Lead Network Engineer – HPC

Jobtailor; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking a highly experienced Network Architect/Engineer to design and operate high-bandwidth, low-latency inter-site networks spanning geographically dispersed HPC sites in the United States. The role focuses on scalable architectures for secure, high-capacity data transfers with strong redundancy and availability.

The ideal candidate has 8–12 years of enterprise/HPC networking, CCNA or higher Cisco credentials, and DoD 8140 IAT II certification or higher along with TS/SCI clearance

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (directly related experience in lieu of degree).
• 8–12 years of network administration, engineering, or architecture experience in enterprise or HPC environments.
• CCNA or equivalent Cisco experience; advanced Cisco certifications valued.
• DoD 8140 IAT II certification or higher, Security+ CE or equivalent; TS/SCI clearance with SAP eligibility.

Responsibilities

• Architect and engineer high-bandwidth, low-latency inter-site network solutions connecting geographically dispersed HPC sites.
• Design scalable communications architectures for high-capacity data transfers, redundancy, traffic optimization, secure connectivity, and mission-critical availability.
• Configure, maintain, and troubleshoot Cisco, Juniper, and Ciena routing, switching, firewall, VPN, optical transport, and data circuit infrastructure.
• Administer Linux-based networks for compute, storage, management, and user access, including host interfaces, bonding, VLAN tagging, routing, DNS, DHCP, and name resolution.
• Support Cisco ISE administration, firewall policies, network segmentation, ACLs, VLANs, VPNs, authentication, authorization, policy enforcement, and device access control.
• Use CLI-based tools to diagnose routing, switching, MTU, latency, throughput, and connectivity issues across network devices and Linux hosts.
• Support inter-site provisioning and lifecycle activities, including maintenance, upgrades, technology refresh, documentation, diagrams, standards, and operational procedures.
• Partner with systems, cybersecurity, and infrastructure teams to maintain secure, reliable mission operations.

Skills

Networking engineering

Cisco routing/switching

Linux networking

TCP/IP fundamentals

Team collaboration

Learning mindset

Education

Bachelor’s degree in IT/CS/Engineering

Tools

ip

ss

tcpdump

ping

traceroute

dig

nslookup

Job description

Responsibilities

• Architect and engineer high-bandwidth, low-latency inter-site network solutions connecting geographically dispersed HPC sites .
• Design scalable communications architectures supporting high-capacity data transfers , redundancy, traffic optimization, secure connectivity, and mission-critical availability.
• Configure, maintain, and troubleshoot Cisco , Juniper , and Ciena routing, switching, firewall, VPN, optical transport, and data circuit infrastructure.
• Administer Linux-based networks supporting compute, storage, management, and user access, including host interfaces, bonding, VLAN tagging, routing, DNS, DHCP, and name resolution.
• Support Cisco ISE administration, firewall policies, network segmentation, ACLs, VLANs, VPNs, authentication, authorization, policy enforcement, and device access control.
• Use CLI-based tools to diagnose routing, switching, MTU, latency, throughput, and connectivity issues across network devices and Linux hosts.
• Support inter-site provisioning and lifecycle activities , including maintenance, upgrades, technology refresh, documentation, diagrams, standards, and operational procedures.
• Partner with systems, cybersecurity, and infrastructure teams to maintain secure, reliable mission operations.

Requirements

• TS/SCI clearance with SAP eligibility
• DoD 8140 IAT II certification or higher, Security+ CE or equivalent
• Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, (directly related experience in lieu of degree)
• 8–12 years of network administration, engineering, or architecture experience in enterprise or HPC environments
• CCNA or equivalent Cisco experience required; advanced Cisco certifications strongly valued.
• Experience designing, supporting, and troubleshooting high-bandwidth, low-latency multi-site networks , including Cisco routing/switching, Cisco ISE, firewalls, VPNs, optical transport, and high-capacity data circuits ( Juniper and Ciena experience strongly valued)
• Strong knowledge of Layer 2/Layer 3 , TCP/IP, VLANs, routing, ACLs, DNS, DHCP, high availability, segmentation, MTU, latency, throughput, and traffic optimization
• Linux networking experience, including interfaces, bonding, VLAN tagging, routing, name resolution, port connectivity, CLI troubleshooting, and performance analysis
• Experience with tools such as ip, ss, tcpdump, ping, traceroute, dig , and nslookup
• Team-oriented and collaborative, with the ability to work independently with general direction
• Open to learning new tools, technologies, and processes
• Professional, adaptable, and well-suited for a mission-focused environment