NETWORK ENGINEER

ASCEND Aerospace & Technology, LLC (ASCEND) is an All-Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP) Joint Venture (JV) between Aerodyne Industries, LLC and Amentum Technology Inc., that leverages our 12+ year collaboration as award-winning NASA contractors. Through our ASCEND partner companies, we have 62+ years of experience working for NASA and currently manage 5,500 employees across nine NASA Centers. With this foundation of expertise, we are dedicated to helping every mission succeed—today and into the future.

Job Description

This position is for an early to mid-level Network engineer with 5-10 years of experience on the Contract for Organizing Spaceflight Mission Operations and Systems (COSMOS) which is NASA’s next-generation mission operations contract located on-site at Johnson Space Center. COSMOS ensures the continuity of critical human spaceflight support by providing mission control services, advanced training systems, and full-scale spacecraft mockups for astronaut preparation and engineering analysis.

Description of Duties

• Implement approved network and system designs, ensuring alignment with project objectives and stakeholder requirements.
• Support the development of project schedules and provide regular status updates to contract management and project engineering teams.
• Coordinate implementation activities with integration teams, maintenance personnel, and other project stakeholders.
• Consult and coordinate contract requests for network modifications and upgrades.
• Support the design and maintenance of all managed network hardware.
• Generate and update configuration management documents such as cabinet/console drawings, facility floor plans, cable running lists, cross‑connect wire lists, maintenance instructions, and subsystem tests.

Successful candidates will:

• Demonstrate strong initiative, a commitment to continuous learning, and the ability to expand their technical skill set.
• Work effectively in team environments, contributing positively to collaboration and shared goals.
• Apply strong problem‑solving abilities to technical, operational, and project challenges.
• Communicate clearly across engineering, integration, maintenance, security, cloud, and infrastructure teams.
• Show confidence in working independently and making well‑informed technical decisions when needed.

Job Requirements

Must have the following education and experience: Bachelor/Master of Science degree and minimum of 3 years of general experience. The candidate must be able to obtain a NASA Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Badge for NASA credentials.

Core Technical Skills

• Strong knowledge of routing and switching technologies (BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, STP, VLANs, trunking).
• Deep familiarity with Cisco and Aruba network hardware.
• Solid experience with firewalls (Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco ASA/Firepower).
• Hands‑on experience with VPN technologies (IPSec, SSL VPN, site‑to‑site tunnels).
• Understanding of network security best practices (ACLs, IDS/IPS, segmentation).
• Experience with Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE).

Operational & Troubleshooting Skills

• Ability to design and implement network solutions for enterprise environments.
• Strong troubleshooting skills using tools like Wireshark, packet captures, and CLI diagnostics.
• Experience supporting enterprise‑class networks and managing escalation workflows.
• Understanding of change management, documentation standards, and ITIL processes.

Additional Skills

• Ability to work cross‑functionally with diverse technical teams.
• Strong communication skills for incident response and root‑cause analysis.
• Experience leading projects or mentoring junior engineers.
• Comfortable working independently and exercising sound technical judgment.

Required Certifications

• CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate).

Desired Requirements

Advanced / Modern Networking

• Experience with network automation tools or scripting languages (Python, Ansible).
• Familiarity with cloud networking concepts (AWS VPC, Azure VNets, hybrid connectivity).
• Understanding of network virtualization technologies (VXLAN, VMware NSX).
• Experience with network monitoring tools (SolarWinds, Splunk).

Preferred Certifications

• CCNP (Enterprise, Security, or Data Center).
• CompTIA Network+ or Security+.
• Cloud provider certifications (AWS Solutions Architect, Azure Administrator).

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, marital status, pregnancy, genetic information, or other legally protected status .

Final compensation is determined through a comprehensive evaluation of several key factors, including the candidate’s educational background, specialized technical expertise, and relevant professional experience. We also consider internal equity, prevailing market data, and specific contractual or funding requirements to ensure competitive and equitable offer alignment.