Principal Network Engineer

Position: Principal Network Engineer
Location: Gilbert, AZ (Preferred) or Cheyenne, WY | Remote with Monthly Travel
Employment Type: Contract (9 months)
Interview Mode: Video
Start Date: ASAP
Visa Status: GC-EAD/GC/USC

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Job Summary:
The client is seeking a principal network engineer to design, implement, and maintain highly available networking and security infrastructure across on-premises and AWS cloud environments. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in networking (Cisco, Arista), security (Palo Alto, Checkpoint), AWS networking, and network automation (Terraform, GitLab, CodeCommit).


This role is onsite in Gilbert, AZ, or Cheyenne, WY, but remote candidates willing to travel once a month will be considered.


Key Responsibilities:

• Design, implement, and optimize enterprise-level network infrastructure, ensuring high availability and security.
• Configure and troubleshoot routing and switching (BGP, EIGRP, OSPF, VRFs, VLANs, VRRP, MLAG, vPC, NAT, IP Multicast).
• Deploy and manage firewalls (Palo Alto, Checkpoint, Cisco ASA) and load balancers (F5 GTM, LTM).
• Manage AWS networking services (VPC, API Gateway, Route 53, CloudFront, Cloud WAN, Direct Connect, PrivateLink, Transit Gateway).
• Implement network automation using Terraform, GitLab, and AWS CloudFormation.
• Support and troubleshoot VPNs, Elastic Load Balancing (ELB), DNS, DHCP, IPSec tunnels, and security groups.
• Utilize Panorama for centralized management of Palo Alto firewalls.
• Ensure compliance with security policies by configuring ACLs, TACACS, and SNMP monitoring.
• Provide technical leadership and mentor junior engineers.
• Participate in on-call rotations and after-hours change implementations as needed.

Required Qualifications:
Networking & Security:

• Hands-on experience with Cisco and Arista networking.
• Strong expertise in routing and switching protocols (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, VRFs, LACP, MLAG, IP Multicast, vPC, VLANs, VRRP, NAT, SNAT).
• Experience with firewalls: Palo Alto (on-prem & AWS), Checkpoint, Cisco ASA.
• Proficiency with load balancers: F5 GTM, LTM.

Cloud & Automation:

• Strong AWS networking experience (VPC, Direct Connect, PrivateLink, Cloud WAN, Transit Gateway, Route 53, API Gateway).
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Terraform, AWS CloudFormation (CFT), GitLab, CodeCommit.

Certifications (Required):

• Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE).
• AWS Certified Advanced Networking.

Certifications (Nice to Have):

• Additional AWS or Cisco certifications are a plus.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with AWS Control Tower, TACACS, Rancid, Git, HSRP, and SNMP.
• Familiarity with Cloud WAN, security groups, and ACL policies.
• Experience in Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) and VPN technologies.

Work Schedule:

• General business hours with flexibility to support change windows at night.
• If remote, must travel to Gilbert, AZ, or Cheyenne, WY once per month.