Network Engineer

Network Engineer

Responsibilities to include but not be limited to the following:

• Network Design and Planning: Developing detailed network architecture plans incorporating IPv4 and IPv6 addressing schemes to accommodate current and future network requirements, to meet organizational needs and future growth. Using protocols such as BGP/MP-BGP, EVPN VXLAN and OSPF for efficient and scalable network routing.

• Installation and Configuration: Navigating difficult issues in supporting existing deployment teams involving a strong technical, strategic and collaborative approach. Setting up network devices with advanced protocols features BGP/MPBGP, EVPN VXLAN. DHCP, supporting both IPv4 and DHCPv6 for IPv6. Configuring DNS for resolving domain names to both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. Implementing stateful and stateless firewalls to control incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules.

• Assessment and Planning: Conducting a thorough analysis of the existing networks. Developing a detailed migration plan, including timelines, resource allocation, and risk assessment. Creating comprehensive documentation for both the legacy and new networks. Configuring new hardware and software according to the design specifications. Performing rigorous testing to ensure functionality, performance, and compatibility. Executing the migration plan with minimal disruption to ongoing operations. Coordinating with cross-functional teams to manage dependencies and resolve issues promptly.

• Maintenance and Support: Using SNMP/NetFlow/sFlow/ICMP/syslog for monitoring and managing network performance. Regularly updating firewall rules and configurations to protect against emerging threats. Monitoring the old and new network to ensure stability and performance. Providing pre and post-migration support for old and new network architectures. Troubleshooting to address any complex issues that arise.

• Security Management: Implementing security protocols such as IPSec for secure network communications in both IPv4 and IPv6 environments. Employing RADIUS/Pi servers for centralized authentication.

• Performance Optimization: Applying protocols like QoS (Quality of Service) to prioritize network traffic and ensure efficient bandwidth usage. Implementing NAT/NAT64 (Network Address Translation) to conserve IPv4 addresses and facilitate secure communication between private and public networks.

• Compliance and Standards: Ensuring network protocols comply with industry standards such as IEEE 802.1X/MAB for network access control. Adhering to guidelines for the deployment of IPv6 alongside or in place of IPv4.

• Disaster Recovery and Backup: Implementing ECMP and other disaster recovery protocols to ensure network continuity and redundancy. Configuring backup systems and network failover mechanisms to maintain network availability in case of failure.

• Capacity Planning: Assessing current network usage and predicting future needs to ensure that the network can handle increased loads without performance degradation. Implementing upgrades and expansions to the network infrastructure as necessary.

• Work with multiple client teams to perform setup, configuration, and testing in lab and pre-field environments of networking solutions in support of validation and acceptance testing phases.

• Vendor Management: Coordinating with hardware and software vendors to ensure compatibility and support for products in multi-vendor environments. Developing Billing of Materials. Clearly define technical requirements, including performance, scalability, compatibility, and specific features needed for network architecture. Assess the technical specifications, performance benchmarks, and compatibility with existing infrastructure. Implement a PoC to test the switches in a controlled environment and ensure they meet performance and reliability expectations. Evaluate the vendor's technical support capabilities, including responsiveness, expertise, and available resources. Maintain regular communication with the vendor to stay informed about product updates, potential issues, and upcoming changes. Schedule periodic meetings to review performance/bugs, discuss any concerns, and plan for future needs.

• Documentation and Reporting: Maintaining detailed documentation of network configurations. Educating and enforcing adherence to network policies.

• Training and Development: Providing training and support to other engineers and end-users on network usage and best practices. Staying current with new technologies and industry trends through continuous education and certification programs.

• Utilizing internal tools for configuration pushes and changes: Automation Tools to automate the deployment and configuration of network devices, ensuring consistency and reducing manual errors. Using internal systems (similar to Git) to track and manage changes to network configuration files, enabling rollback to previous configurations if needed. Creating and maintaining network policies and procedures, including acceptable use policies, security policies, and change management procedures.

Recommended Qualifications

• Subject matter expertise of routing and switching protocols: TCP/IP fundamentals, IPv4/v6, BGP/MP-BGP, ISIS, OSPF, MPLS, EVPN VXLAN, IP sub-netting and supernetting and hierarchical routing principles, routing protocol operation routing policies at BGP peering points VPNs and the associated tunneling technologies such as IPSEC, L2TP, MPLS, etc.. Network certifications, such as CCNA/CCNP/JNCP, JNCIA/JNCIS, or equivalent experience.

• Experience with 1G/10G/100G/400G Ethernet and CWDM, DWDM and optical transport network technologies. Analyzing tactical situations, troubleshooting, root causing systems and tools, and problem solving via tasks or larger cross functional projects.

• Experience Designing complex network architectures creating scalable, high-performance, and secure networks that meet diverse organizational needs. This includes planning robust topologies, selecting appropriate vendors/protocols/technologies, ensuring seamless integration, and implementing advanced security measures.

• Detailed technical experience in the installation and operation of switches and IP routers. This includes hands-on operation of management tools and network analyzers.

• Strong experience in troubleshooting complex issues both at the device-level and network-level, in a multi-vendor environment. Able to isolate and identify configuration, design and product issues.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

• CCNA, CCIE, or similar

• Ability to work efficiently on multiple projects and under pressure

• Previous experience with network equipment vendor products (e.g., Juniper, Cisco, Arista, OEM).

• Working knowledge of stateful and stateless firewalls

• Comfortable with Linux or other UNIX implementations, with scripting skills.

• Experience with python scripting / ansible for scripting and automation

• Ability to "read code" as source documentation

• DevOps CI/CD mindset for automation and scale