Lead Network Engineer

MITRE; McLean (VA); On-site; USD 147,000 - 221,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive benefits

Career development opportunities

Onsite work four days a week

Job summary

MITRE Lead Network Engineer role focuses on designing, implementing, and securing enterprise and tactical networks spanning LAN/WAN and data centers. You will lead projects, translate sponsor needs into practical engineering solutions, and drive modernization efforts in a mission-focused environment.

The position requires hands-on technical expertise, leadership, and collaboration with sponsor teams. On-site presence is expected four days a week in McLean, VA.

Qualifications

• Experience designing secure, scalable networks and proven lead on projects.
• Hands-on network design, SDN/SD-WAN, and risk assessment capabilities.
• Strong collaboration, communication, and sponsor engagement skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead projects and teams in design, implementation, testing, and modernization of secure networks.
• Define validated network designs with detailed implementation artifacts.
• Conduct cybersecurity risk assessments and mitigation planning.
• Develop network data analytics and performance visibility solutions.
• Mentor engineers and drive technical direction across teams.

Skills

Network design

Team leadership

Cybersecurity fundamentals

Cloud/DevOps mindset

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher

Master’s/PhD preferred

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Git

Terraform

Job description

At MITRE, your passion fuels work that impacts our nation and improves lives. This is where your skills strengthen national security, cybersecurity, health, transportation, and citizen services. We’re a nonprofit engineering, applied research, and advanced technology organization working in the public interest. With objectivity and integrity at our core, we lead federally funded research and development centers for U.S. government agencies – collaborating with industry and academia to deliver integrated, high-impact solutions that advance our nation’s health, security, and prosperity. Our people tackle the toughest technical challenges, supported by competitive benefits, meaningful career development, and a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence. Choose MITRE for a career with purpose — and help shape the future.

Department Summary

The L616 – Enterprise and Tactical Networking Department within MITRE Technology and Engineering specializes in complex network challenges vital to national well-being. Our work involves researching, developing, and applying advanced technologies in core areas such as:

• Network architecture and design
• Software-defined / Virtual networks (SDN/NFV)
• Network reliability, resilience, mission security and assurance, network data analytics
• E2E network MS&A, T&E, AFSIM
• Embedded networks (IoT, ICS, SCADA)
• Tactical and threat-informed networking

Roles & Responsibilities

MITRE’s Enterprise and Tactical Networking department is seeking talented network engineers to lead projects and project teams and leverage expertise in enterprise networking, network security, automation, and infrastructure architecture to address complex technical challenges for a wide range of sponsor organizations. Candidates will lead and contribute to:

• Network Design: Defining validated designs for networks with details required for implementation
• Software-Defined / Virtual Networks: Configuring, deploying, testing and validating the latest technologies in software-defined and virtualized networks as well as “traditional” networking
• Mission Security and Assurance: Conducting cybersecurity risk assessments of proposed and existing designs to evaluate security posture, identify threats and vulnerabilities, and recommend mitigation strategies
• Network Data Analytics: Designing, implementing, and enhancing network monitoring and data collection capabilities to provide visibility into performance, availability and operational health
• Network Modeling, Simulation and Analysis: Developing and applying network modeling, simulation, emulation, and test methodologies to validate design assumptions, analyze traffic patterns, assess resiliency, and predict performance and scalability outcomes
• Tactical and Thread-Informed Networking: Leading the development of solutions for coupling non-traditional, external threat feeds into traditional network routing parameters (i.e., bandwidth, delay, throughput) to better influence communications paths in challenging network environments

MITRE Lead Network Engineer leads a project and / or teams in the design, implementation, testing, validation, and modernization of secure, resilient, and scalable network environments spanning LAN/WAN, data center, and tactical operations use cases. The role requires leadership skills, strong collaboration, technical rigor, and the ability to translate sponsor and mission needs into practical engineering solutions.

