Junior Network Administrator

Vanguard Defense Solutions, Inc.; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 52,000 - 78,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PTO (15 days)

Federal holidays

Healthcare (medical/dental/vision)

Retirement plan

Bereavement and jury leave

Job summary

Vanguard Defense Solutions, Inc. in Huntsville, AL is seeking a Junior Network Administrator to help design, implement, monitor, and maintain the network infrastructure behind a mission-critical program.

You will work under senior staff in an environment where uptime matters. This role is onsite at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL, supporting DoD customers with hands-on network operations and collaboration with security and systems teams.

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 or related technical role.

Responsibilities

• Monitor network performance, availability, and alerts using enterprise tools; diagnose and fix basic issues and escalate complex incidents.
• Assist to install, configure, and maintain switches, routers, access points, and firewalls; manage cabling and rack/stack work.
• Help implement VLANs, basic ACLs, IP addressing, DHCP, DNS, and other core services; support firmware updates and backups.
• Support security and compliance through basic firewall rules and incident remediation.
• Document network diagrams, IP inventories, and incident resolutions; provide Tier 1/ Tier 2 support and participate in on-call rotations.

Skills

OSI model

IP addressing

VLANs

Routing basics

DHCP/DNS/NTP

Firewalls/ACLs

Troubleshooting

Windows/Linux

Cable management

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT/CS/Engineering

Tools

SolarWinds

Sunbird

NDFC

ServiceNow

Jira

Remedy

Wireshark

Job description

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

Benefits

• 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 holidays
• Medical, 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.