Junior Network Administrator

Vanguard Defense Solutions; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PTO 15 days/120 hours per year

11 paid federal holidays

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Retirement savings plan

Bereavement and jury duty leave

Job summary

Vanguard Defense Solutions seeks a Junior Network Administrator for an on-site role at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL. You will support design, implementation, monitoring, and maintenance of mission-critical network infrastructure under senior staff guidance.

Responsibilities include troubleshooting, configuring switches/routers/firewalls, managing VLANs and core services, and documenting incidents. DoD Secret clearance and ETA for 0–3 years in networking are required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• Active DoD Secret security clearance (U.S. citizenship required)
• 0 to 3 years of professional networking/IT support experience.

Responsibilities

• Monitor network performance and alerts using network tools and tickets.
• Install, configure, and maintain switches, routers, access points, and firewalls.
• Assist with VLANs, IP addressing, and DHCP/DNS services.
• Support security and compliance, review firewall rules, and assist with remediation.
• Maintain network diagrams, IP inventories, and incident documentation.

Skills

OSI model

IP addressing

VLANs

Routing basics

DHCP/DNS

Firewalls

Troubleshooting

Windows/Linux familiarity

Education

Bachelor’s degree in IT/CS/Engineering

Job description

Huntsville, AL (Redstone Arsenal, on-site) · Full-time · Active Secret clearance required

Help design, implement, monitor, and maintain the network infrastructure behind a mission‑critical DoD program at Redstone Arsenal, working under the guidance of senior network staff.

Vanguard Defense Solutions is a Huntsville‑based defense contractor supporting Department of Defense customers at Redstone Arsenal. We're looking for a Junior Network Administrator to help design, implement, monitor, and maintain the network infrastructure behind a mission‑critical program.

Position Summary

You’ll work under the guidance of senior network staff, in an environment where uptime matters and you’ll see how enterprise and government networks run. This role is on-site at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL.

Key Responsibilities

• Monitor and troubleshoot: Watch network performance, availability, and alerts using tools such as SolarWinds, Sunbird, NDFC, and SNMP‑based systems. Diagnose and fix basic connectivity, latency, and performance problems, and elevate complex or high‑severity incidents to senior administrators.
• Support hardware and infrastructure: Help install, configure, and maintain switches, routers, access points, and firewalls. Handle cabling, patch panels, rack‑and‑stack work, and equipment inventory in wiring closets and data centers.
• Configure and administer: Help implement and maintain VLANs, basic ACLs, and IP addressing. Assist with DHCP, DNS, and other core network services. Support firmware updates, configuration backups, and change management.
• Support security and compliance: Follow security policies, help implement and review basic firewall rules, watch for unauthorized devices or unusual network behavior, and take part in vulnerability remediation on network devices.
• Document and collaborate: Keep network diagrams, IP inventories, and configuration documentation current. Document incidents and resolutions in the ticketing system. Give Tier 1/Tier 2 network support to the help desk and end users, and work with the systems, security, and application teams. Take part in an on‑call rotation or after‑hours support when required.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
• Active DoD Secret security clearance (U.S. citizenship required)
• 0 to 3 years of professional experience in networking, IT support, or a related technical role. Hands‑on exposure to switches, routers, and firewalls through labs, internships, help‑desk work, or personal projects counts.

Preferred Qualifications

• CompTIA Security+ (strongly preferred)
• CCNA (desirable), or entry‑level vendor certifications such as Juniper JNCIA or Palo Alto PCCET
• Experience with a ticketing system such as ServiceNow, Jira, or Remedy

Knowledge and Skills

• OSI model, Layer 2/3 concepts, and packet flow
• IP addressing and subnetting (IPv4, with IPv6 awareness)
• Switching and VLANs: 802.1Q trunking, spanning‑tree basics, port configuration
• Routing basics: static routes, default gateways, and awareness of OSPF, EIGRP, and BGP
• DHCP, DNS, NTP, and basic NAT
• Firewalls, ACLs, segmentation, and common network attack vectors
• A structured troubleshooting method, using tools like ping, traceroute, nslookup, and basic Wireshark
• Comfort with Windows and/or Linux for network‑related tasks
• Ethernet standards (Cat5e/Cat6), fiber basics, and clean cable management
• Attention to detail, a customer‑service attitude, and a willingness to learn from senior staff
• 15 days (120 hours) of PTO per calendar year in a single combined bank, accruing each pay period and usable for any purpose
• 11 paid federal holidaysMedical, dental, and vision coverage, and a retirement savings plan
• Bereavement and jury duty leave, separate from and without reducing the PTO bank

Why Vanguard

We are deliberately small. Every team member has a visible role in the quality and integrity of what we deliver to our government customers, and even early‑career staff own real scope rather than a slice of someone else’s. You get direct access to company leadership and senior engineers, on a team small enough that your work and growth are visible without having to campaign for it.