center), DX NetOps (Spectrum), Akips, Kentik.
• Experience with optical equipment, such as Ciena WaveserverAI.
• Experience working in higher education.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania