Network Manager

Network Manager

The Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS) is a nationally recognized urban school district that serves approximately 20,000 students, and 60+ different languages are spoken in the homes of our students. KCKPS is home to Sumner Academy, the #6 highest-rated high school in the Nation and #1 High School in Kansas according to the US News rankings. With Head Start/preschools, 28 elementary schools, 7 middle schools, and 5 college and career academies/high schools, we are the fifth largest district in the state of Kansas, and our student population is approximately 58% Hispanic, 22% African American, 8% White, 7% Asian, and 4% Pacific Islander. To serve our students, the district employs approximately 4,000 employees, including more than 1,800 teachers.

Job Goal

The Network Manager provides leadership and hands-on management of the district's network infrastructure to ensure secure, reliable connectivity and network services that support instruction, operations, and administrative systems. This role manages day-to-day network operations, leads troubleshooting and outage response, and supervises network staff to maintain service excellence across all sites.

Essential Functions:

• Manages and supports district LAN/WAN connectivity across multiple campuses to ensure reliable access for staff and students.
• Configures, maintains, and troubleshoots Cisco Firepower next-generation firewalls (NGFW), including policy management, VPN, logging/visibility, and security rule optimization.
• Configures, maintains, and troubleshoots Cisco and Arista network switches, including VLANs, routing/switching, and network segmentation.
• Supports and optimizes Cisco and Arista access points and wireless connectivity to ensure consistent instructional and operational uptime.
• Leads proactive monitoring, incident response coordination, and remediation activities for network availability and security events.
• Coordinates with systems and endpoint teams on dependencies for identity/services (Active Directory, DNS, DHCP) that impact network authentication and access.
• Provides Tier-3 escalation support for complex network, VOIP, classroom AV, and site outage issues; ensures documentation and ticket resolution metrics are maintained.
• Plans and executes network changes and maintenance windows; maintains diagrams, standards, configurations, and operational documentation.
• Supervises three (3) direct reports, including assigning work, coaching, training, and ensuring timely resolution of network-related tickets and projects.
• Collaborates with vendors and service providers as needed to support ISP/WAN services, hardware lifecycle, and network improvements.
• Assists with various district events and large-scale operational initiatives, as assigned by the supervisor, assistant director, or the director.
• Other duties as assigned by the supervisor, assistant director, director, or the executive director.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, a related field, or equivalent work experience and certifications.
• 3+ years of progressive experience supporting networks and infrastructure in a large environment (K–12 public school experience strongly preferred).
• Demonstrated proficiency with enterprise networking concepts and operations, including Cisco switching/routing, VLANs, firewalls (Cisco Firepower), network troubleshooting, and VOIP.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with others and communicate professionally by phone and in person.
• Must be organized, detail-oriented, and able to multitask and problem-solve.

Preferred Certifications:

• Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNP)
• CISSP
• CompTIA SecurityX
• CompTIA Security+
• CompTIA Network+
• CompTIA A+

Communication/Organization:

• Maintains communication with district staff, as necessary.
• Utilizes existing technology effectively in the performance of duties.
• Performs other related work as required.

Reasoning Ability:

• Ability to solve practical problems.
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, or schedule form.
• Flexibility is required to work with others, work with data utilizing defined but different processes, and operate equipment using a variety of standardized methods.

Physical Demands:

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, walk, stand, and talk or hear.
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move equipment up to 50 pounds.
• The employee must occasionally push items of 50 pounds, such as pushing on a bike or a wheelchair or moving/rearranging furniture.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, and depth perception.

Work Environment:

• The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually loud and is a standard acceptable level for this environment.

Other Skills and Abilities:

• Specific knowledge-based competencies required to satisfactorily perform the functions of the job include computer operations (including peripheral equipment), and safety practices and procedures.
• Some problem-solving may be required to identify issues and select action plans.

Terms of Employment:

261 Days.

Salary:

Level 25

Classified Salary Schedule:

FLSA Status:

Exempt

Report To:

Assistant Director of Technology Information Systems

Evaluation:

Performance will be evaluated by the immediate supervisor in accordance with Board Policy.