Basic Qualifications

• Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 6 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 3 years’ experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• The candidate will engage in hands‑on, mission‑driven work. Responsibilities span the full solution lifecycle - from design and prototyping through testing, implementation, and monitoring - across networking and digital service management solutions as well as sponsor engagement, communication, and managing outcomes and deliverables. The candidate is expected to have some experience in the following:
• Network Design: Defining designs that enable secure, scalable, resilient, and supportable solutions, including
  • target‑state designs
  • technology standards and compliance frameworks related to network design
  • operational processes
  • implementation artifacts
• Software-Defined / Virtual Networks: Some areas of software-defined and virtualized networks, as well as “traditional” networking protocols and concepts, such as the following:
  • IPv4/IPv6
  • Interior gateway routing protocols (e.g., OSPF)
  • SD-WAN
  • Docker Swarm / Kubernetes
  • Zero‑trust and network segmentation
  • Identity management
• Mission Security and Assurance: Conducting and providing:
  • Risk assessments
  • Threat and vulnerability identification
  • Mitigation strategy recommendations
• Network Data Analytics: Applying advanced data analytics and machine learning models for anomaly detection, performance optimization, and root cause analysis. Monitoring, troubleshooting and managing networks using:
  • SNMP and / or Syslog
  • NetFlow/IPFIX
  • streaming telemetry
  • APIs and dashboards
• Network Modeling, Simulation and Analysis: Supporting technical decision‑making regarding design, scalability and predicted performance using:
  • network modeling
  • simulation / emulation
  • lab / virtualized environments
• Team Leadership and Communities: Demonstrates the ability to lead technical teams or initiatives, including task decomposition, technical direction, and mentoring of other engineers.
• Technical Reporting and Communications: Clearly communicate technical findings, methodologies, and project outcomes through written reports, briefings, and demonstrations for sponsors and internal teams.
• Knowledge Sharing: Actively participate in internal MITRE technical exchange events focused on emerging trends in networking and service management.
• Must have an active Top Secret U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI U.S Government issued Security Clearance Per the U.S. Government’s eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearance.
• This position requires a minimum of 4 days a week on‑site.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Data Science related discipline, or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• Professional or expert level networking certification(s) such as a CCNP/CCIE or JNCIP/JNCIE.
• Excellent analytical and problem‑solving skills
• Strong communication, presentation, and writing skills
• The ability to build collaborative and mutually beneficial working relationships with people of different backgrounds.
• Knowledge of, or hands‑on experience in:
  • Network Automation and Embedded Technologies: Experience with non-traditional enterprise network architectures, such as ad-hoc, mobile deployed networks and large‑scale sensor networks as well as protocols such as named data networking and publish / subscribe that facilitate efficient communications over potentially unreliable connection paths.
  • Virtualization and Continuous Integration: Experience with DevOps paradigms supported by virtualization, containerization, cloud and serverless architectures.
  • Software Development and Automation: Experience using languages like Go, C++, Python, and JavaScript. Strong proficiency in scripting and automation using tools and frameworks like Ansible, Terraform, PowerShell, and Bash. Experience with version control systems, particularly Git, for source code management, collaboration, and CI/CD workflow integration.
  • Embedded Networks: Experience with Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial Control Systems (ICS), and / or Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, including protocols and regulatory compliance frameworks such as:
    • Modbus
    • DNP3
    • OPC
    • BACnet
    • NERC CIP
    • IEC 62443
    • NIST SP 800-82
  • Tactical and Thread‑Informed Networking: Experience integrating distributed and centralized network control algorithms and / or integrating external inputs to “traditional” network path decision logic to facilitate non‑standard (i.e., not “shortest path first”) routing.
  • Network Modeling, Simulation and Analysis: Experience with network modeling, simulation, emulation, and test methodologies to validate design assumptions and predict performance.

This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s)

Top Secret/SCI

This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s)

Top Secret

Salary compensation range and midpoint

$147,200 - $184,000 - $220,800 Annual

Work Location Type

Onsite

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local or international law.

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Benefits information may be found here.