Systems Engineer X3

Position Title: Systems Engineer X3

Location: Pearl Harbor, HI preferred; Whidbey Island, WA or Norfolk, VA

Position Status: Long-Term Contract

Clearance Requirements: Active Secret Clearance (Required)

Pay Rate: $40 - $50/hr.

Position Description: We are seeking an experienced Mid-Level Systems Engineer to support a large-scale, geographically distributed enterprise network environment. This role is ideal for a hands-on network engineering professional with deep experience across LAN, WAN, WLAN, network boundary engineering, routing, switching, network security, configuration management, and Tier III troubleshooting.

You will serve as a senior technical resource and escalation point for complex network incidents while supporting network engineering, change management, lab validation, configuration baseline management, and the development of future enterprise network solutions.

This position offers the opportunity to support a mission-critical network spanning thousands of devices and hundreds of locations. The successful candidate will work closely with experienced engineering, cybersecurity, architecture, operations, and program teams to improve network availability, security, performance, and reliability.

Key Responsibilities

• Troubleshoot, analyze, and resolve complex network incidents within a large-scale enterprise environment.

• Configure, maintain, and troubleshoot routers, switches, VLANs, wireless access points, firewalls, network sensors, and other network infrastructure.

• Provide Tier III network engineering and escalation support for high-impact technical issues.

• Serve as a network engineering subject matter expert and technical escalation resource across multiple network disciplines.

• Coordinate with technology vendors and internal engineering teams to resolve complex incidents.

• Apply defense-in-depth and network security principles to protect enterprise infrastructure.

• Troubleshoot networking technologies and protocols, including:

• LAN, WAN, WLAN, and network boundary technologies

• Routing and switching

• SD-WAN

• MPLS and VPN

• OSPF, BGP, and EIGRP

• Multicast and switching protocols

• Collaborate with engineering, architecture, cybersecurity, and operations teams to improve network availability, performance, reliability, and security.

• Develop and maintain Engineering Implementation Plans, or EIPs, for network deployments, upgrades, and configuration changes.

• Create and manage change tickets for deployments, maintenance activities, upgrades, and other network modifications.

• Conduct Root Cause Analysis, or RCA, for recurring incidents and problem-management activities.

• Participate in technical meetings focused on engineering, architecture, and future enterprise network solutions.

• Track engineering and operational work in JIRA within an Agile/SAFe environment.

• Participate in daily stand-ups, retrospectives, Program Increment planning, demonstrations, and other Agile ceremonies.

• Present technical demonstrations, engineering updates, risks, and progress toward Program Increment objectives.

Configuration Management Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain version-controlled configuration baselines for routers, switches, firewalls, sensors, and other network devices.
• Maintain accurate records of startup and running configurations, firmware versions, security policies, and associated network data.
• Ensure network configuration changes are documented, peer-reviewed, approved, and backed up in a centralized repository.
• Maintain configuration change-tracking, recovery, and rollback capabilities.
• Verify that network configurations comply with applicable DISA Security Technical Implementation Guides, or STIGs, and organizational cybersecurity requirements.
• Support configuration recovery and operational resilience across the enterprise network.

Lab Testing and Pre-Production Validation

• Conduct pre-production testing for firmware upgrades, security patches, and network configuration changes.
• Validate proposed changes in isolated lab environments that mirror applicable production network topologies and configurations.
• Test network functionality, device interoperability, security policies, security controls, and performance against established baselines.
• Validate implementation and rollback procedures before production deployment.
• Document test results, technical risks, remediation requirements, and deployment recommendations.

Required Skills and Education

• Bachelor's degree and 8-12 years of relevant network engineering or systems engineering experience.

• Relevant combinations of education, professional experience, and technical training may be considered.

• Active Secret security clearance.

• Current DoD 8570.01 IAT Level II certification, such as:

• CompTIA Security+ CE

• CCNA Security

• GICSP

• Another qualifying IAT Level II certification

• Subject matter expertise in BAN, LAN, WAN, WLAN, and network boundary engineering.

• Extensive hands-on experience performing network maintenance, configuration, troubleshooting, and engineering.

• Experience providing Tier III escalation support within a large-scale enterprise network environment.

• Experience supporting geographically distributed networks with thousands of devices and hundreds of locations.

• Demonstrated ability to serve as a technical escalation point across multiple network disciplines.

• Advanced troubleshooting experience with:

• Routing and switching

• SD-WAN and WLAN

• MPLS and VPN technologies

• OSPF, BGP, and EIGRP

• Multicast

• Switching protocols

• Strong understanding of network security, cybersecurity controls, and defense-in-depth principles.

• Experience working with SAFe Agile methodologies and JIRA.

• Strong analytical, diagnostic, and problem-solving skills.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to explain complex technical concepts to engineers, program leadership, customers, and other stakeholders.

Operational Requirements

• Willingness and ability to participate in an on-call rotation.
• Ability to support scheduled and unscheduled off-hours work, including maintenance windows.
• Ability to travel up to 10%.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree with 6-10 years of relevant professional experience.

• Current DoD 8570.01 IAT Level III certification, such as:

• CASP+

• CISSP

• CCNP Security

• Another qualifying IAT Level III certification

• Eligibility to obtain or maintain a Top Secret clearance.

• Previous experience supporting the Navy Marine Corps Intranet, or NMCI.

• Previous experience supporting Department of Defense programs, customers, or network environments.

• Experience with network automation and Infrastructure as Code, or IaC, practices.

• Hands-on experience using Ansible and Python for network automation.

• Experience with Arista networking technologies.

• Advanced Cisco certification, such as CCNP or CCIE.