Lead Network Operations Engineer (NOC) — 24x7 IP/Optical Ops

CENIC; La Mirada (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Paid time off

403(b) with employer match

Pet insurance

Job summary

CENIC, California’s Research and Education Network, is seeking a Lead Network Operations Engineer to guide a shift of engineers and administrators. You will apply expert-level DWDM, IP routing (BGP/OSPF/IS-IS), MPLS, and EVPN/IPVPN in a 24x7 production environment, coordinating incidents from detection through resolution.

You will mentor staff, drive shift turnover, and collaborate across departments to improve network reliability and service delivery for millions of users across California’s

Qualifications

• 5+ years of network operations/engineering in a 24x7 production environment.
• Strong knowledge of large-scale IP and optical networks and associated technologies.
• Experience leading shifts and mentoring Network Operations staff.

Responsibilities

• Serve as senior technical authority on shift for complex incidents and outages.
• Lead incident management, coordinate actions, and document timelines for post-incident reviews.
• Maintain shift accountability for open tickets, updates, and hand-offs at shift end.
• Oversee shift turnover and ensure accurate handoffs for ongoing incidents and maintenance.
• Monitor network health, identify capacity or anomaly issues before they affect services.
• Contribute to NOC process improvements and drive operational efficiency.
• Mentor engineers on shift and promote knowledge transfer.

Skills

BGP/OSPF/IS-IS

MPLS

EVPN/IPVPN

DWDM

DCI deployments

Education

CS/IT degree or related field

Equivalent work experience

Tools

DWDM hardware

Job description

CENIC, California’s Research and Education Network, is seeking a Lead Network Operations Engineer to guide a shift of engineers and administrators. You will apply expert-level DWDM, IP routing (BGP/OSPF/IS-IS), MPLS, and EVPN/IPVPN in a 24x7 production environment, coordinating incidents from detection through resolution.

You will mentor staff, drive shift turnover, and collaborate across departments to improve network reliability and service delivery for millions of users across California’s